During my review for the medical boards, I gained 101 pounds in four months and promised to exercise when all of this was over. I successfully passed the medical boards and now I have to face the music.
One morning, I woke up and decided to go to a park to start working out. I got out of bed, washed my face, brushed my teeth and put on my sports shoes. Then I headed for the park. While going there, I decided to set a goal for myself, that, I had to finish 10 rounds before I went home.
Upon reaching the park, I joined the people in walking around the park. I was enjoying every step, breathing in fresh air, appreciating the green grass and looking at the dried leaves falling from the trees while listening to my iPod.
On my 5th round, I felt tired, hungry and thirsty. I thought of giving it up, going home and sleeping again. As the idea battled in my mind, I was reminded about the goal I had set just a while ago. I kept on walking and as I looked around, I saw myself in the midst of men and women much older than me who continued to move on. Some even suffered from a stroke(中风) that had difficulty walking, some took on small steps with a cane on hand and some took on pauses before they continued their walk but still they kept on walking.
Suddenly I realized that each of us has set our own goals in our lives, such as reaching a dream, building up a career, correcting a past mistake or starting a business. The process won’t be easy. We may encounter(遇到) a lot of difficulties and obstacles that may push us to just give up.
Amazed by the men and women whom I walked with that morning, I finished my goal in the end.
Let us be inspired with the people around us who experience the same or even a greater amount of difficulty but still don’t give up and continue until they reach their goals and now are savoring(享受) their success.
【小题1】What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 mean?

Chilean rescued miner Edison Pena ran the New York City Marathon on November 7th , less than a month after he was rescued from a collapsed (坍塌的) mine that trapped him and the other 32 miners for 69 days. Pena ran 10 km daily through the mine’s tunnels (巷道) to beat the anxiety, wearing cut-down boots until rescuers sent him a pair of sports shoes through a narrow hole that served as the miners’ “lifeline” to the surface.
“When I ran in the darkness, I was running for life,” Pena told a news conference in New York. “I was running to show that I wasn’t just waiting around. I also wanted God to see that I really wanted to live.” The miners were discovered alive on August 22---17 days after the mine collapsed, but it took many more days for rescuers to dig a hole big enough to bring them out.
The New York Road Runners, which organizes the marathon, had invited Edison Pena to the event after hearing his story. They thought he could ride in the lead vehicle or hold the finish line tape, but Pena said last week he did not want to watch, he wanted to run. “I was very eager to take on this big challenge,” he said. “I wanted to show the world I could run.” He hoped to run the 26.2-mile race in about six hours. “I have a knee injury, but I am eager to cross the finish line,” he said.    
An Elvis Presley fan who asked rescuers to send the singer’s music down into the mine, Pena broke into song at the news conference with the Presley hit Return to Sender.
On the morning of November 7^th, Pena, known as “the runner” by fellow miners trapped with him, set out to cover the course along with thousands of other runners and completed the race in five hours and 40 minutes.
【小题1】When trapped underground, Pena ran a long way every day to _______.

Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 53-56.
Important words to learn: E Essential I Improver A Advanced
shoot [?u:t]
▲verb (shot, shot) WEAPON→1 E to fire a bullet or an arrow, or to hit, injure or kill a person or animal by firing a bullet or arrow at them: If he’s not armed, don’t shoot. ⊙The kids were shooting arrows at a target.⊙She was shot three times in the head.⊙He has a license to shoot pheasants on the farmer’s land. ⊙A policeman was shot dead in the city centre last night. ⊙ The troops were told to shoot to kill. SPORT→2 A to try to score points for yourself or your team, in sports involving a ball, by kicking, hitting or throwing the ball towards the goal: He shot from the middle of the field and still managed to score. MOVE QUICKLY→3 A to move in a particular direction very quickly and directly: She shot past me several meters before the finishing line. ⊙ He shot out of the office a minute ago ─ I think he was late for a meeting.⊙They were just shooting off to town so we didn’t stop to speak.
shooter ['?u:t?] noun[C]He’s thought to be the best shooter in the league.
▲idioms have shot your bolt UK INFORMAL to have already achieved all that you have the power, ability or strength to do and to be unable to do more: He started off the game well but seemed to have shot his bolt by half-time.
? shoot yourself in the foot to do something without intending to which spoils a situation for yourself
? shoot your mouth off INFORMAL to talk too much in a loud and uncontrolled way: It’s just like Richard to go shooting his mouth off about other people’s affairs.
? shoot for the moon US to ask for the best or the most you could hope for: You might as well shoot for the moon and ask for a promotion as well as a raise.
? shoot questions at sb to ask someone a lot of questions very quickly, one after the other: He shot questions at me so quickly that I didn’t even have time to answer.
? shoot the breeze US INFORMAL to talk with someone or a group of people about things which are not important: We sat out on the porch, just shooting the breeze.
▲ phrasal verbs shoot sth down to destroy an aircraft or make an aircraft, bird, etc. fall to the ground by shooting at it: He was killed during the war when his plane was shot down.
shoot sb down to shoot and usually kill someone, showing no sympathy: I saw Tom shoot him down like a dog in the street.
shoot for/at sth US to try to do something: It’s worth taking chances when you’re shooting at a chance of fame and wealth.
shoot out If opposing groups or people armed with guns shoot it out, they shoot at each other until one of the groups or people is dead or defeated.
shoot through AUSTRALIAN INFORMAL to leave a place very quickly, especially in order to avoid having to do something
shoot up INCREASE→INFORMAL to grow in size, or increase in number or level, very quickly: David has really shot up since I saw him last. ⊙Prices shot up by 25%.
▲ noun PLANT→1[C]the first part of a plant to appear above the ground as it develops from a seed, or any new growth on an already existing plant: Two weeks after we’d planted the seeds, little green shoots started to appear. ⊙FIGURATIVE The first green shoots (="hopeful" signs) of economic recovery have started to appear.
FILM→2[C USUALLY SINGULAR] when photographer take a series of photographs, usually of the same person or people in the same place: We did a fashion shoot on the beach, with the girls modeling swimwear. WEAPON→3[C]an occasion on which a group of people go to an area of the countryside to shoot animals
shooting ['?u:ti?] noun 1 A [U]when bullets are shot from guns or other weapons: We heard some shooting in the night. 2 A [C]when someone is injured or killed by a bullet shot from a gun: There have been a number of shootings in the capital this week. 3[U]the sport of shooting animals or birds: pleasant/grouse shooting ⊙ He goes shooting most weekends.
【小题1】What does the phrase “green shoots” mean in “You will be bound to see that the green shoots of your English level start to grow.”?

