Don't you just love ice skating every winter? I am sure, that since winter is approaching, your skates are set to come out, just waiting to be used. Impress your friends with your new trick on how to ice-skate backwards with the help of these tips. Skating backwards on ice is a bit difficult but once you master the basic, there' s nothing like it. Follow the steps given below and you will be able to skate backwards in no time.     

Stand Straight

The first thing that you need to do is, stand straight. If you feel that you are falling backwards, then just put your chin up and slightly bend your knees. Don't worry; this happens to all.

Confidence is What You Need

The most important step while learning how to skate backwards, is having enough confidence in yourself and in what you are doing. How can you achieve this? By practice. Just practice rolling backwards down a gentle slope every single day or just by pushing off from a wall or something of that sort. But before you do that, make sure that the place where you are practicing is free from any kind of debris（碎片）because otherwise, you could end up in the hospital due to some accident. While going backwards, just get used to the feeling of moving backwards. One of the important ice skating tips and techniques is that if you feel that you are losing your balance, then scissor (做剪式運(yùn)動(dòng)) your skates. Keep practicing this till you are confident about it.

Maintain Speed

Confident now? Great! Now the next step is to maintain your speed. While rolling in a straight line with one skate, with the other try sculling (滑漿), that is, keep pushing yourself backwards with an outwards stroke (滑動(dòng)). Now bring the skate which you were using to scull, and then again, repeat the same process. Make sure that you put most of your weight on the skate which is moving straight and not the one with which you are sculling. Now, try the same thing using the other foot. Again keep doing this till you are confident enough.

Increase Your Speed Now

Once you are confident that you can scull with either foot, the next thing that you have to do is increase your speed. Try some of your own tricks now. Scull with either foot or with both at the same time.

Scull and Be Aware

While you keep one foot straight, keep sculling with the other. You can do that simultaneously with both feet. Concentrate on what you are doing but don't get so involved that you don't see where you are going. If you are not watching your back, you might just bang against something or someone.

1.According to the text, confidence comes from ________ .

A. constant exercise          B. strict coaches                  C. high speed             D. good techniques

2.Which is the right order of ice-skating backwards?

a. Increasing your speed.                                                 b .Being able to scull with one foot.

c. Being about to stand straight.                                              d. Trying some different tricks.

A. c→a→d→b                     B. c→b→d→a            C. c→b→a→d   D. a→c→b→d

3. In the last paragraph the author mainly wants to express _________.

A. one must be brave to learn to ice-skate backwards           

B. skating and keeping cautious are both important

C. it’s difficult to concentrate when ice-skating backwards

D. it' s a common thing to hit someone when ice skating backwards

4.The purpose of the text is _______ .

A. to offer some advice on ice-skating backwards

B. to introduce the culture of ice-skating backwards

C. to explain advantages of ice-skating backwards

D. to compare different ways of ice-skating backwards

As the first woman Chancellor(總理) in German’s history, Angela Merkel topped Forbes magazine’s list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.She has even been compared to Margaret Thatcher and many people called her  “Iron Lady”．
Merkel was born in Hamburg, West Germany, on July 17, 1954.Six weeks after she was born, her family moved to Templin. As a small child, Merkel quickly learned to speak but took longer to walk. “I was a stupid person when it came to moving？” Merkel said. “A normal person could do something naturally, but I had to think about it in my mind and practice.” As a teenager, she was the top student and graduated from high school with perfect marks. In 1973, Merkel went to the University of Leipzig, where she studied physics. At 32, she got her doctor’s degree in physics.
She stepped_into_politics in 1989.In her first big political job as Minister for the Environment in 1994, her scientific background and strong will proved very useful. In 2005 she became Germany’s Chancellor. She has been reelected to a second term as German Chancellor on September 27, 2009.
Through her political career, Merkel’s persistence (堅(jiān)持) and patience helped her a lot. “She’s bright and open­minded,” said Hubert Markl. “She is the person who wants to know exactly what is going on, and how never giving up will influence our society and future.”
【小題1】As a small child, Merkel was slow in ________.

As the first woman Chancellor(總理) in German’s history, Angela Merkel topped Forbes magazine’s list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.She has even been compared to Margaret Thatcher and many people called her  “Iron Lady”．

Merkel was born in Hamburg, West Germany, on July 17, 1954.Six weeks after she was born, her family moved to Templin. As a small child, Merkel quickly learned to speak but took longer to walk. “I was a stupid person when it came to moving？” Merkel said. “A normal person could do something naturally, but I had to think about it in my mind and practice.” As a teenager, she was the top student and graduated from high school with perfect marks. In 1973, Merkel went to the University of Leipzig, where she studied physics. At 32, she got her doctor’s degree in physics.

She stepped_into_politics in 1989.In her first big political job as Minister for the Environment in 1994, her scientific background and strong will proved very useful. In 2005 she became Germany’s Chancellor. She has been reelected to a second term as German Chancellor on September 27, 2009.

Through her political career, Merkel’s persistence (堅(jiān)持) and patience helped her a lot. “She’s bright and open­minded,” said Hubert Markl. “She is the person who wants to know exactly what is going on, and how never giving up will influence our society and future.”

1.As a small child, Merkel was slow in ________.

A．speaking          B．walking           C．learning           D．thinking

2.The underlined phrase in Paragraph 3 most probably means “________”．

A．fought the government                   B．began her scientific career

C．offered political guidance                 D．became a government official

3.We can infer from the passage that Angela Merkel ________.

A．is a powerful woman with a strong will and determination

B．got her doctor’s degree in politics in University of Leipzig

C．has worked as German Chancellor since Sep.27, 2009

D．showed her best talent as Minister for the Environment

4.In the last paragraph the author mainly wants to express ________.

A．one must be brave in the political career

B．one should be patient when making decisions

C．persistence can help one’s dream come true

D．one can have a strong will when others haven’t

5.What’s the author’s attitude toward Angela Merkel?

A．Admiring.         B．Thankful.          C．Pitiful .            D．Dull.