Any sportsperson considers it tough to know when to retire. Do you retire when you are at your physical “peak” or do you wait until your body or your coach tells you that it’s time to go? But what’s even harder is finding the answer to the question “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?

Retirement for people in general is painful. “There’s a high risk of depression and people often find adjusting to a new way of life difficult,” says Ian Cockerill, a sports psychologist. “For sportspeople, there’s an extra pain — the loss of status, the loss of recognition, and the loss of attraction. That’s the hardest part.” Eddie Acaro, the US jockey says, “When a a jockey (職業(yè)賽馬騎師) retires, he becomes just another little man.”

Some sportspeople go on playing too long. Perhaps they just can’t stand life without the “high” of playing professional sport. Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, retired three tines. He retired once from the Chicago Bulls, made a successful comeback with the bulls, and then retired again. His second comeback with an inferior team ended in failure and he retired forever at the age of 38. Jordan said, “There will never be anything I do that will fulfill me as much as competing did.”

For some people the pain of saying goodbye never leaves them. Jimmy Greaves, an ex-England international footballer, said, “I think that a lot of players would prefer to be shot once their career is over.” Many of them spend their retirement in a continual battle against depression, alcohol, or drugs.

But for the lucky few, retirement can mean a successful new career. Franz Beckenbauer is a classic example of a footballer who won everything with his club. After retiring he became a successful coach of his club and finally the president of the club. John McEnroe, the infamous (臭名昭著的) “bad boy” of tennis, is now a highly respected and highly paid TV commentator (評論員). But sadly, for most sportspeople, these cases are the exceptions.

51. The hardest thing for any sportsperson to do is to _____.

A. retire when they are physically well

B. wait until their body isn’t suitable for sports

C. play until their coach tells them to leave

D. decide what they will do after retirement

52. With the example of Michael Jordan, the author tells us some sportspeople _____.

A. cannot adapt to life after retirement

B. really make great success when they come back

C. should go on playing sport as long as they can

D. are always addicted to playing professional sport

53. What does the underlined word “comeback” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. Repetition.                                     B. Recovery.

C. Return.                                         D. Rebirth.

54. From the passage, we know that after retirement, many sportspeople _____.

A. become very poor

B. feel depressed and drink a lot

C. would love to coach other players

D. start a career related to sport

55. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Sportspeople aren’t supposed to retire so early.

B. Most sportspeople are not successful after retirement.

C. Franz Beckenbauer is famous for playing tennis.

D. John McEnroe is an ex-England international footballer.

      

根據(jù)對話內(nèi)容，從對話后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項，選項中有兩項多余選項。（共5小題；每小題 2分，滿分10分）

—Welcome to our interview, Mr. Smith.

—  

—So, you're an Australian theater actor, but you've just come back from making a film in Los Angeles.

—That's right.

—  

—Well, I was working in a play in Sydney and the director of the film came to see it. Actually, she came to see another actor in the play.

—I see. And then what happened?

— 

—I see. But how about you?

—And my dressing room was next to his, so after she'd talked to him, she talked to me.

—And what did she say to you?

—She said, "Why don't you fly to Los Angeles and we'll give you a screen test. '

—

—I said, "Yes, of course!" So I went to Los Angeles and did a screen test. Then I flew back to Sydney and carried on with the play. 

—   

—When she rang, I was sleeping. Anyway, I stopped doing the play and flew to Los Angeles again.

A. How did you get the part? B. And what did you say to her? C. What role did you play in the film? D. She asked if I'd like to play a part. E. Oh, thanks. It's very nice to be here. F. What were you doing when you heard you had got the part? G. She talked to another actor at the end of the play.

What Is a Boy?

Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called a “boy”. Boys come in different sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same belief: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males send them off to bed at night.

Boys are found everywhere –--  on top of, under, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers spoil them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers love them, and God protects them. A boy is TRUTH with dirt on its face, BEAUTY with a cut on its finger, WISDOM with chocolate in its hair, and the HOPE of the future with a snake in its pocket.

When you are busy, a boy is a trouble-maker and a noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a wild creature destroying the world and himself with it

A boy is a mixture – he has the stomach of a horse, the digestion (消化) of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker(鞭炮), but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs on each hand.

He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines. He is not much for Sunday schools, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.

Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, a three-feet rope, six cents and some unknown things.

A boy is a magical creature – he is your headache but when you come home at night with only destroyed pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, “Hi, Dad!”

1.The whole passage is in a tone (語氣) of _________.

A．respect and harmony                    B．humor and love

C．hope and expectation                    D．confidence and imagination

2.What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence?

A．He has altogether five fingers.              B．He is slow, foolish and clumsy.

C．He becomes clever and smart.              D．He cuts his hand with a knife.

3.According to the writer, boys appreciate everything in the following except _________.

A．ice cream                             B．comic books

C．Saturday mornings                      D．Sunday schools

4.What does the writer feel about boys?

A．He feels curious about their noise.          B．He is tired of these creatures.

C．He is amazed by their naughtiness.          D．He feels unsafe staying with them.

 

Young women are more adventurous than young men when travelling abroad in gap years．One in three female backpackers visits more than three countries during a year out and travels alone, according to new research．

By contrast, the majority of their male counterparts（地位相當(dāng)者） visit only one country and tend to travel in groups, says a survey by the Gap Year company, which provides information and services for students considering taking a year out．

More women than men say that their prime reason for taking time off is to see the world and experience different cultures．Men are more likely to rank “having fun” higher on their list of priorities．Women are more likely to value the challenge of a foreign trip, and many cited reasons such as learning a language and meeting new people．

The more adventurous gap years taken by women seem to work to their benefit; more than three quarters of those surveyed have reported increased confidence, self-reliance（自立） and independence, whereas only half of the men had that experience．

The research also shows that women are more likely to do voluntary work while travelling, with more than one in ten helping with teaching or development projects．One of the reasons given for this is a wish to see the country in an authentic light．

A greater proportion of women than men face objections or criticism from their families over their gap­year plans．Among the men surveyed, lack of money is the main barrier to travel．

Carolyn Martin, a doctor from London,is a typically confident female traveller．Starting in Cape Town, she travelled around southern Africa and Australia with a string of unusual and sometimes dangerous jobs．

“I had one job chasing elephants off the runway in Africa by banging a stick against a pan，” she recalled．“It was OK but one day I did get chased by one．”

She said that she had travelled alone because “you meet more people”．

1.By referring to “gap year” the writer means ________．  

A．a(chǎn) gap you come across after leaving high school

B．a(chǎn) time when you are caught in a dilemma between work and study

C．a(chǎn) period after you find a job upon your graduation from college

D．a(chǎn) year off between high school and college for certain purposes

2.In the third paragraph, the underlined word “priorities” most probably means ________

A．selections         B．a(chǎn)ttractions         C．preferences       D．projects

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Men students will travel less during the gap year because of their part-­time jobs．

B．Women students will travel more but face more objections．

C．The article suggests that women travelling alone will have dangerous experiences．

D．Men students prefer to travel inside their own country to going abroad．

4.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

A．Girls Get the Best out of Gap Years

B．Boys Lack Courage in Gap Years

C．For Fun or for Adventure?

D．Young Women Are More Adventurous