Paula Radcliffe, chasing (角逐) a third London marathon title (马拉松冠军), says she has become a stronger person after her terrible experience at the 2004 Athens Games.

Radcliffe, who failed to complete the Olympic marathon and the 10,000m last August, said: “Athens made me a stronger person and it made me care less about criticism.”

“In the past I wanted to please everyone, but now I am going to listen even more to the people around me.”

She didn’t care about criticism made at the weekend by Liz McColgan, who felt Radcliffe should have rested and let her body recover after her failure in Athens.

“Liz is someone I look up to but she hasn’t spoken to me since last year and if she really cared for me, I'm sure she would have contacted me.”

Instead Radcliffe won the New York City marathon just 11 weeks after Athens.

“In New York I wasn’t in my best state but I did know I was good enough to win the race.”      Radcliffe insisted her only goal in Sunday’s race would be winning a third title and not chasing world records.

However, Radcliffe has not ruled out (排除) in the future chasing her "final" world record time and questioned sayings that marathon runners have the ability in their career to produce only four or five world-class times.

“I don't think that—although I can't put a number on it,” said Radcliffe. “That changes from person to person.”

Radcliffe is sure she can better her winning London 2003 performance at some point in the future. Following a successful three-month training period in the United States, the 31-year-old will chase a third title on Sunday after her first victory in 2002 and again 12 months later.

Radcliffe clocked a time of 2:18:56 in her first 42.2-kilometer race three years ago.

Afterwards she set a "mixed course" mark of 2:17:18 five months later in Chicago before lowering that to a time of 2:15:25 in the 2003 London event.

1.Radcliffe’s failure in Athens made her       .

A．develop respect for Liz.                  B．love people around her more.

C．rest for five months.                     D．face criticism calmly.

2.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Radcliffe broke the world record in the New York City marathon.

B．Radcliffe didn't fully recover before the New York City marathon.

C．Radcliffe won her first marathon title in the New York City marathon.

D．Radcliffe had a 3-month training before the New York City marathon.

3.By saying “I can't put a number on it,” Radcliffe means she’s not sure        .

A．if she has the ability to set a new world record.

B．if she can win another race though she has won many times.

C．how many times a marathon runner can set the world record.

D．if she has the ability to produce four or five world-class times.

4.What can we learn from Radcliffe's story?

A．Practice makes perfect.                  B．Well begun is half done.

C．A friend in need is a friend indeed.          D．Where there is a will there is a way.

The Olympic Games

The ancient Olympic Games was in the year 776_BC. They were held at Olympia in Greece every four years, for almost 12 centuries, until _AD394.

The contemporary Olympics were first held in 1896, in Athens. It was a Frenchman, Pierre de Coubertin, who brought the Olympics back to life. He dreamt that the Olympics would make it possible for 56. 各国人民和平相处. Now people all over the world are helping to realize this dream. Among them are many well-known athletes.

57. 中国运动员为奥运会做出了重要贡献。At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the People’s Republic of China returned to the Olympics after 32 years’ absence. I am sure the whole of China must have felt proud when Xu Haifeng won the first gold medal for his country. 58. Deng Yaping is perhaps the greatest female table tennis player in the world. At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Liu Xiang excited people all over Asia when he became the first Asian to win the gold medal in the men’s 110-metre hurdles.

59. The Chinese led the way at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning 51 gold medals. For the first time in history, the Chinese women’s gymnastics team won the gold medal.

These are some of the Olympic athletes who have brought joy to people across the world with their attempts to push the boundaries of human achievement. We are looking forward to seeing more of them in future Olympic Games. 60. Join us in wishing the Olympic Movement a successful future.

Paula Radcliffe, chasing a third London marathon title, says she has became a stronger person after her terrible experience at the 2004 Athens Games.

Radcliffe, who failed to complete the Olympic marathon and the 10,000m last August, said: "Athens made me a stronger person and it made me care less about criticism"

"In the past I wanted to please everyone, but now I am going to listen even more to the people around me."

