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 15th birthday that changed him. At fist he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then be began to ride the bike along with a runner friend, Gradually, Saunders set 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 was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland where he learned about Ridgeway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures then 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 (冻疮)，ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply-loaded sled (雪橇) up and over rocky ice.

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.

Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2900-kilornetre journey that has never been completed on skis.

1.What changes happened to Saunders after he was 15 years old?

A．He became good at most sports.        B．He began to build up his body.

C．He joined a sports team.              D．He made friends with a runner.

2.The underlined word “exploits” (paragraph3) is closest in meaning to       .

A. journeys                      B. researches

C. adventures                    D. operations

3.Which of the following is the correct order of the events that happened to Saunders?

A. He ran his first marathon.         B. He skied alone in the North Pole.

C. He rode his bike in a forest.       D. He planned an adventure to the South Pole.

A．acdb          B．cdab       C．adbd         D．cabd

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

A．He is success in sports.            B．He is the best British skier. 

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

选编（二十）

A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work.

   He may have the belief that he is not capable (有能力的) of it. A child may think he is __1__ because he doesn’t understand how to make the __2__ of his mental faculties (才能). Older people may be mistaken that they are incapable of learning things new because of their __ 3__.

   A person who believe that he is incapable will not make a real __4__ because he feels that it would be useless. He won’t go at a job with confidence necessary for __5__ , and he won’t  work his hardest way, even though he may think he is doing so. He is __6__ likely to fail, and the failure will __7__ his belief in his competence (才能) .

   Alfred Alder, a famous doctor, had __8__ like this. When he was a small boy, he had a poor __9__ in maths. His teacher told his parents he had no ability in maths in order that they would not __10__ too much of him. In this way, they two __11__ the idea. He accepted __12__ mistaken thinking of his ability, felt that it was useless to __13__ and was very poor at maths, __14__ as they expected.

   One day he worked at a problem which __15__ of the other students had been able to solve.

  Alder __16__ in solving the problem. This gave him confidence (信心). He now __17__ with interest, determination and purpose, and he soon became especially good at __18__. He not only proved that he could learn maths well, but luckily he learned __19__ in his life from his own experience that if a person goes at a job with determination and purpose, he may __20__ himself as well as others by his ability.

1. A. clever                   B. shy                   C. useless                    D. stupid

2. A. biggest                 B. most                 C. highest                   D. deepest

3. A. ability                  B. age                   C. brain                      D. knowledge

4. A. decision                B. success              C. effort                            D. trouble

5. A. work                    B. study                C. improvement          D. success

6. A. truly                        B. really                C. however                 D. therefore

7. A. lead to                 B. strengthen         C. increase                  D. add to

8. A. an experience        B. an example        C. a thought                D. a story

9. A. state                         B. mind                 C. start                       D. ending

10. A. blame                 B. expect               C. get                         D. win

11. A. developed           B. organized          C. discovered                     D. found

12. A. his                     B. her                    C. its                          D. their

13. A. manage               B. succeed             C. try                         D. act

14. A. only                   B. almost               C. just                        D. then

15. A. none                   B. no                    C. no one                    D. nobody

16. A. gave                   B. succeeded          C. failed                            D. believed

17. A. lived                  B. worked             C. played                    D. graduated

18. A. lessons                   B. medicine           C. subjects                  D. maths

19. A. early                  B. deeply               C. late                        D. simply

20. A. encourage           B. love                  C. astonish                  D. disappoint

It was my first year teaching in a special needs class, and I wasn’t sure what to expect at our yearly. Special Olympics sports meeting. My   1  had some challenges, from learning disabilities to cerebral palsy（大脑性麻痹）.

Mark was one with the latter. Restricted to a   2 , he had to fight his spasms （抽筋） just to control his movements.   3 , he always had a positive attitude and greeted everyone with a huge smile.

His classmates   4  him and always took the time to make sure he was included in group activities, especially Mike, Andy and Lucas, three boys who were good at   5 . Obviously, Mark wanted to be like them, unrestricted by the limitation of his   6  and watching them moving on the playing field seemed to fill him with   7  .

When the day came, Mike, Andy and Lucas   8  well in their sports events, and gave the normally calm audience something to cheer about. Mark sat in his wheelchair on the sidelines,  9   them on.

The final event of the day was the 400 meter race.   10  was invited to either walk or run, according to their ability, around the   11  length of the track.

When Mike, Andy and Lucas reached the finish line, they   12   and turned to look behind them. At the   13   of the crowd, determined not to be left behind, was Mark. All his classmates had   14   him. He was alone on the track with over half the distance left to   15 .

