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. |