Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket - anything with a round ball, I was useless,” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.

It was a mountain bike he received for his 15^th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set up his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.

The following year he met John Ridgway and started to work as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of adventure（冒险） in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, he decided that this would be his future.

In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition （探险）towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite（冻伤）, ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his sled up and over the rocky mountains.

Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.

1. What changed Saunders according to Paragraph 2?

       A. A friend’s words.               B. A mountain bike.

       C. His 18^th birthday gift.          D. His first marathon.

2.What did Saunders do in 2001?

A. He decided to build up his body.

B. He met John Ridgway in Scotland.

C. He worked as an instructor at school.

D. He took an adventure to the North Pole. 

3.What does the story mainly tell us about Saunders?

A. He is a success in sports.           B. He is the youngest British skier.

C. He is Ridgway’s best student.         D. He is a good instructor at school.

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请根据对话内容选择正确单词,并将其适当形式填入横线上

Many people do not like to stay at home on holidays.They want to go out to see something different or do something interesting.So people from the country come to the city and people from the city go to the country for holidays.During the holidays trains,buses and planes are all very busy.It is very hard to buy train tickets or air tickets.Many people take cars or buses for traveling.

Last May Day my family went to the country by car for our holiday.There was too much traffic on the road,so we had to move very slowly.It took us about an hour to get out of the town.After some time,we came to a hill.It was green and beautiful.We thought this was a good place for a picnic,so we stopped and took the food,fruit and drinks out of the car.We sat down and began to eat.Suddenly a strong wind blew and soon it started to rain.We had to run back to our car and have our picnic in the car.Then we drove back home.What a sad holiday!

1.Which one is right in the following sentence?

2.How did they go to the country last May Day?

3.How long did they take to get out of the town?

4.Why did they go to the country?

5.They felt ________ about the holiday.

 -  Did you hear a terrible fire happened in the hotel near our school last night?

    -  Yes, it took the firemen an hour to_______ the fire.

A. put out                 B. put down            C. put on                 D. put off

Our "Timeline of Education" shows highlights of learning and education (especially related to Western education), going back to the very first education:

In the beginning: Adam got the very first lesson, from God: break the law and you pay the price.

3000 B.C. :Priests teach religion, writing, sciences.

0 B.C./A.D.: Jesus teaches in Jerusalem.         

105 A.D.: Paper is invented in China.

1150-1250 : "Modern" universities founded.

1620s: Slide rule is invented, math is made easier.

1918 : All U.S. states require free education

Early 1980s: Television in the classroom. The availability of cheap VCRs makes video learning common.

Late 1990s: The Internet changes everything. E-learning courses develop.

http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-timeline/education-timeline.htm#3000BC

1.Adam got the very first lesson from __________.

A. his teacher       B. God          C. religion       D. himself

2.Jesus teaches in Jerusalem about_________.

A. 3000 B.C.       B. 1150-12500   C. 105 A.D.       D. B.C./A.D.

3.Television appears in the classroom and helps the teacher and students in_________.

A. late 1990s      B. early 1980s     C. 1918          D. 1620

4.It took about__________ years from the television to Internet.

A. 50            B. 40             C. 20            D. 10

We can not live a modern life without traveling．The fastest way of traveling is by air．With a plane people can travel in one day to places which it took a month or more to get to a hundred years ago．

Traveling by train is slower than by plane, but people can see the country when they are traveling through．Modern trains have comfortable seats and dinning-cars．They make even the longest journey（旅途） enjoyable．

Some people prefer to travel by sea when possible．There are large luxury liners（客轮） or river boats．They are not as fast as trains or planes, but traveling by sea is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday．

Many people like to travel by car．They can make their own timetable．They can travel hundreds of miles or only fifty miles a day, just as their wish．They can stop wherever they want to see something interesting or to enjoy a good meal at a good restaurant, or to spend the night at a hotel．That is why people choose traveling by car for pleasant trips, while they usually take trains or planes for business．

1.According to（根据） the passage, the fastest way of traveling is ______________

2.People can make even the longest journey enjoyable if they take the _________

3.______ is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday．

4.If we travel by car, we can _________

5.When people travel on business, they usually take