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 complete. 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 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 the Olympics.

       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.

From the passage we can learn that the young man _______.

A. made his turn to start back pitifully                       B. was skillful in freestyle in the game

C. swam faster than the average swimmer                  D. was not capable enough to win the medal

The crowd changed their attitudes because _______.

       A. they felt sorry for the young man                         B. they wanted to show their sympathy

       C. they were moved by the young man                      D. they meant to please the young man

According to the passage, “it is nice to watch an underdog” probably means _______.

       A. it’s amusing to watch a man with awful swimming skills

       B. it’s amazing to watch an ordinary man challenging himself

       C. it’s cheerful for athletes to act proudly before their competitors

       D. it’s brave enough for some athletes to remove the silver medals

What’s the best title for the passage?

       A. Go for it!          B. Try again!              C. Compete for Gold!      D. Break a Record!

The man sitting opposite Robert was the Financial Controller. Everybody called him “the FC” for short. He made all the decisions about money. Robert needed some more. That was why he had to see him. The two men did not get on very well. In fact, they had always disliked each other.

   “Your request is out of the question,” the FC said. Robert had difficulty in controlling himself, but he managed somehow. He explained that he wanted the money in order to make more programmes.

    “And why do you want to do that?” the FC asked sharply. Again, Robert almost lost his temper. “Because more and more people are listening to my department’s programmes. There’s great demand for them,” he answered.

    The FC did not seem to believe him. But Robert had a report on the numbers of listeners to all EBC programmes. The FC became less confident (自信). Robert threw the report down on the table and told him to read it.

    The FC looked at it in silence. The figures (数字) proved that he had been wrong, but he did not want to admit it. “Well,” he finally said, “I may have made a small mistake.” Robert noticed the word “may.” He got up to leave. But he had the feeling that he would get the money after all.

In the story the Financial Controller was a person who was in charge of________.      

   A. Robert’s department’s programmes.        B. EBC programmes.

   C. EBC money.                          D. both B and C.

“Your request is out of the question.” Here “out of the question”means_______.

   A. without any question   B. with some question.    C. impossible.   D. possible.

Robert decided to make more programmes because________.

   A. he wanted to meet the needs of the listeners.

   B. “the FC”disliked him

   C. the members of his department wanted him to do so.

   D. he wanted to show himself off.

Why were more and more people listening to Robert’s programmes?

   A. Because he always lost his temper (脾气).

   B. Because he disliked “the FC.”

   C. Because the programmes were rich and to the taste of the listeners.

   D. We don’t know.

Who do you think won the argument(争论)in the end?

   A. The Financial Controller.    B. Robert.    C. Nobody.    D. The listeners.

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