Few people have achieved fame for coming in last place. That is why Michael Edwards, or “Eddie the Eagle”, became a rather unexpected hero. Unlike most athletes, Eddie did not come to the 1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games for a medal. He came simply to compete. In doing so, he realized his dream.
At first, Eddie tried to make the British national ski team but failed. Then he chose the riskiest event, ski jumping. No British skier had ever competed in that sport, but having no competitors meant that Eddie had a better chance of qualifying (取得资格) for the 1988 Olympic. Games. It also meant there was no support for him. Eddie had no coach, equipment, or financial support, but what he had was determination. Not afraid of what he lacked, Eddie set out to learn his chosen sport, training himself for nearly 2 years. And he managed to meet the qualification for Olympic ski jumping, and landed himself in the 1988 Olympic Games. Eddie was determined to compete, and while he came in last, he did manage to land his jumps, and he still holds the British record in that sport. Coming in last place actually made him the star of the Olympics and the true embodiment (化身) of the Olympic spirit.
Many of us may have experienced similar limitations during our own youth that prevented us from following our dreams. Eddie’s rejection (拒绝) from the British national ski team is a story that many of us can relate to. Rejection can be devastating, but we can struggle to find the courage to put ourselves back out there, or the creativity to find another way.
【小题1】What was Eddie’s dream?A.To become a hero. |
B.To join the national ski team. |
C.To take part in the Olympics. |
D.To develop his ski jumping skills. |
A.It was popular among British skiers. |
B.It meant a better chance to win a medal. |
C.He would get the support he needed in this event. |
D.He would be more likely to be included in the Olympics. |
A.His caring little for fame. |
B.His professional performance. |
C.His breaking the British record. |
D.His determination to follow his dream. |
A.Unforgettable. | B.Disastrous. | C.Sudden. | D.Confusing. |
It was the late-1970s. My parents were separated. My mother was now raising a group of boys on her own. My father spouted off about what he planned to do for us, buy for us.In fact, he had no intention of doing anything. As a father who was supposed to love us, in fact, he lacked the understanding of what it truly meant to love a child—or to hurt one. To him, this was a harmless game that kept us excited and begging. In fact, it was a cruel, corrosive lie. I lost faith in his words and in him. I wanted to stop caring, but I couldn’t.
Maybe it was his own complicated relationship to his father and his father’s family that caused him cold. Maybe it was the pain and guilt associated with a life of misfortune. Who knows. Whatever it was, it stole him from us, and particularly from me.
While my brothers talked about breaking and fixing things, I spent many of my evenings reading and wondering. My favorite books were a set of encyclopedias(百科全书) given by my uncle. They allowed me to explore the world beyond my world, to travel without leaving, to dream dreams greater than my life would otherwise have supported. But losing myself in my own mind also meant that I was completely lost to my father. Not understanding me, he simply ignored me—not just emotionally, but physically as well. Never once did he hug me, never once a pat on the back or a hand on the shoulder or a tousling of the hair.
My best memories of him were from his episodic attempts at engagement with us. During the longest of these episodes(插曲), once every month or two, he would come pick us up and drive us down the interstate to Trucker’s Paradise, a seedy, smoke-filled, truck stop with gas pumps, a convenience store, a small dining area and a game room through a door in the back. My dad gave each of us a handful of quarters, and we played until they were gone. He sat up front in the dining area, drinking coffee and being particular about the restaurant’s measly offerings.
I loved these days. To me, Trucker’s Paradise was paradise. The quarters and the games were fun but easily forgotten. It was the presence of my father that was most treasured. But, of course, these trips were short-lived.
It wasn’t until I was much older that I would find something that I would be able to
When the Commodore 64 personal computer debuted, I convinced myself that I had to have it even though its price was out of my mother’s range. So I decided to earn the money myself. I mowed every yard I could find that summer for a few dollars each, yet it still wasn’t enough. So my dad agreed to help me raise the rest of the money by driving me to one of the watermelon farms south of town, loading up his truck with wholesale melons and driving me around to sell them. He came for me before daybreak. We made small talk, but it didn’t matter. The fact that he was talking to me was all that mattered. I was a teenager by then, but this was the first time that I had ever spent time alone with him. He laughed and repeatedly introduced me as “my boy,” a phrase he relayed with a sense of pride. It was one of the best days of my life.
