O'Neal works hard. He is often seen _______ heavily before his teammates have even arrived at practice.

A. sweated                    B. to be sweated   

C. sweating                   D. being sweated

Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely mad and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.?

Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason.?

I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers(窃笑) about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.?

When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse was judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.?

One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.?

The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted.?

All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.?

My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.?

As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!?

I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.?

The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 4) most probably means "     __________".?

A. told how to enter the arena?

B. shown how to make the horse beautiful?

C. removed from the competition early?

D. told to enter the timed-speed events?

Why was the writer not confident of victory??

A. He was an inexperienced rider.?    

B. He had not practiced enough.?

C. He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.?

D. He thought his horse wasn’t as good as the others. ?

When the final race finished, nobody cheered because____________.?

A. the audience didn’t like Cowboy?    B. people envied the writer?

C. the win was unexpected?           D. the writer had run out of time

What did the writer learn from his experience??

A. Life can sometimes be unfair.?

B. Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.?

C. A positive attitude will bring success.?

D. One should not make judgments based on appearance.

The best title for the story is ___________.         .?

A. A Race to Remember              B.A Horse’s Tale?

C. Neck and Neck                    D.A Difficult Age ?

It was the summer of 1936．The Olympic Games were being held in Berlin．I had trained, sweated and disciplined myself for 6 years on the running broad jump．A year before, as a college student at the Ohio State, I'd set the world's record of 26 feet 8 1/4 inches．Nearly everyone expected me to win．

I was in for a surprise．When the time came for the broad-jump trials(选拔赛), I was shocked to see a tall boy hitting the pit （坑） at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps．He turned out to be a German named Luz Long．He had easily qualified for the finals on his first attempt．

A nervous athlete is an athlete who will make mistakes．I fouled （犯规）twice on my qualifying jumps．Walking a few yards from the pit, I kicked at the dirt disgustedly．Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder．I turned to look into the friendly blue eyes of Luz Long．"Hi, I'm Luz Long．I don't think we've met．" "Glad to meet you," I said．Then, trying to hide my nervousness, I added, "How are you?" "I'm fine．Something must be eating you．You should be able to qualify with your eyes closed．" He said．

He seemed to understand my nervousness, and took pains to reassure me．Finally, seeing that I had calmed down somewhat, he said, "What does it matter if you're not the first in the trials? Tomorrow is what counts．" All the tension left my body as the truth of what he said hit me．Confidently I qualified with almost a foot to spare．

Luz broke his own record and pushed me on to a peak performance．The instant I landed from my final jump—the one which set the Olympic record of 26 feet 5 1/16 inches—he was at my side, congratulating me．

1.The author said "I was in for a surprise" because he _____．

A．beat Luz Long                          B．met a great competitor

C．qualified for the final                     D．joined in the Olympic Games

2.What can we learn about the author from the passage?

A．He remained confident in the Olympic Games．

B．He had qualified for the finals on his first attempt．

C．He broke the world record of the running broad jump．

D．He had prepared for Berlin Olympics in Ohio State．

3.What is the passage mainly about?

A．A memorable experience in the Olympics．

B．A reliable man in the Olympic Games．

C．A surprising result in the Olympic Games．

D．A good suggestion on how to win in the Olympics

O'Neal works hard．He is often seen _______ heavily before his teammates have even arrived at practice．

       A．sweated                        B．to be sweated    

       C．sweating                        D．being sweated

Thirty-two people watched kitty Genovese being killed right beneath their windows. She was their neighbor. Yet none of the 32 helped her. Not one even called the police. Was this in gunman cruelty? Was it lack of feeling about one’s fellow man?
Not so, say scientists John Barley and Bib Fatane. These men went beyond the headlines to probe（探查） the reasons why people didn’t act. They found that a person has to go through two steps before he can help. First he has to notice that is an emergency(紧急情况).
　　Suppose you see a middle-aged man fall to the side-walk. Is he having a heart attack? Is he in a coma （昏迷） from diabetes（糖尿病）? Or is he about to sleep off a drunk?
Is the smoke coming into the room from a leak in the air conditioning? Is it steam pipes? Or is it really smoke from a fire? It’s not always easy to tell if you are faced with a real emergency.
　　Second, and more important, the person faced with an emergency must feel personally responsible. He must feel that he must help, or the person won’t get the help he needs.
The researchers found that a lot depends on how many people are around. They had college students in to be tested. Some came alone. Some came with one or two others. And some came in large groups. The receptionist started them off on the tests. Then she went into the next room. A curtain divided the testing room and the room into which she went. Soon the students heard a scream, the noise of file cabinets falling and a cry for help. All of this had been pre-recorded on a tape-recorder.
Eight out of ten of the students taking the test alone acted to help. Of the students in pairs, only two out of ten helped. Of the students in groups, none helped.
In other words, in a group, Americans often fail to act. They feel that others will act. They, themselves, needn’t. They do not feel any direct responsibility.
Are people bothered by situations where people are in trouble? Yes. Scientists found that the people were emotional, they sweated, they had trembling hands. They felt the other person’s trouble. But they did not act. They were in a group. Their actions were shaped by the actions of those they were with.
【小题1】The purpose of this passage is_________.