While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.
The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to compete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.
I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I’m not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold – his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.
I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.
But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.
No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout “Come on, you can do it!” and he did.
A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.
Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.
In a competition where athletes remove their silver medals feeling they have somehow been cheated out of gold, or when they act so proudly in front of their competitors , it is nice to watch an underdog.
【小题1】From the passage we can learn that the young man        .

Very far away from the city lived a poor farmer and his wife. In front of their house was a small dirt road. Very few cars drove on this road because it was so far from the city. On the dirt road, there was a big hole filled with water. The hole was very deep, but drivers on the road didn't know just how deep. Drivers always drove into the hole, but they never drove out.

One day, a man in a new car was driving down the road. He saw the hole with the water, but he didn't think it was very deep. He drove into the hole, but he couldn't drive out. The man saw the farmer on his tractor working in the field, and he signaled to the farmer. The farmer drove over to the man in the new car.

“Is there a problem?”asked the farmer.

“Yes,”said the man.“My car is stuck in this hole. Can you help me?”

“Maybe,”said the farmer.“But I'm very busy.”

“lf you help me, I'll pay you,” said the man.

“OK,”said the farmer. The farmer pulled the car out of the hole with his tractor, and the man paid him a lot of money. The man looked at the farmer and said,“You must. make a lot of money pulling cars out of this hole day and night.”

“Actually, no,”said the farmer.

“Why not?”asked the man.

“The hole is very deep, and a lot of people get stuck and ask for help. But I don't make money day and night because I don't pull cars out at night.”

“At night I'm busy filling the hole with water,” answered the farmer.

1.The reason why few cars drove on the small dirt road was that __________ .

A．there was a big and deep hole             B．the couple was not polite enough

C．it had a long distance from the city          D．drivers were afraid of being in the hole

2.According to paragraph 2, we can know about the man in a new car __________ .

A．he just learned to drive a car              B．it was the first time that he passed there

C．he knew how deep the hole was            D．he knew the farmer in the field

3.What did the farmer usually do at night?

A．He helped pull out cars.                  B．He made money.

C．He filled water to the hole                 D．He slept at home.

单词拼写（每空1分，共10分）（原创）

1.Luckily, our government has paid special attention to the problem of          (污染).

2.The survival of civilization depends on many          (环境) factors.

3.Our local weather station          (预报) there would be a thunderstorm the next day.

4.You need to spend more time on your English study, as far as I’m       (就……而言).

5.He made very positive          (贡献) to the success of the project.

6.The report          (强调) that students should improve math skills.

7.Her mother is a quiet woman with          (优雅的) manners.

8.The          (经济) of our country has been developing steadily.

9.Do you have any          (以前的) experience of this type of work?

10.I don’t have the          (力气) to do it again.

It was the final examination. The class was very   36  . I was checking my paper   37   I saw my best friend, Samy,   38   to cheat at the exam. 

Samy scribbled（潦草地写） the   39   to some questions on his answer sheet   40   looking at a piece of paper. I was   41   and did not know what to do. My heart was beating   42   by each second. Suddenly, Samy noticed me staring at him.

He made a hand gesture, asking me not to   43   the teacher. I was deep in thoughts when the teacher said, “Time’s up! Please put down your pens! Stop   44  ! I will collect your papers.” I was waken out of my   45   upon hearing the loud voice of the teacher. I went home feeling very   46  . I was so frustrated   47   I even talked to my toys!

The next day, I went straight to the   48   office for I decided to tell the teacher that Samy   49   yesterday. I plucked up（鼓起） my   50   and walked into the office. I told the teacher that Samy had cheated. She was very angry. During break, she   51       Samy and Samy cried. He   52   his face as he ran out of the teachers’ office after he was scolded. After that incident, Samy always ignored me whenever I approached him. I was very sad. I thought my   53   with him must be over.

A few more days later, I was at the bus stop   54   for my bus when Samy came to me with a guilty look on his face. He said, “I’m sorry, I have now   55   cheating at the exam. Will you forgive me?” “Sure,” I replied with a smile. “But promise me never to cheat again.” “I promise!” he replied. Then we walked home happily.

36. A. silent              B. noisy                    C. crowded                D. dirty

37. A. while              B. when                     C. as                          D. whenever

38. A. wanting                     B. searching                  C. attempting                D. Wishing

39. A. sentences           B. words                   C. notes                     D. answers

40. A. before             B. after                     C. until                      D. once

41. A. glad                        B. anxious                  C. afraid                    D. sad

42. A. quicker and quicker                             B. harder and harder

   C. slower and slower                               D. heavier and heavier

43. A. inform             B. phone                    C. tell                               D. ask

44. A. talking             B. writing                  C. looking                  D. thinking

45. A. thoughts           B. room                     C. soul                       D. seat

46. A. bad                 B. worried                 C. calm                     D. miserable

47. A. as                    B. which                   C. but                       D. that

48. A. school’s                  B. headmaster’s                 C. teachers’                D. parents’

49. A. cheated          B. had cheated            C. was cheating           D. had been cheating

50. A. spirit               B. courage                  C. feet                       D. strength

51. A. hit                   B. beat                       C. told                       D. scolded

52. A. covered            B. washed                  C. lowered                 D. raised

53. A. happiness       B. friendship              C. incident                        D. business

54. A. waited              B. to wait                         C. waiting                 D. wait

55. A. appreciated       B. minded                  C. regretted               D. frightened

While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an incredible(难以置信的) sight. The  36  was swimming and started with only three men. For one reason or another, two of them had a 37 start, so they were disqualified. That would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to  38 against.
I watched the man  39  off the blocks and knew immediately that something was wrong. Now I’m not an expert  40  but I do know a good dive 41 a poor one, and this was not exactly medal  42  . I listened to the crowd begin to  43 this poor man that was clearly having a  44  time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was 45  he made a few desperate(拼命的) stroke(划水) and you could tell he was exhausted.
But in those few  46 strokes, the crowd had changed. No longer were they laughing, but beginning to  47 . Some even began to  48  things like, “Come on, you can do it!” and he 49  finished his race. The crowd went  50 . Even though he recorded one of the  51 times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other 52 .
In a competition where athletes remove their silver medals, feeling they have  53 been cheated out of gold, or when they act so  54  in front of their competitors, it is nice to watch an underdog(败者), a man that gave his all --- knowing that he had no chance, but competed because of his  55  and the spirit of the games.