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(2020·阜阳模拟)
On Sunday 23 April, more than 30, 000 people participated in the 2017 London Marathon, running 26. 2 miles (42. 2 kilometres) around the city center.
The London Marathon has taken place every year since 1981. At the first one, just 6, 225 people completed the course, and since then it has grown into one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It is one of the “World Marathon Majors”, which is a competition made up of six global marathon events. The overall male and female winners receive $1 million in prize money between them. There are eleven people who have run every London Marathon since it began—they call themselves the “Ever Presents”.
This year, the winners of the London Marathon were surprisingly both from Kenya—Daniel Wanjiru, who finished in 2 hours and 5 minutes, and Mary Keitany, whose time was 2 hours and 17 minutes.
However, most marathon runners are not professional athletes. They are amateurs who have trained for months to raise money for charity or just as a personal challenge. For example, Tom Harrison took three days just to reach the run’s halfway point, as he was crawling the course on his hands and knees dressed as a gorilla(大猩猩), trying to raise money and attention for the charity “The Gorilla Organization”.
Matthew Rees was another runner to encourage people, as he stopped just before the finish line to help David Wyeth run the last 200m. They did not know each other before, but Matthew saw that David was exhausted and possibly close to collapsing, and wanted to help him finish.
Every year there are lots of touching stories like this from the London Marathon, and it is a huge achievement even to run the 26. 2 miles!
【文章大意】本文主要讲述了伦敦马拉松的时间、参与人数等基本情况, 也讲了发展的历程以及特殊的获胜者, 另外还有发生在跑马拉松途中的感人的小故事。
1. What do we know about London Marathon from the text?
A. Each winner can receive $1 million in prize money.
B. Most of its runners are professional athletes.
C. It has been held continuously for 37 years.
D. It’s the most influential sporting event in the world.
【解析】选C。细节理解题。根据第二段可知伦敦马拉松是从1981年开始, 每年一次, 可算出C项的表述是正确的。
2. What makes the winners of London Marathon this year special?
A. Their speed. B. Their nationality.
C. Their prize money. D. Their purpose.
【解析】选B。细节理解题。根据第三段, 特别是里面的surprisingly一词可知他们是外国人这件事情令人意外, 故选B项。
3. Why does the author mention the story of Tom Harrison?
A. To tell us competitors can help each other.
B. To prove some amateurs are not good runners.
C. To indicate participation matters more than success.
D. To show the sports event means charity for some people.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据第四段中的后面的内容“trying to raise money and attention for the charity ‘The Gorilla Organization’. ”可知人们可以利用这样的运动的机会为慈善机构筹集资金。故选D项。
4. What is the best title for the text?
A. The London Marathon
B. Impressive Marathon Runners
C. Touching Stories behind Marathon
D. The History of the London Marathon
【解析】选A。主旨大意题。根据文章的内容“本文主要讲述了伦敦马拉松的时间、参与人数等基本情况, 也讲了发展的历程以及获胜者, 另外还有发生在跑马拉松当中的感人的小故事。”可知选A项。
【知识拓展】佳词积累
1. participate v. 参加
2. course n. 路程; 课程
3. amateur n. 业余爱好者
4. crawl v. 爬行
