A cancer-stricken British teenage girl said Thursday she had been moved by messages of support from around the world after writing an online “Bucket List” of things she wanted to do before dying.
Alice Pyne, l5, created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of the white blood cells. “ I've been fighting cancer for almost four years and now l know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one,” she wrote.
For her list, the teenager took inspiration from the 2007 film “The Bucket List”, in which two terminally ill (患绝症的) men, played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, draw up a list of things they wish to do before they die.
On her list, at the site www. alicepyne. blogspot. com, she has included making everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor (骨髓捐赠者), swimming with sharks, meeting boy band Take That and getting a purple iPad computer.
Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter.
“Oh dear and I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends!” she wrote after her site attracted huge attention. “Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me.”
Pyne, who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston, revealed (透露) the management of Take That had arranged for her to see the band after reading her blog. A group of local lawmakers have also joined forces with the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity to encourage people to join its stem cell register. What happened after Alice Pyne wrote her“Bucket List”?
| A．The media called on people to help her. |
| B．People sent gifts to her from all over the world. |
| C．A lot of people offered to donate bone marrow to her. |
| D．People around the world sent messages to support her. |
Alice Pyne wrote her “Bucket List” to .
| A．express her last few wishes |
| B．say goodbye to a few friends |
| C．give comfort to two terminally ill men |
| D．catch people's attention |
It can be inferred from the second paragraph that Alice Pyne .
| A．is unaware of her own conditions |
| B．is calm to know that death is approaching |
| C．is very sad to know that she will die |
| D．is still quite confident in fighting against cancer |
Which of the following is NOT on Alice Pyne's “Bucket List”?
| A．To meet a boy. |
| B．To get a cool computer. |
| C．To swim with sharks. |
| D．To ask people to donate bone marrow. |
Take That will arrange to .
| A．invite Pyne to join the band |
| B．help Pyne in any possible way |
| C．donate money to Pyne |
| D．meet Pyne in person |
Donald Arthur ticks off the marathons he's done in the last 12 years： New York City ( ten times)，Los Angeles, Alaska. . . 27 in all. His goal is to complete the tiring 26. 2-mile road race in each of the 50 states; he has 34 to go.
And yet it wasn't so long ago that Arthur couldn't so much as chew(咀嚼）his food without becoming very tired. “To walk a block(街区）could take me more than an hour，” says the 63-year-old retired bookkeeper, who lives in the Bronx, New York. Facing death from serious heart trouble, an enlarged heart he blames on decades of cigarettes and alcohol, Arthur had only one choice—his doctors told him：a transplant(移植）.
He recalls the unforgettable moment—6: 10 pm on August 2，1996—when he got the call that a donor(捐献）heart had become available. A 25-year- old man named Fitzgerald Gittens had died from a bullet intended for someone else. After five hours in surgery, Arthur had a new heart. Soon enough, he could walk up stairs without tiring.
That was just the beginning. A fellow patient told him about the Achilles Track Club, which helps people with disabilities to run marathons. Arthur contacted the club's president, who told him he could complete a marathon if he trained hard enough.
The club, he says，“ gave me a belief in myself. ” He joined its six-mile walks around Central Park, and then moved up to race walking to improve his endurance. Fifteen months after his transplant, he finished his first New York City Marathon.
In 2001，just before the Winter Games, Arthur carried the Olympic torch on part of its journey. But his most memorable run was the 1999 New York City Marathon, when he was accompanied by Mack Andrews, the brother of the man whose heart now beats in his chest. In how many states of the USA has Donald Arthur run the tiring 26. 2-mile marathon by
now?
| A．12. |
| B．27. |
| C．34. |
| D．16. |
What kind of people might join in the Achilles Track Club?
| A．People with disabilities to run marathons. |
| B．Sportsmen. |
| C．People who love marathons. |
| D．Football fans. |
When and where did Donald Arthur finish his first marathon?
| A．August 2，1996，Los Angeles. |
| B．November，1997，New York City. |
| C．1999，New York City. |
| D．2001，Alaska. |
Who is “the man” in the last paragraph?
| A．Mack Andrews. |
| B．A fellow patient. |
| C．His own brother. |
| D．Fitzgerald Gittens. |
The first ancient Olympic Games for which we still have written records were held in 776 BC. Coroebus won the only event at the Olympics. This made him the first Olympic champion in history. Then they grew and continued to be played every four years. In 393 AD, the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, announced to end the Games because of their pagan (异教的)influences.