Although he had never told me that he loved me, I would
It just goes to show that no matter how friendless the father, no matter how deep the damage, no matter how shattered the bond, there is still time, still space, still a need for even the smallest bit of evidence of a father’s love.
“My boy.”
【小题1】From the passage, the father was_____ in the writer’s memory.
A.selfish and cruel | B.proud and cold |
C.imperfect but loving | D.shy but thoughtful |
A.father showed his love but had no good way to express himself to his children |
B.he just lost himself in his own mind without getting close to his father |
C.father was too busy so unable to communicate with his children enough |
D.he had a prejudice(偏见) and was too stubborn to feel it |
A.catch hold of | B.depend on |
C.stick to | D.keep |
A.father liked to show off his family before others |
B.I couldn't understand Father’s love unless he expressed to me |
C.father intended to show a loving father he was but failed. |
D.I would definitely treasure all the small love from father |
1. His dad agreed to help him.
2. The Commodore 64 personal computer was just on sale.
3. The writer decided to buy it and earn the money himself.
4 His dad drove the writer to one of the watermelon farms south of town, loaded up his truck with wholesale melons and drove the writer around to sell them.
5. The writer didn’t have enough money.
A.23541 | B.23514 | C.32541 | D.32514 |
A.Remembrances of my father | B.Father and son |
C.My boy | D.The past days |
Philo Taylor Farnsworth invented the current system of television transmission (传输) and reception in 1928, and it was considered one of the great scientific inventions of the 20th century. It was remarkable because the young inventor had just celebrated his 22nd birthday.
Farnsworth had desired to be an inventor since the age of six. Farnsworth was just 14 when he had the idea of television. On August 26, 1930, about a decade after first having the idea that was the basis of his invention, he received the patent (专利) on the electronic television system. By the end of his life, he had held more than 300 patents.
Farnsworth wasn’t the first person to dream up television, but he was the first person to find a way to make it work without a mechanical aspect. The biggest problem that inventors faced was how to transmit image data. Farnsworth’s central innovation was to imagine a way of doing it that relied on electronic technology alone, and so wouldn’t be slowed down by the abilities of a mechanical image-transmitting system.
Farnsworth dreamed up his idea while he was driving a horse-drawn harrow (耙) on the family’s new farm in Idaho. As he was plowing (犁) a potato field in straight, parallel (平行的) lines, he saw television. He imagined a system that would break an image into horizontal (水平的) lines and put those lines back together into a picture at the other end. In 1927, Philo and his wife Elma watched as he made the first transmission: A horizontal line was transmitted to a receiver in the next room. Two years after that first transmission, Farnsworth sent an image of Elma and her brother, making her the first woman on TV.
Farnsworth thought his invention had realistic prospects. “If we were able to see people in other countries and learn about our differences, why would there be any misunderstandings?” he asked. “War would be a thing of the past.”
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?A.Farnsworth had the idea of inventing the television since he was six. |
B.Elma and her brother were on TV together in 1929. |
C.Farnsworth was the first person to dream up television. |
D.The first television invented by Farnsworth appeared in 1930. |
A.How to recognize the picture. |
B.How to make the picture clearer. |
C.How to transmit image data using electronic technology. |
D.How to improve the abilities of the mechanical image-transmitting system. |
A.Practice makes perfect. | B.Failure is the mother of success. |
C.Nature is an endless source of inspiration. | D.Actions speak louder than words. |
A.It inspired people to live a comfortable life. |
B.It helped clear up misunderstandings between people in different countries. |
C.It enabled people to understand wars deeply. |
D.It encouraged us to be curious about the outside world. |
When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book, and a poor man got it.
The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”.
The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.
The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.
So the man sold his house, bought a tent, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up normal pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebbles hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold—throw it into sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days stretched into months and the months into years.
One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He was used to throwing each pebble into the sea as soon as he picked it up. So when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to realize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away.
【小题1】According to the passage, the touchstone is a stone ________.A.that you can touch | B.that can turn common metal into pure gold |
C.that can bring you thousands of pebbles | D.that can bring you good luck |
A.it was cold | B.it was a normal pebble |
C.he was too tired to hold it | D.he had formed a habit |
A.Brave enough. | B.Hard-working enough. |
C.Careful enough. | D.Strong enough. |
A.Opportunity knocks but once. | B.Use it or lose it. |
C.Where there is a will, there is a way. | D.Practice makes perfect. |
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