Sport is full of wonderful moments, but maybe nothing is as exciting as the marathon, which is the longest, hardest race of all．The name comes from a small village in Greece, where a famous battle happened in 490 B．C．When the Greeks won, a soldier ran over 40 kilometres from Marathon to Athens to tell people the good news．When the modern Olympic Games were held in 1896, the organizers knew the story．The marathon has been a race since then．
The Olympic Games are held every four years．The best players in the world, or at least the best “amateurs”, are collected in one place．An amateur is someone who does not earn money from sport．It is often difficult to say who is an amateur and who is not．It is true that Olympic athletes do not earn large amounts of money like professional sportsmen．But Olympic athletes are often students or teachers of a sport．They have to spend much time training．Their governments pay for their training travel and pocket money, because they want them to win．Some people think this changes the Olympics．They feel that the Games are now a political marathon．
(1)
How long has the marathon been a race in the Olympics?
[ ]
A．
For over 100 years．
B．
For less than 100 years．
C．
For half a century．
D．
For thousands of years．
(2)
The professional players are those who ________．
[ ]
A．
pay money for training
B．
earn money from sports
C．
are the same as the amateurs
D．
work for the government
(3)
Who often take part in the Games as Olympic athletes?
It was an early September day,cool and bright and just right for running,and I was in the first few miles of a 10 mile race over a course with a few high hills, 1 ,I felt energetic;despite the hills,it going to be a 2 run．
Just ahead of me was Peggy,a teacher from Mount Kisco．She was too running 3 ,moving along at my speed．The pace felt comfortable,so I decided to 4 where I was．Why pay attention to pace when she was setting such a good one?I'd overtake her 5 when she was tired．
So I ran behind her,The course 6 north for five miles,wandered west for a hilly mile,then turned south again along a winding road．The race was getting 7 ．We had four miles 8 and already it was beginning to be real work．
Peggy overtook a young runner．She seemed to 9 him,for they exchanged a few cheerful words as she passed him．Their exchange 10 me．
You don't chat during a race 11 you are feeling good and Peggy plainly was．
Sill,I was 12 enough to overtake her if she was tired,so I didn't give up hope completely．We were getting nearer to a tong,punishing hill now and it would be the 13 ．We were a mile from tile finish line, 14 whatever happened on the hill would almost certainly determine who crossed it first．
As I moved up the hill,my 15 wandered for a few minutes．When I 16 ,Peggy was moving away— first five yards,then ten,then more．Finally it was clear that there was no 17 of catching her．She beat me soundly．
There is an important 18 in that race,Women are thought to be weaker,slower and not nearly 19 skilled in sport．Yet as Peggy so clearly showed,the similarities between men and women runners are more important than the differences．I have run with 20 women,and I can say that it is often hard work．
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