Some people argue that the pressures on international sportsmen and sportswomen kill the essence(本质) of sport-seeking for personal excellence. Children kick a football around for fun. When they get older and play for local school teams, they become competitive but they still enjoy playing. A single person’s representing his country cannot afford to think about enjoying himself; he has to think only about winning. He is responsible for an entire nation’s hopes, dreams and fame.

A good example is the football World Cup. Football is the world’s most important sport. It is even more important now that the United States is seriously taking it up. Winning the World Cup is perhaps the greatest of international sporting success. Mention “Argentina” to someone and the chances are that he’ll think of football. In a sense, winning the World Cup “put Argentina on the map”.

Sports fans and supporters get quite irrational(失去理性的) about the World Cup. People in England felt that their country was somehow important after they won in 1996. Last year thousands of Scots sold their cars, and even their houses and spent all their money traveling to Argentina where the finals were played.

So am I arguing that international competition kills the idea of sports? Certainly not! Do the Argentineans really believe that because eleven of their men proved that most skillful at football, their nation is in every way better than all others? Not really. But it’s known that you won, and that in one way at least your country is best.

1.What is the writer’s main purpose in the passage?

2.According to the passage, Argentina is world famous because of its ____.

3.According to the passage, if a sportsman thinks about winning, he will ____.

4.What is the writer’s attitude towards international games?

5. From this passage, we can infer that ____.

He proved himself a true gentleman and the beauty of his _______ was seen at its best when he worked with others.

A. temper               B. appearance            C. talent                    D. character

Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley.

The air temperature during the summer has been as high as fifty- seven degrees Celsius. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as seventy -four degrees Celsius.

Death Valley contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide. In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black.

The area was named by a woman in 1849. Thousands of people from other parts of the ountry traveled to the gold mining areas in California. They were in a hurry to get there before other people did. One group trying to reach California decided to take a path called the Old Spanish Trail. By December they had reached Death Valley.  They did not have to survive the terrible heat of summer, but there was still an extreme lack of water. There were few plants for their work animals to eat.

The people could not find a pass through the tall mountains to the west of the Valley, Slowly, they began co suffer from a lack of food. To survive, they killed their work animals for food and began to walk out of the Valley. As they left, one woman looked back and said, "Good -bye, death valley. ” The name has never been changed.

Almost everyone who visits Death Valley visits a huge house called Scotty' s Castle. The building design is Spanish, with high thick walls to provide protection from the fierce heat.

The castle is named for Walter Scott , called Scotty. by his friends. He was a gold miner. He told everyone that he built the house with money he made from his gold mine. Many people believed him. But it was not really the truth.

1. The first two paragraphs discuss Death Valley' s ________.

2.The volcanoes mentioned in the third paragraph proved ________.

3.The woman who named Death Valley intended to ________.

4.If the passage continues, it will be about ________.

5.The main idea of the passage is about ________.

完形填空（共20小题；每题1分，满分20分）

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

James was a curious young man. Everywhere he went, he liked to observe things and to __21__ people—what they did, what they said and what they wore. Subconsciously, he was making quick __22__ all the time. He couldn’t really __23__ it; it just happened.

For example, he once saw a man whose body was __24__ with tattoos(文身). That man was strong and walked proudly. James imagined his __25__ people up, sometimes with sticks and sometimes with his hands, speaking __26__ words each time he opened his mouth. A troublemaker, perhaps, James __27__ to himself.

Sometimes James felt __28__ for judging others this way, but that feeling was __29__ and never really lasted.

Then, one day, he saw a woman seated alone in a café. The woman was __30__, quite fat, and although she was not __31__, James could tell she was a short lady. __32__, James glanced across at her, looking at her from top to bottom. As his eyes reached her __33__, he got a shock.

There she was, on her left foot, wearing a platform shoe that was at least 3 inches high. __34__ could such a little middle-aged lady who was average-looking at best be so vain as to wear high platforms? Look beautiful? In that short moment of time, __35__ thoughts flowed through James’ mind.

A second later, James’ eyes naturally moved across to the lady’s right foot. And there, he got an even bigger __36__. ----It was a flat shoe. She was not vain; she had a birth defect(缺陷) ----uneven length of her legs. If anything, she deserved __37__ and understanding, certainly not blame, not even mental ones.

James was __38__ with guilt. It was a(n) __39__ lesson he learned about not __40__ conclusions, about not judging people, especially so quickly.

He proved himself a true gentleman and the beauty of his _____ was seen at its best when he worked with others.?

A.temper

B.appearance?

C.talent

D.character?