In-line skating（滚轴溜冰）is a fun sport that everyone can enjoy. Follow these safety tips to keep skating safe and fun.
Step 1: Gear up!
Even before you put on your skates, put on all your safety gear（护具）.
Step 2: Buckle up!
Strap（绑紧）on your skates. Make sure they fit well and are snugly（紧贴）around your ankles. This helps your ankles stay strong and straight.

Step 3: Fall down!
You probably do not usually try to fall. But it is good to practice falling on skates. Fall forward onto your knee pads. Put out your hands and let your wrist guards hit the ground. See? Are you surprised that it doesn’t hurt?
Practice falling until it is easy to fall forward and get up again. If you are not afraid to fall, you will try new things. Knowing how to fall will help you be a better skater and find your balance. When you can stay balanced, you won’t fall as much.
Step 4: Stop!
Make sure you can stop on your skates. The quickest and safest is probably the brake stop. The brake is usually on the back of the right skate.
The brake stop:
Roll forward with your skates pointing the same way. Let your right skate roll a little forward. Bend your knees as if you are sitting down. Then press your right heel down hard. This will make your brake pad drag on the ground until you stop.
The T stop:
Roll forward with your skates pointing the same way. Then turn your right foot out so the toes are pointing to your right. Drag your right skate. Let the wheels drag on the ground until you come to a stop.
Another way to stop is to run or jump onto the grass.
Step 5: Roll around!
Find a flat, smooth place to practice. Do not skate in streets. Parks and playgrounds are good places to practice. Look for “No skating” signs to make sure you can skate there.
【小题1】According to the article, which of these steps are most important for a new skater?

New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses that they use in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to take care of them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact, they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole Unite States.
The cost of shoeing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty--five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two to three hours to do the job.  
A blacksmith’s job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse’s foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse’s leg while he works. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses ------ for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country form Ireland in 1948.He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and, as he puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”
【小题1】According to the reading passage, a blacksmith must be likely a         man.

In-line skating（滚轴溜冰）is a fun sport that everyone can enjoy. Follow these safety tips to keep skating safe and fun.
Step 1: Gear up!
Even before you put on your skates, put on all your safety gear（护具）.
Step 2: Buckle up!
Strap（绑紧）on your skates. Make sure they fit well and are snugly（紧贴）around your ankles. This helps your ankles stay strong and straight.

Step 3: Fall down!
You probably do not usually try to fall. But it is good to practice falling on skates. Fall forward onto your knee pads. Put out your hands and let your wrist guards hit the ground. See? Are you surprised that it doesn’t hurt?
Practice falling until it is easy to fall forward and get up again. If you are not afraid to fall, you will try new things. Knowing how to fall will help you be a better skater and find your balance. When you can stay balanced, you won’t fall as much.
Step 4: Stop!
Make sure you can stop on your skates. The quickest and safest is probably the brake stop. The brake is usually on the back of the right skate.
The brake stop:
Roll forward with your skates pointing the same way. Let your right skate roll a little forward. Bend your knees as if you are sitting down. Then press your right heel down hard. This will make your brake pad drag on the ground until you stop.
The T stop:
Roll forward with your skates pointing the same way. Then turn your right foot out so the toes are pointing to your right. Drag your right skate. Let the wheels drag on the ground until you come to a stop.
Another way to stop is to run or jump onto the grass.
Step 5: Roll around!
Find a flat, smooth place to practice. Do not skate in streets. Parks and playgrounds are good places to practice. Look for “No skating” signs to make sure you can skate there

1. 1.

   According to the article, which of these steps are most important for a new skater?

   1. A.
      Learn to fall and stop safely
   2. B.
      Find a class and skate fast
   3. C.
      Relax and have fun
   4. D.
      Buy expensive gear and skates
2. 2.

   In the step right after “Buckle up!” you should practice how to _____________

   1. A.
      skate fast
   2. B.
      brake
   3. C.
      fall safely
   4. D.
      put on gear
3. 3.

   To begin a brake stop, you should let your right skate roll forward, bend your knees, and _________

   1. A.
      turn your foot
   2. B.
      press your right heel down
   3. C.
      put your wrists out in front
   4. D.
      tighten your skates
4. 4.

   How is the passage organized?

   1. A.
      It tells stories about skating
   2. B.
      It gives descriptions of skates
   3. C.
      It uses a question-and-answer form
   4. D.
      It gives step-by-step instructions

When did you last see a polar bear(北极熊）? On a trip to a zoo,perhaps?  If you had attended a winter activity in New York a few years ago,  you would have seen a whole polar bear club.  These "Polar Bears" are people who meet frequently in the winter to swim in freezing cold water.  That day, the air temperature was 3℃, and the water temperature was a little higher.  The members of the Polar Bear Club at Coney Island, New York are usually about the age of 60.  Members must satisfy two requirements.  First, they must get along well with everyone else in the group; this is very important because there are so many different kinds of people in the club.  Polar Bears must also agree to swim outdoors at least twice a month from November through February.

Doctors don't agree about the medical effects of cold-winter swimming.  Some are worried about the dangers of a condition in which the body's temperature drops so low that finally the heart stops.  Other doctors, however, point out that there is more danger of a heart attack during summer swimming because the difference between the air temperature and water temperature is much greater in summer than in winter.

The Polar Bears themselves are satisfied with the benefits of cold-water swimming.  They say that their favorite form of exercise is very good for the circulatory system(循环系统）because it forces the blood to move fast to keep the body warm.  Cold-water swimmers usually turn bright red after a few minutes in the water.  A person who turns blue probably has a very poor circulatory system and should not try cold-water swimming.

　　The main benefits of cold-water swimming are probably mental.The Polar Bears love to swim all year round;  they find it fun and relaxing.  As one 70-year-old woman says,"When I go into water, I pour my troubles into the ocean and let them float away."

The members of the Polar Bear Club must meet the following requirements except that_____.

A.they must swim outdoors at least 8 times in the four cold months

B.they must reach the age of 60

C.they should be easy to make friends with

D.they must agree to swim outdoors from November through February

According to the passage, some doctors believe it is true that_____.

A.Polar Bears are bears swimming in freezing water

B.cold-water swimming can make the body temperature dangerously high

C.you are healthy if cold-water swimming turns your skin color blue

D.cold-water swimming causes more heart attacks in summer than in winter

The Polar Bears like to swim year-round, for_____.

A.it is an easy way to keep the body warm in winter          B.they can remain young

C.they find it enjoyable and interesting        D.they might meet fewer troubles in life

The passage is mainly about_____.

A.the requirements of the Polar Bear Club         

B. a group of cold-water-swimming livers

C.the Polar Bears' life in New York            

D. doctors' ideas about cold-water swimming

单词拼写：（共10小题，每小题1分）。

The factory is l__________ (坐落于) in the west of the city .                  1. ____________

P_________ (贫穷) prevented the boy from continuing his education .          2. ____________

Careful examination of the ruins showed new e________ (证据) .             3 ______________

I look down upon anyone who always r_______(依靠，依赖) on others .        4. _____________

F_________(幸运地), the passengers escaped being injured in the accident .     5. _____________

He survived the plane c__________(飞机失事) only to die in the desert .        6. ____________

He had to r_____ (辞职) his position as manager of the company owing to his illness . 7. _________

No smoking will be allowed within a future city’s l_________ (范围，限制) .    8. ____________

Come to see me whenever it is c________ (方便的) to you .                   9. ___________

You can take these apples as many as you like because they are free of c____(免费). 10.__________