A rabbit is running into its hole. You may ask, “What happened?”
Well, when a rabbit sees something dangerous, it runs away. Its tail moves up and down as it runs. When other rabbits see this tail moving up and down, they run too. They know that there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.
Many other animals use this kind of language. When a bee found some food, it goes back to his home. It cannot tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.
Some animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger
comes near. A cat purrs (发出呼噜呼噜的声音)when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning.
But human beings have something that no animals have –-- a large number of words about things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other information, to tell or inform other people what is in our mind or how we feel. By writing words down we can remind ourselves of the things what have happened, or send messages to people far away. No animals can do this. No animals has the wonderful power of language.
No one knows how man learned to make words. Somehow he learned to make them. As centuries went by, he made more and more new words. This is what we mean by language.  People living in different countries made different kinds of words. Today there are about fifteen hundred different languages in the world. A very large English dictionary, for example,  contains four or five hundred thousand words. But we do not know all these. The words we know are called vocabulary. We should try to make our vocabulary larger. Read as many books as possible. When we meet a new word, look it up in the dictionary. A dictionary is the Most useful book.
【小题1】 When a rabbit gives the other rabbits a signal of danger, it _______.

What makes 15,000 men and women run for hours, and what makes them run through the streets on a cold day without coats? I was one of those runners.  The race is called marathon (马拉松).
I had never run more than eight miles before, and here I was training.  Since the race is in April, I had to run throughout the winter, and in Boston, winters are cold. For most people, just putting on their shirts, sweaters, jackets, and hats is exercise enough. I found myself out on the dark streets, running along ice sidewalks (人行道). Even in gloves, my fingers got so cold that they looked like red carrots. My nose didn’t get warm until lunchtime !
Finally, the big day arrived. The weather was cold, with ice and rain. Bang! The gun sounded, and we started. I didn’t go anywhere at first because I was standing behind so many people. I had to wait for them to move.
At first, the running was easy.  The other runners just seemed to pull me along. Somewhere around the 20-mile mark I even said to myself, "This is nothing, why did I train so hard?"
Then I hit "the wall". "The wall" is what marathon runners call the special point. I knew my body reached the point and I thought I couldn’t go any more. I was out of breath and my legs turned into pieces of wood.  I was almost falling down.  I can’t remember anything about the last five miles of the race.
I kept running though. At last, I heard a voice at the finishing line.
"You look good," my friend Ted said. "How did it feel?"
"Wonderful !" I replied.
For everything, if you devote yourself into it, there will be a way. I finished the race, at least, in my heart, I was the winner.
【小题1】Which one best describes the weather on the race day?

What makes 15,000 men and women run for hours, and what makes them run through the streets on a cold day without coats? I was one of those runners.  The race is called marathon (马拉松).

I had never run more than eight miles before, and here I was training.  Since the race is in April, I had to run throughout the winter, and in Boston, winters are cold. For most people, just putting on their shirts, sweaters, jackets, and hats is exercise enough. I found myself out on the dark streets, running along ice sidewalks (人行道). Even in gloves, my fingers got so cold that they looked like red carrots. My nose didn't get warm until lunchtime !

Finally, the big day arrived. The weather was cold, with ice and rain. Bang! The gun sounded, and we started. I didn't go anywhere at first because I was standing behind so many people. I had to wait for them to move.

At first, the running was easy.  The other runners just seemed to pull me along. Somewhere around the 20-mile mark I even said to myself, "This is nothing, why did I train so hard?"

Then I hit "the wall". "The wall" is what marathon runners call the special point. I knew my body reached the point and I thought I couldn't go any more. I was out of breath and my legs turned into pieces of wood.  I was almost falling down.  I can't remember anything about the last five miles of the race.

I kept running though. At last, I heard a voice at the finishing line.

"You look good," my friend Ted said. "How did it feel?"

"Wonderful !" I replied.

For everything, if you devote yourself into it, there will be a way. I finished the race, at least, in my heart, I was the winner.

1.Which one best describes the weather on the race day?

2. How did the writer feel about the race during the first 20 miles?

3. According to the article, what must someone do to prepare for a marathon?

4.Then I hit "the wall". What do you think "hit the wall" means here?