Though he hasn’t achieved the goal, he isn’t a failure. _____ , he is a true man indeed. 

Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions 53-56.

Important words to learn: E Essential I Improver A Advanced

shoot [ʃu:t]

▲verb (shot, shot) WEAPON→1 E to fire a bullet or an arrow, or to hit, injure or kill a person or animal by firing a bullet or arrow at them: If he’s not armed, don’t shoot. ⊙ The kids were shooting arrows at a target. ⊙She was shot three times in the head.⊙ He has a license to shoot pheasants on the farmer’s land. ⊙ A policeman was shot dead in the city centre last night. ⊙ The troops were told to shoot to kill. SPORT→2 A to try to score points for yourself or your team, in sports involving a ball, by kicking, hitting or throwing the ball towards the goal: He shot from the middle of the field and still managed to score. MOVE QUICKLY→3 A to move in a particular direction very quickly and directly: She shot past me several meters before the finishing line. ⊙ He shot out of the office a minute ago ─ I think he was late for a meeting. ⊙ They were just shooting off to town so we didn’t stop to speak.

shooter ['ʃu:tə] noun[C]He’s thought to be the best shooter in the league.

▲idioms have shot your bolt UK INFORMAL to have already achieved all that you have the power, ability or strength to do and to be unable to do more: He started off the game well but seemed to have shot his bolt by half-time.

• shoot yourself in the foot to do something without intending to which spoils a situation for yourself

• shoot your mouth off INFORMAL to talk too much in a loud and uncontrolled way: It’s just like Richard to go shooting his mouth off about other people’s affairs.

• shoot for the moon US to ask for the best or the most you could hope for: You might as well shoot for the moon and ask for a promotion as well as a raise.

• shoot questions at sb to ask someone a lot of questions very quickly, one after the other: He shot questions at me so quickly that I didn’t even have time to answer.

• shoot the breeze US INFORMAL to talk with someone or a group of people about things which are not important: We sat out on the porch, just shooting the breeze.

▲ phrasal verbs shoot sth down to destroy an aircraft or make an aircraft, bird, etc. fall to the ground by shooting at it: He was killed during the war when his plane was shot down.

shoot sb down to shoot and usually kill someone, showing no sympathy: I saw Tom shoot him down like a dog in the street.

shoot for/at sth US to try to do something: It’s worth taking chances when you’re shooting at a chance of fame and wealth.

shoot out If opposing groups or people armed with guns shoot it out, they shoot at each other until one of the groups or people is dead or defeated.

shoot through AUSTRALIAN INFORMAL to leave a place very quickly, especially in order to avoid having to do something

shoot up INCREASE→INFORMAL to grow in size, or increase in number or level, very quickly: David has really shot up since I saw him last. ⊙ Prices shot up by 25%.

▲ noun PLANT→1[C]the first part of a plant to appear above the ground as it develops from a seed, or any new growth on an already existing plant: Two weeks after we’d planted the seeds, little green shoots started to appear. ⊙ FIGURATIVE The first green shoots (=hopeful signs) of economic recovery have started to appear.

FILM→2[C USUALLY SINGULAR] when photographer take a series of photographs, usually of the same person or people in the same place: We did a fashion shoot on the beach, with the girls modeling swimwear. WEAPON→3[C]an occasion on which a group of people go to an area of the countryside to shoot animals

shooting ['ʃu:tiŋ] noun 1 A [U]when bullets are shot from guns or other weapons: We heard some shooting in the night. 2 A [C]when someone is injured or killed by a bullet shot from a gun: There have been a number of shootings in the capital this week. 3[U]the sport of shooting animals or birds: pleasant/grouse shooting ⊙ He goes shooting most weekends.

53. What does the phrase “green shoots” mean in “You will be bound to see that the green shoots of your English level start to grow.”?

         A. Great efforts.                                                     B. Signs of improving.

         C. Learning ability.                                                 D. Change in method.

54. Fill in the blank in the sentence “When it is achieved, there will be other plans to _________.”

         A. shoot at                          B. shoot up                C. shoot down          D. shoot through

55. If you are suffering from the consequence of the plan without full consideration, we say you are __________.

         A. shooting the breeze                                         B. shooting your mouth off

         C. shooting yourself in the foot                          D. shooting questions at somebody

56. Choose a word to complete the sentence “__________ is one of the oldest sport events, which is popular with people both at home and abroad.”

A. Shooter                           B. Shoot                      C. Shot                        D. Shooting