To Be Lucky, Be Prepared

I remember the exact moment I learned the principle of preparing for luck.

I was on the wrestling team. Now, if there’s one thing I can tell you about any sport, it is that wrestling is probably the sport that has the least __1__. There are only two people out on the mat, so you cannot __2__ it on your teammates or your coach. And guess what? There is no __3__ because we do the whole thing indoors, so you can’t say, “It was raining.” or “It was snowing.” It makes __4__ to say wrestling is the sport with the least luck.

On our team were two world champions; one of them had been a world champion five times. We __5__ had five people who were national champions. One of them was a guy __6__ the name of John.

John had never been __7__ in my high school wrestling competition that I could remember, __8__ he was a national champion. There was nobody locally who could touch him.

One day, we __9__ a match with our biggest opponent (对手). John went out on the mat, and about a minute and 30 seconds into the match he tried to make a particular __10__. He rolled over, and his opponent __11__ him halfway through his roll. He was pinned __12__！

The match was over.

I remember on the bus on the way home, one of our teammates tried to __13__ John by saying, “Oh, he just got lucky.” And John said, “That’s so stupid. The opportunity presented itself, __14__ he exploited it.”

We used to have this big sign in our wrestling room that the coach had __15__ there: “Luck is what happens when opportunity __16__ preparation.”

John’s opponent was prepared to exploit this opportunity. The probability of __17__ John was not strong, and he knew it. But he paid attention to the __18__ opportunity to present itself, and he defeated and pinned a five－time national champion.

In other words, the real __19__ is “Be prepared！” It’s not just finding the opportunity; you have to be prepared to __20__ it.

1．　 A. luck　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. risk

C. difficulty　 　　　　 D. opportunity

2．　 A. accuse　 　　　　　 B. blame

C. doubt　 　　　　　　 D. keep

3．　 A. stress　 　　　　　　 B. injury

C. weather　 　　　　 D. standard

4．　 A. judgment　 　　　　　　　 B. progress

C. sense　 　　　　　　 D. way

5．　 A. also　 　　　　　　　 B. even

C. only　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. once

6．　 A. under　 　　　　　　 B. for

C. in　 　　　　　　　　　 D. by

7．　 A. hurt　 　　　　　　　 B. chosen

C. trained　 　　　　　 D. defeated

8．　 A. although　 　　　　 B. because

C. unless　 　　　　　　 D. until

9．　 A. went for　 　　　　 B. waited for

C. fought for　 　　　 D. played for

10．A. sign　 　　　　　　　 B. step

C. task　 　　　　　　　 D. move

11．A. fixed　 　　　　　　　 B. threw

C. caught　 　　　　　 D. carried

12．A. accidentally　 　　 B. fortunately

C. unfairly　 　　　　　 D. instantly

13．A. calm　 　　　　　　　 B. comfort

C. convince　 　　　　 D. forgive

14．A. so　 　　　　　　　　 B. or

C. and　 　　　　　　　 D. but

15．A. set　 　　　　　　　　 B. put

C. left　 　　　　　　　　 D. used

16．A. meets　 　　　　　　 B. suits

C. gets　 　　　　　　　 D. fits

17．A. striking　 　　　　　 B. beating

C. knocking　 　　　　　　　 D. controlling

18．A. equal　 　　　　　　 B. exact

C. rest　 　　　　　　　 D. right

19．A. message　 　　　　 B. passage

C. decision　 　　　　 D. suggestion

20．A. receive　 　　　　　 B. follow

C. seize　 　　　　　　　 D. save

[答案]

1．A。作者认为和其他运动相比，摔跤毫无“运气”可言。本段最后也有线索提示。

2．B。垫子上只有两名选手(在进行实力的较量)，因而不能把比赛失利“归咎”于队友或教练。A项表示“控告；指控”，不符合常识。

3．C。根据后半句可知摔跤运动在室内举行，不受“天气”影响。

4．C。根据作者的上述解释可知说摔跤运动最不能靠运气的很有“道理”，make sense为固定搭配，“有意义，有道理”。

5．A。作者所在的队中既有世界知名冠军，“也”有国家冠军。

6．D。他们中有一个名叫约翰的小伙子。by the name of表示“名叫……的”。

7．D。根据本段最后一句可知在作者的记忆中他在高中任何摔跤比赛中都没有被“击败”过。

8．B。他之所以有如此辉煌的成就是“因为”他是国家冠军。

9．A。此处go for表示“参加”。fight for表示“为争取……而斗争”，与后面的宾语搭配不合题意。

10．D。在比赛中的最后关头，他试图做一个特别的“动作”以出奇制胜。

11．C。对手在他刚翻过一半身时“击中”了他。A项表示“固定；安装；修理”；B项表示“扔”；D项表示“携带”，都与比赛常识不符。

12．D。由于他被对手击中，他“瞬间”动弹不得。

13．B。他以前是常胜将军，未曾遇到过对手，如今却输给了对方，所以队友会来“安慰”他。

14．C。对手看到机会自动上门，自然会加以利用。此处表示顺承关系。

15．B。教练在摔跤房外“竖起”一块大牌子。

16．A。当机会“遇到”事先的准备后，就会有运气发生。

17．B。对手“打败”约翰的可能性不大，而且对手也十分清楚这一点。

18．D。但是他在关注时机，等待“适当的”时机自己出现。

19．A。换句话说，真正的“信息”是要作好准备。

20．C。不仅仅是发现机会，还必须准备好“抓住”机会。

15．C

14．D。考查形容词区别。句意：这位歌手在演出时总是对观众的反应非常敏感。be sensitive to“对……敏感的”；sentimental“多愁善感的”；positive“积极的，肯定的”；sensible“明智的，可感知的”。

13．D。句意是：神舟六号着陆，两位宇航员已成功地绕地球飞行，这又一次证明了中国是一个宇航强国。此句要用proving作结果状语。

12．A。句意：“你能射到树顶上那只鸟吗？”“不能，它超出了射程范围。”out of reach“够不着”；out of control“失控”；out of distance“超出距离”都不符合题意。out of range“超出射程范围”，故答案选A。

11．B。that is相当于that is to say“也就是说”。in a word“总之”；generally speaking“一般来说”；选项D应改为in other words。

10．B。句意：他一路跑到火车站，结果还是错过了他上班乘座的7：45的火车。

9．C。句意：老师建议我们应该充分利用好天气去郊游。

8．B。one指代moment作同位语。I will always treasure是定语从句，作one的定语，省略了that。

7．B。manage it“做了某事，设法做成了某事”。