Mike, Andy and Lucas looked at each other, and a silent   16  passed between them. Slowly, they jogged   17  towards their friend, cheering him on   18  he had done for them moments before.

The progress was   19 , but in the end the three star runners and Mark crossed the finish line together to the enthusiastic cries of their teachers and classmates. Seeing the look on Mark’s face as he crossed the finish line, hands upraised and laughing, I came to understand what   20  the Special Olympics, and the determined athletes who compete, so extraordinary.

Years later, I’m still cheering them on.

1.                A．partners        B．friends         C．students  D．classmates

2.                A．bed           B．machine        C．wheelchair    D．desk

3.                A．So             B．However        C．Otherwise D．Therefore

4.                A．protected       B．satisfied        C．respected D．loved

5.                A．sports          B．practice        C．studies   D．expression

6.                A．interests        B．body           C．habits    D．mind

7.                A．wonder        B．trust           C．stress    D．reset

8.                A．trained         B．played          C．operated D．prepared

9.                A．bringing        B．holding         C．cheering  D．moving

10.               A．Someone       B．Nobody        C．Anybody  D．Everyone

11.               A．entire          B．different        C．average   D．equal

12.               A．fell            B．paused         C．rushed    D．rested

13.               A．center         B．front           C．end  D．top

14.               A．left            B．ignored        C．passed    D．helped

15.               A．continue       B．jog            C．walk  D．cover

16.               A．demand        B．thought        C．action D．relief

17.               A．back           B．along          C．again D．on

18.               A．while          B．although        C．since D．as

19.               A．boring         B．great          C．slow  D．relaxing

20.               A．leaves         B．finds           C．keeps D．makes

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 15th 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 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 was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's School of Adventure in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway's cold - water exploits．Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, then decided that this would be his future．
In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long - distance expedition towards the North Pole．It took unbelievable energy．He suffered frostbite （冻疮） ,ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply -loaded sled （雪橇） up and over rocky ice． Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2900 - kilometer journey that has never been completed on skis．
【小题1】What change happened to Saunders after he was 15 yeas old?

A person may have an idea about himself that will prevent him from doing good work.

   He may have the belief that he is not capable (有能力的) of it. A child may think he is __1__ because he doesn’t understand how to make the __2__ of his mental faculties (才能). Older people may be mistaken that they are incapable of learning things new because of their __ 3__.

   A person who believe that he is incapable will not make a real __4__ because he feels that it would be useless. He won’t go at a job with confidence necessary for __5__ , and he won’t  work his hardest way, even though he may think he is doing so. He is __6__ likely to fail, and the failure will __7__ his belief in his competence (才能) .

   Alfred Alder, a famous doctor, had __8__ like this. When he was a small boy, he had a poor __9__ in maths. His teacher told his parents he had no ability in maths in order that they would not __10__ too much of him. In this way, they two __11__ the idea. He accepted __12__ mistaken thinking of his ability, felt that it was useless to __13__ and was very poor at maths, __14__ as they expected.

   One day he worked at a problem which __15__ of the other students had been able to solve.

  Alder __16__ in solving the problem. This gave him confidence (信心). He now __17__ with interest, determination and purpose, and he soon became especially good at __18__. He not only proved that he could learn maths well, but luckily he learned __19__ in his life from his own experience that if a person goes at a job with determination and purpose, he may __20__ himself as well as others by his ability.

1. A. clever                   B. shy                   C. useless                     D. stupid

2. A. biggest                 B. most                 C. highest                     D. deepest

3. A. ability                  B. age                   C. brain                        D. knowledge

4. A. decision                B. success              C. effort                       D. trouble

5. A. work                    B. study                C. improvement            D. success

6. A. truly                        B. really                C. however                   D. therefore

7. A. lead to                 B. strengthen         C. increase                    D. add to

8. A. an experience        B. an example        C. a thought                  D. a story

9. A. state                         B. mind                 C. start                         D. ending

10. A. blame                 B. expect               C. get                           D. win

11. A. developed           B. organized          C. discovered                D. found

12. A. his                     B. her                    C. its                          D. their

13. A. manage               B. succeed             C. try                         D. act

14. A. only                   B. almost               C. just                        D. then

15. A. none                   B. no                    C. no one                    D. nobody

16. A. gave                   B. succeeded          C. failed                            D. believed

17. A. lived                  B. worked             C. played                    D. graduated

18. A. lessons                   B. medicine           C. subjects                  D. maths

19. A. early                  B. deeply               C. late                        D. simply

20. A. encourage           B. love                  C. astonish                  D. disappoint