Are you in ________.

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 “Did you see that?” Joe said to his friend Bill. “You’re a great shooter!”
  Bill caught the   1  and bounced it before throwing it again. The ball flew into the net.

“Bill, you never   2 !” Joe said admiringly.

     “Unless I’m in a real game,” Bill complained. “Then I miss all the time.”
     Joe knew that Bill was  3 . Bill performed much better when he was having fun with Joe in the school yard than he did when he was playing for the school team in front of a large crowd.

“Maybe you just need to   4  more,” Joe suggested.

     “But I practice all the time with you!” Bill objected. He shook his head. “I just can’t play well when people are  5   me.”
      “You play well when I’m watching,” Joe pointed out.
      “That’s because I’ve known you since we were five years old,” Bill said with a smile. “I’m just not  6  playing when other people are around.”

Joe nodded and understood, but he also had an idea.
     The next day Joe and Bill met in the school yard again to practice. After a few minutes, Joe  7  himself.
     “Practice without me,” Joe said to his friend. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
     Joe hurried through the school building, gathering together  8  he could find—two students, a math teacher, two secretaries, and a janitor. When Joe explained why he needed them, everyone was happy to help.
     Joe reminded the group to stay  9  as they all went toward the school’s basketball court. As Joe had hoped, Bill was still practicing basketball. He made five        10  in a row without noticing the silent people standing behind him.
      “Hey, Bill!” Joe called out  11 .
      Bill turned. A look of surprise came over his face. “I just wanted to 12  you that you could play well with people watching you,” Joe said. “Now you’ll have nothing to worry about for the next game!”

1 A. basketball       B. football               C. volleyball                      D. baseball

2 A. touch             B. miss                 C. hold                               D. feel

3A. upset                  B. right                 C. active                      D. different

 4 A. train                          B. play                 C. practice                         D. enjoy

5 A. treating               B. shouting           C. cheering                         D. watching

 6 A. similar                B. confident          C. successful               D. comfortable

 7 A. excused                    B. enjoyed            C. helped                           D. suggested

 8 A. whomever          B. whenever         C. whatever                        D. wherever

9 A. alone                  B. silent                C. quiet                              D. safe

 10 A. balls                        B. baskets            C. steps                              D. scores

 11 A. quickly                    B. loudly        C. suddenly                        D. finally

 12 A. surprise                   B. tell                   C. show                         D. hope

The 31st Summer Olympics will be held in Brazil in 2016. Before this global sporting event, we started thinking about sports that didn’t exist any more and sports that were maybe a little strange. Read the following ones that have ever been included in the past Olympic Games.
Live Pigeon Shooting (1900)
This bloody event was only held once, at the 1900 Paris Games. Nearly 300 birds were killed during the competition, leaving a crime scene of feathers and blood. This is the only event in Olympic history that involved killing live animals.
Kabaddi (1936)
This sport is popular in South Asia. The object is for one member of a team to enter the other side’s half of the field, and score points. The attacker then returns to his half of the field.
12 Hour Bicycle Race (1896)
Seven riders got on their bikes at 5 a.m. and rode until 5 p.m. Four riders dropped out before noon, but the winner, Adolf Schmal of Austria, managed about 180 miles. Only Schmal and one other finished.
Tug of War (1900—1920)
This may seem like a basic PE class sport more than an Olympic event, but Tug of War was actually one of the first sports played at the Olympic games in 500 BC.
There are two teams of eight; the winning team must pull the other team six feet forward.
Swimming Obstacle Race (1900)
The athletes had to climb over a pole (杆子) and a row of boats, and then swim under another row of boats. All of this was done in the Seine River, so they also had to fight against the water. This event was only ever held in 1900, in Paris.
【小题1】What do you probably think of these events?