For every woman who feels like she's had to scale back her personal ambitions since becoming a mother, gold medal cyclist Kristin Armstrong has a message: Don't give up on your dreams.
She retired after winning gold in Beijing to start a family; son Lucas arrived in 2010, but then she decided to compete again in the London Olympics. She won a gold medal at last.
The decision to start training again wasn't easy. "I struggled with that a lot," she told a newspaper. “At the beginning I felt selfish, I felt like, ‘Well, I'm not supposed to be thinking of myself anymore. It's all supposed to be for my kid.’”
She faced physical challenges of getting back into competition shape after giving birth, as well. When she started racing in the spring of 2011, she was still breast-feeding; she would nurse her son, then race, then breast-feed again after the race. Her days revolved around Lucas and training.
"I feel like I'm able to do what I love to do and still manage a family and have that balance," Armstrong said. "That you have a family or a child doesn't mean that you have to stop going after what you dream of individually.”
Armstrong makes balance look easy, whether it's on her bike or as an athlete-mom. But she points out that you can't have it all without making some sacrifices. For example, don't expect a neat home—her husband, Joe Savola, who she describes as her support system and her "protector", says he's had to give up on trying to keep everything orderly at home and just accept that their living room has become Lucas's playroom. For Armstrong, she's sacrificed time with friends who had kids around the same age—there just wasn't time.
Now, she says, "That sounds like fun to me." As she heads home to Boise, Idaho, she's ready to do regular mom stuff.
1.After Kristin Armstrong retired, she ___.
A. lived an easy life
B. moved to a new house
C. still had a great interest in cycling
D. spent much time with her kid
2.It was difficult for Armstrong to make the decision to participate in the London Olympics because she_______ .
A. was too old to train racing
B. had to give her family much consideration
C. faced big physical challenges
D. could not get support from her family
3.In most days of 2011, Armstrong could be described as ____.
A. a housewife and a new mom
B. an athlete and a career woman
C. a parent and a sportswoman
D. a wife and a good mother
4.We can know from the passage that it ____ for Armstrong to keep a balance between her family and dream.
A. was quite easy B. made her feel tired
C. surprised herself D. was a hard job
Today, Mount Qomolangma's peak is not a lonely place any more. More than 3,500 people have successfully climbed the 8,844m mountain, and more than a tenth of that number reached the peak just over the past year. As more and more people try to test themselves against Qomolangma, many a time the mount can be very crowded. Climbers have complained about waiting for hours in the bottlenecks（狭窄路段） on the way to the peak. If bad weather strikes, climbers can and do die.
But the dangerous crowds aren't the only problem on Qomolangma. All those climbers need to bring a lot of gear—much of them ends up being left on the mountain, sometimes even the peak itself. Mount Qomolangma is becoming the world's tallest rubbish dump. Here's mountaineer Mark Jenkins writing in National Geographic about the state of Qomolangma: "The two standard routes, the Northeast Ridge and the Southeast Ridge, are not only dangerously crowded but also badly polluted."
But the good news is that some mountaineers are taking it upon themselves to clean up Qomolangma. Mountaineer Paul Thelen and his friend Eberhard Schaaf are part of the annual Eco Everest Expedition, which has been cleaning up rubbish from base camps to the peak since 2008. So far they've collected over 13 tons of garbage.
Some of that rubbish is even being used for a higher purpose. As part of the Mount Everest 8844 Art Project, a group of 15 artists from Nepal collected 1.5 tons of garbage brought down the mountain by climbers. They've changed the cans and oxygen tanks—in one case, part of the remains of a helicopter—into 74 pieces of art that have already gone on exhibition in Nepal's capital. Part of the profit from sales will go to the Everest Peakeers Association, which has helped collect tons of rubbish off the mountain.
1.What do we learn about the bottlenecks on the way to Mount Qomolangma's peak?
A. They are relatively safe.
B. They are often crowded.
C. They are very easy to pass.
D. They are sites of base camps.
2.What does the underlined word "gear" mean?
A. Useful equipment for climbing mountains.
B. The water from the mountain.
C. Some important machines used for the bottlenecks.
D. Some cans and oxygen tanks found on the mountain.
3.The group of 15 Nepali artists ____.
A. created works of art using rubbish from Qomolangma
B. were employed by the Everest Peakeers Association
C. climbed Qomolangma and collected 1.5 tons of trash
D. painted 74 beautiful pictures of Mount Qomolangma's peak
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A. Test Yourself Against Qomolangma
B. Qomolangma has Become a Huge Mess
C. Eco Everest Expedition Proves Successful
D. How to Climb Qomolangma
How to Train Your Dragon by British author Cressida Cowell is one of the best pieces of children's literature. A child can make a whole alternative universe with a vivid imagination and Toothless, the hero's hunting dragon, thus turning a rainy day into an adventure of a lifetime. However, if you have never read the book but instead choose to see the film version, you might think you were seeing a new-age war movie meant for adults rather than children.