About 1，500 years later, a young Frenchman named Pierre de Coubertin began to revive the games. In 1892Coubertin first brought forward his idea to revive the Olympic Games but failed.
Two years later, Coubertin organized a meeting with 79 delegates (代表)who represented nine countries.
At this meeting he got what he wanted. AH the delegates at the conference voted for the Olympic Games. They also decided to have Coubertin set up an international committee to organize the Games. This committee became the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Demetrious Vikelas from Greece was selected to be its first president. Athens was chosen for the revival of the Olympic Games and the planning was begun.
The first modern Olympic Games opened in the first week of April, 1896. Since the Greek government had been unable to afford a stadium, a rich Greek architect, Georgios Averoff, donated over $ 100,000 to repair the Panathenaic Stadium, originally built in 330BC.
Since the Games were not well publicized internationally* competitors were not nationally chosen but rather came individually and at their own expense (费用)， Some contestants were tourists who happened to be in the area during the Games. Coubertin held a most important meeting with 79delegates in ______ .
| A．1895 |
| B．1892 |
| C．1894 |
| D．1896 |
Who offered money to help the first modern Olympic Games?
| A．Demetrious Vikelas. |
| B．Coroebus. |
| C．Pierre de Coubertin. |
| D．Georgios Averoff. |
Which of the following statements is true about the first modern Olympic Games?
| A．Winners were given money as prize. |
| B．IOC invited contestants to tour Greece. |
| C．There were no strict rules for being a contestant. |
| D．Many countries chose some athletes to compete. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．The History of the Olympic Games |
| B．How Coubertin Set Up IOC |
| C．The First Modern Olympic Games |
| D．Great Changes in the Olympic Games |
In so many ways, cyberspace mirrors the real world. People ask for information, play games, and share hobby tips. Others buy and sell products. Still others look for friendship, or even love.
Some Internet users want more than just someone to chat with. They're looking for serious love relation-ships. Is cyberspace a good place to find love? That answer depends on whom you ask. Some of these relationships actually succeed. Others end in tears.
Unlike the real world, however, your knowledge about a person is limited to words on a computer screen. Identity and appearance mean very little in cyberspace. Rather, a person's thoughts or at least the thoughts they type are what really counts. So even the shyest person can become a chat-room star.
Usually, this "faceless" communication doesn't create problems. Identity doesn't really matter when you're in a chat-room discussing politics or hobbies. In fact, this focus on the ideas themselves makes the Internet a great place for exciting conversation. Where else can so many people come together to chat?
Supporters of online relationships claim that the Internet allows couples to know how intelligent they are first. Personal appearance doesn't get in the way.
But critics (批评者)of online relationships argue that no one can truly know another person in cyber-space. Why? Because the Internet gives users a lot of control over how others view them. Internet users can carefully choose their words to fit whatever image they want to give. And they don't have to worry about what their "nonverbal(不用语言表达的)" communication is doing for their image. In a sense, they're not really them-selves. All of this may be fine if the relationship stays in cyberspace. But not knowing a person is a big problem in a love relationship. With so many unknowns, it's easy to let one’s imagination "fill in the blanks". This surely leads to disappointment when couples meet in person. How someone imagines an online friend is often quite different from the real person.