She didn't care about criticism made at the weekend by Liz McColgan, who felt Radcliffe should have rested and let her body recover after her failure in Athens.

"Liz is someone I look up to but she hasn't spoken to me since last year and if she really cared for me, I'm sure she would have contacted me."

Instead Radcliffe won the New York City marathon just 11 weeks after Athens.

"In New York I wasn't in my best state but I did know I was good enough to win the race."

Radcliffe insisted her only goal in Sunday's race would be winning a third title and not chasing world records.

However, Radcliffe has not ruled out in the future chasing her "final" world record time and questioned sayings that marathon runners have the ability in their career to produce only four or five world-class times.

"I don't think that ——although I can't put a number on it," said. Radcliffe. "That changes from person to person."

Radcliffe is sure she can better her winning London 2003 performance at some point in the future. Following a successful three-month training period in the United States, the 31-year-old will chase a third title on Sunday after her first victory in 2002 and again 12 months later.

Radcliffe clocked a time of 2:18:56 in her first 42.2-kilometre race three years ago.

Afterwards she set a "mixed course" mark of 2:17:18 five months later in Chicago before lowering that to a time of 2:15:25 in the 2003 London event.

1.Radcliffe’s failure in Athens made her___________.?

A. develop respect for Liz?   B. love people around her more?

C. rest for five months?      D. face criticism calmly?

2.Which of the following is true according to the passage??

A. Radcliffe broke the world record in the New York City marathon.?

B. Radcliffe didn’t fully recover before the New York City marathon.?

C. Radcliffe won her first marathon title in the New York City marathon.?

D. Radcliffe had a 3-month training before the New York City marathon.?

3. By saying “I can’t put a number on it,” Radcliffe means she’s not sure ___________.?

A. if she has the ability to set a new world record?

B. if she can win another race though she has won many times?

C. how many times a marathon runner can set the world record?

D. if she has the ability to produce four or five world-class times?

4. According to the text, Radcliffe has won ___________ London marathon title(s).?

A. one　　　　　B. two?             C. three          D. four

5.What can we learn from Radcliffe’s story??

A. Practice makes perfect.?            B. Well begun is half done.?

C. Where there is a will, there is a way.?  D. A friend in need is a fried indeed.

Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together, they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: international competitions encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sport encourages international brotherhood. Not only was there the tragic incident including the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by incidents caused mainly by smaller national contests.

One country received its second-place medals with visible anger after the hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions. They were sure that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was in great anger when he said, “This wasn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension（停赛）of the team for at least three years.

Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages  aggressive patriotism(爱国主义).

1.According to the author, recently the Olympic Games have ______.

2.The underlined word “disallowed”(in Paragraph 2) means “______”.

3.What did the manager mean by saying, “Hockey and the International Hockey Federation 

are finished"?

4.The author gives the example in paragraph 2 to show ______.

5.What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?

Atlanta was a Greek princess. She was very beautiful and could run faster than    31           man in Greece. But she was not allowed to run in the Olympic Games. She was    32           angry that she said to her father she would not marry anyone who could not run faster than her. Her father said she must marry and asked her   33          she wanted to marry a king or prince. But Atlanta replied, “I will only be married to a man who can run faster than me. When a man says he wants to marry me, I will run  34           him. If he cannot run as fast as me, he         35          (kill). No one will be pardoned.”

Many kings and princes wanted to marry Atlanta but when they heard of her rules, some of them    36        (sad) went home. Other men stayed to run the race. There was a man called Hippomenes who was amazed when he heard of Atlanta’s rules. “Why are these men so   37         (fool)? Why will they let    38        be killed because they cannot run as fast as this princess?” Then when he saw Atlanta come out of her house   39         (run), Hippomenes changed his mind. “I         40           marry Atlanta — or die!” he said.