Let's look at Where the Wild Things Are for further discussion. The story centers around a lonely eight-year-old boy named Max, who sails away to an island. Creatures living there declare Max their king.
What an amazing piece of children's literature! A treasure for every child's library. Yet, children were crying in the movie theatre. Owls were falling from the sky, chicken's arms were being torn off, and a child was running around a dark abandoned world fighting evil as the only human. It was almost as if Hollywood could not imagine children enjoying a movie for its basic literature content. Hollywood might be right. But more and more its audience are complaining that there is an increased amount of violence in children's stories today than in the past.
While there appears to be a trend in our society to make more violence more accessible to younger children, books and literature are generally an exception. I truly believe that children's literature has become more vivid, and more colorful. This is a great treasure for the children, and is certainly not violent. What has changed the children's stories of today is not the writers, but the film industry. In some way, children's literature is just being strangely twisted（扭曲）. I wonder how much influence the authors have over this.
1.The text is mainly about ____.
A. two good books for children
B. how a book is adapted into a film
C. whether children should go to the movies
D. whether children's movie is getting more violent
2. It can be inferred that the film Where the Wild Things Are is ___.
A. moving B. frightening
C. interesting D. amazing
3.According to the text, the author thinks that ____.
A. the film industry's treatment of children's literature is wrong
B. writers should provide more colorful works for children
C. there is an increase in violence in children's literature
D. children should read books rather than see films
Our magazine is presenting to you the top four iPhone (the best seller of Apple Company) applications for more fun on hiking or camping trips recommended by our A-list field hikers and travelers.
1. GPS Kit by Garafa—Never get lost (for $10.)
What it does: Download before you leave or use your phone's data connection to view maps from Google (satellite, landscape, cycling, and street), or Bing (shaded relief, street, or image). Record your movements, drop notes or photo makers on previously downloaded Google Earth.
2. Photosynth by Microsoft—Perfect the view (for free!)
What it does: Make 360°×360°panoramas (全景照片) to your own taste. It saves(保存) the panorama as a single image to your camera roll after combining images. Once you get to know how to hold the iPhone and move to take the photos, you can have pretty simple, fast panoramas!
3. Soundcloud by Soundcloud—Share the sounds (for free!)
What it does: Basic sound recorder with on-board (车载的) editing (cutting) capabilities. Upload your recordings to the Internet, share on social networks and listen to and follow others! It allows for super-simple recording and uploading to the Internet. You can upload all the sounds as "non-shared" files, so you can download them to your computer for continued storage and editing. In addition, with this function, you will never fear your dirty laundries are to put you to shame. There is a growing community of users, including Paul Salopek who is walking around the world.
4. Postagram by Sincerely—Send moments (application is free! /$1 per card.)
What it does: The application allows personalized production of e-postcards right from your iPhone. There aren't many post offices out in the mountains, so this can be critical（极重要的） to send a gift home. And even if there are post offices where you are traveling, sometimes it's easier, cheaper and more fun to send your own DIY messages home.
1.Where can the reader most probably read the text?
A. On an online Microsoft application store.
B. On an online Apple application store.
C. In an educational magazine.
D. In a travel magazine.
2.Tom will be charged if he needs to download ___.
A. GPS Kit B. Soundcloud C. Photosynth D. Postagram
3.If Mary wants her parents to enjoy some traveling e-cards of hers, she may be interested in ___.
A. GPS Kit B. Soundcloud C. Photosynth D. Postagram
4.What does the underlined part "this function" refer to?
A. Uploading recordings to the Internet.
B. Editing your sounds on a computer.
C. Uploading sounds only accessible to yourself.
D. Downloading your sounds to your computer.
书面表达
假如你是李华，得知学校英文报正在招聘"Music&Arts”版块的编辑，请给负责人Mr.
Brown写一封英文信件，要点如下:
1.是该报的忠实读者，并擅长英文写作;
2.常听不同风格的音乐，对音乐有自己的理解;
3.母亲在美术馆工作，常有机会接触到艺术作品。
注意:
1.词数:80一100词;
2.可适当增加细节，使行文连贯;
3开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Mr. Brown,
I’ve learned that you need an editor for the "Music&Arts" section.
Yours
Li Hua
单句改错
下列各句中都有一处错误，错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改，请按要求修改下列各句。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
1.Jack always waters his plants before he head for work.
2.The apartment is belonged to my grandfather in the 1980s.
3.Speak in public is a lot more difficult than talking to your friends.
4.Mary didn' t come to school today because she had temperature yesterday.
5.I am watching TV last night when my sister came in with a friend of hers.