So, before looking for love in cyberspace, remember the advice of Internet pioneer Clifford Stoll, "Life in the real world is far richer than anything you'll find on a computer screen. "Which of the following sentences is not true according to the critics?
| A．Nobody can truly know another person in cyber-space. |
| B．Internet users can choose their words to create any image they want to give. |
| C．The Internet allows couples to know how intelligent they are. |
| D．In a sense, Internet users are not really them-selves. |
Even the shyest person can become a chat-room star because what really counts is a person's _____ .
| A．nonverbal communication |
| B．identity shown in the chat |
| C．knowledge and appearance |
| D．thoughts typed on the screen |
The underlined word "This"(Paragraph 6) refers to _____ .
| A．having exciting conversations online |
| B．forming personal relationship in cyberspace |
| C．imagining online friends with so many unknowns |
| D．knowing a person in a love relationship |
What is the writer's attitude towards finding love in cyberspace?
| A．Interested. |
| B．Not interested. |
| C．Positive. |
| D．Negative. |
Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. "Football, tennis, cricket— anything with a round ball, I was useless," he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England's rural Devon-shire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance (耐力). At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway's school of Adventure in Scot-land, where he learned about the older man's cold-water exploits (成就). Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, and then decided that this would be his future.
Journeys to the Pole aren't the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. "John Ridgway was one of the few who didn't say, 'You are completely crazy,' "Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite (冻伤，冻搭),had a closer encounter (遭遇)with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old play-mates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis. The turning point (转折点)in Saunders' life came when _____ .
| A．he started to play ball games |
| B．he got a mountain bike at age 15 |
| C．he ran his first marathon at age 18 |
| D．he started to receive Ridgway's training |
We can learn from the text that Ridgway _____ .
| A．dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy |
| B．built up his body together with Saunders |
| C．hired Saunders for his cold-water experience |
| D．won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic |
What do we know about Saunders?
| A．He once worked at a school in Scotland. |
| B．He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole. |
| C．He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid. |
| D．He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole. |
It can be inferred that Saunders' journey to the North Pole.
| A．was accompanied by his old playmates |
| B．set a record in the North Pole expedition |
| C．was supported by other Arctic explorers |
| D．made him well-known in the 1960s |
Imagine someone has crossed the seas joining five continents by swimming. It is a major success for anyone. But it is an even greater success for Philippe Croizon, who has no arms, and no legs! His achievements show that we can all achieve great things—no matter who we are.
Philippe Croizon was 26 years old when he had an accident. The doctors had to remove both of his arms and legs. "When they cut off my last leg I wanted to die. I suffered great depression and my spirit was as low as you can get. But you have to choose—and 1 chose to live!" Croizon said.
While he was recovering (康复)in hospital, Croizon saw a television programme about a woman who had been swimming across the English Channel. After watching the programme Croizon decided to do it. He began to exercise every day to make him strong and it took him two years to prepare.
Finally in 2010,Croizon was ready. He entered the cold, grey sea of the English Channel. It took him from early morning until night to swim the distance. He felt a lot of pain. But he had become the first person without arms and legs to swim between France and England. Croizon had achieved his dream, but he did not stop there. He looked for a new goal.
Early in 2012 he planned to swim across the seas that join five major continents. During the next few months he swam between the four continents of Australia, Asia. Africa and Europe and finally in the cold waters of the Bering Strait between the continents of Asia and the Americas.
"We want to show people something. If disabled people have courage and a lot of training, they can do the same things as those who are not disabled'" Croizon said. According to the text, Philippe Croizon ________ .
| A．was born with disability |
| B．suffered a lot from the accident |
| C．chose to live because of a TV programme |
| D．was fond of swimming since he was young |
What do we know about Philippe Croizon*s swimming across the English Channel?
| A．It took him two years to finish it. |
| B．He was the first person to achieve it. |
| C．It was easy for him to finish the swim. |
| D．He spent a lot of time to prepare for it. |
Philippe Croizon's crossing the seas joining five continents ________ .
| A．lasted a month |
| B．ended in the Bering Strait |
| C．happened when he was 42 years old |
| D．was inspired by a television programme |
Which of the following can best describe Philippe Croizon's story?
| A．Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. |
| B．Where there's a will, there's a way. |
| C．Actions speak louder than words. |
| D．The finest diamond must be cut. |
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