James Cleveland Owens was the son of a farmer and the grandson of black slaves. His family moved to Cleveland when he was 9. There, a school teacher asked the youth his name.

    “J. C.，" he replied.

     She thought he had said “Jesse", and he had a new name.

    Owens ran his first race at age 13. After high school, he went to Ohio State University. He had to work part time so as to pay for his education. As a second?year student, in the Big Ten games in 1935, he set even more records than he would in the Olympic Games a year later.

     A week before the Big Ten meet, Owens accidentally fell down a flight of stairs.His back hurt so much that he could not exercise all week, and he had to be helped in and out of the car that drove him to the meet. He refused to listen to the suggestions that he give up and said he would try, event by event. He did try, and the results are in the record book.

     The stage was set for Owens' victory at the Olympic Games in Berlin the next year, and his success would come to be regarded as not only athletic(体育的) but also political. Hitler did not congratulate any of the African?American winners.

     “It was all right with me," he said years later. “I didn't go to Berlin to shake hands with him, anyway."

     Having returned from Berlin, he received no telephone calls from the president of his own country, either. In fact, he was not honored by the United States until 1976, four years before his death.

     Owens' Olympic victories made little difference to him. He earned his living by looking after a school playground, and accepted money to race against cars,  trucks, motorcycles, and dogs.

     “Sure, it bothered(烦扰) me," he said later. “But at least it was an honest living. I had to eat."

     In time, however, his gold medals(奖牌) changed his life. “They have kept me alive over the years," he once said. “Time has stood still for me. That golden moment dies hard."

1.Owens got his other name “Jesse" when  ________.

A. he went to Ohio State University

B. his teacher made fun of him

C. his teacher took “J. C." for “Jesse"

D. he won gold medals in the Big Ten meet  

2.In the Big Ten meet, Owens  ________.

A. hurt himself in the back

B. succeeded in setting many records

C. tried every sports event but failed

D. had to give up some events 

3.We can infer from the text that Owens was treated unfairly in the US at that time because  ________.

A. he was not of the right race

B. he was the son of a poor farmer

C. he didn't shake hands with Hitler

D. he didn't talk to the US president on the phone 

4.When Owens says “They have kept me alive over the years," he meansthat the medals  ________.

A. have been changed for money to help him live on

B. have made him famous in the US

C. have encouraged him to overcome difficulties in life

D. have kept him busy with all kinds of jobs 

5. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A. Jesse Owens, a Great American Athlete

B. Golden Moment—a Life?time Struggle

C. Making a Living as a Sportsman

D. How to Be a Successful Athlete? 

Short 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 object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.

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

The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.

Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many peiole dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy, ’”Saunders says.

In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.

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

This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.

The turning point in Saunders’life came when _____

A. he started to play ball games

B. he got a mountain bike at age 15

C. he ran his first marathon at age 18

D. he started to receive Ridgway’s training

We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.

A. dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy

B. built up his body together with Saunders

C. hired Saunders for his cold-water experience

D. won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic

What do we know about Saunders?

A. He once worked at a school in Scotland.

B. He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.

C. He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.

D. He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.

The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.

A. Excited   B. Convinced   C. Delighted    D. Fascinated

It can be inferred tat Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.

A. was accompanied by his old playmates

B. set a record in the North Pole expedition

C. was supported by other Arctic explorers

D. made him well-known in the 1960s

Little__that the basketball he once played could be sold for 150,000 Yuan at the auction(拍卖).

SECTION C (12 points)

Direction: Complete the following passage by using one word that best fits the context.

Winter swimming has become popular in Beijing. Many years ago,   48   people would go swimming in the city waters. But now there is a winter swimming club,   49   has more than 2,000 members. The oldest is 84 years of age and the youngest is only 7. The members are from all walks of life. They may be workers, peasants, soldiers, teachers and students. Even though it is now the coldest time of the season and the water   50   is around 0℃, many winter swimmers still swim in the icy waters. They enjoy   51   in the lake, while people by the water are wearing   52   clothes.

Why are so many people interested in winter swimming? Because it can do   53   to your health.

Bei Sha is   54   good example, he is 69 years old, and he once suffered from heart trouble for 26 years. After ten years of winter swimming, he is now   55   good health.

It is sometimes reported that strange flying objects have been seen high up in the sky. People call these strange objects Unidentified(不明的)Flying Objects(UFOs). These UFOs caused a lot of interest. Some of the reports about them are difficult to believe.Some have been explained in scientific ways. Others have never been explained.

Here is an account of UFOs from a report.

Dennis Bardens,who wrote an article,tells us that he once saw a UFO himself.He was having dinner one night with a friend near Tripoli(的黎波里),Libya(利比亚),and after dinner the two men walked across a yard to his room to look at some papers.Bardens noticed that the moon looked strange that night.

“It wasn't the moon,”was the reply.

They watched the light and saw that it was moving.It seemed to be an object rather like a big plate.In some ways it looked like smoke with a light on it,but it wasn't smoke because it didn't change its shape.It was moving in a regular way.That is to say,it didn't go suddenly faster or more slowly,and it didn't go higher or lower.So the two men decided that there must be men in it.

When it came nearer to Libya,Bardens said that he felt eyes looking at him.He was being watched in the darkness.

When it was nearer,they noticed that the bottom parts were brighter than the top.The bottom was yellow and the top was red.Then the object suddenly turned away and left Libya,moving very fast.

On a later day Bardens talked to other people about it,and he found some who had seen it.They all described(描述)it in the same way.Could they all the mistaken?

60.The UFOs are______.

A.flying high up in the sky       B.strange flying objects

C.difficult to believe            D.very interested

61.A UFO was seen one night______.

A.when they were walking across a yard to Bardens' room

B.while they were looking at the light

C.when Bardens noticed the moon appearing strange

D.while they were having dinner

62.The UFO looked like______.

A.smoke                                   B.light

C.a moving object                         D.a large plate

63.When the UFO came nearer to Libya,______.

A.it disappeared all at once

B.it suddenly turned away and left

C.it was watched in the darkness

D.Bardens was looking at it