Liu Xiang, athlete, born in 1983

Liu Xiang made his name by winning the 110-meter hurdles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This was the first time an athlete of non-African descent (血统) had gone under 13 seconds for the event. In the same year, Liu set a new 110-meter hurdling world record at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne, with a time of 12.88 seconds.
Lang Lang, pianist, born in 1982

Lang Lang began piano lessons at age three. His father quit his job to accompany his boy to Beijing. At 11, Lang Lang was awarded first prize for his outstanding performance at the Fourth International Young Pianists Competition in Germany. In 1995, at 13, he won first place at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians’ Competition in Japan. At 17, Lang Lang made his breakthrough in the West and has performed with many of the world’s major orchestras since then.
Li Yuchun, singer, born in 1984

Born into a middle-class family, Li was not encouraged by her parents to pursue a career in entertainment. The turning point came when she entered the Super Girl contest in 2005. This competition drew the largest audiences in Chinese television history. She rose above 120,000 applicants with her tomboy style and Latin-flavored performance. Her win came as a surprise to many people because she didn’t fit the stereotype of female singers. She has millions of fans of all ages all over the country. Her haircut and manners have been copied by tens of thousands of girls. Her first album sold more than 430,000 copies in the first month.
Ding Junhui, snooker player, born in 1987

Ding quit school at 13, after his father insisted he concentrate on snooker. His parents then sold their house to help Ding kick-start his career. In March 2005, he celebrated his 18th birthday by reaching the final of the China Open in Beijing, along the way beating world top-16 ranked players Peter Ebdon, Marco Fu and Ken Doherty. In the final, he defeated the then world No 3, Stephen Hendry, ranking first in the tournament. After shooting to fame, questions were raised over the father’s decision for Ding to quit school

1. 1.

   Who is the passage intended for?

   1. A.
      People only interested in China Daily
   2. B.
      Children born after the 1980s
   3. C.
      Students and the young crazy fans
   4. D.
      Readers of all ages
2. 2.

   Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

   1. A.
      Liu Xiang was the first to prove the Asians can equal the African descent in the hurdles
   2. B.
      Li Yunchun’s talent made her the best-known singer in China
   3. C.
      Ding Junhui was forced to drop out of school because of his low grades
   4. D.
      Lang Lang was the most popular with the students in China
3. 3.

   Who was the youngest when they rose to fame?

   1. A.
      Li Yuchun
   2. B.
      Liu Xiang
   3. C.
      Ding Junhui
   4. D.
      Lang Lang

Be careful with such things. If you          , you’ll drop them.

When we are unfamiliar with something, we may feel nervous and fearful. The help of others is a good   36   to help us pull through.
I write for a big newspaper, and I wanted to   37   a story about parachute jumping（跳伞）. To make it a realistic as well as exciting   38   , I decided that I had to make a jump myself   39  . Unluckily, I’m not good at any   40  , let alone（更不用说）parachute jumping.
My friend Mr. Smith was willing to give me a   41   . He took me to a ground school. The first day’s   42    included several hours of instruction but not my first drop from a(n)   43 . For this, I had to wait until the following   44  .
The next morning, I was taken to the airfield.   45  , a heavy parachute was put on my back. Then I was   46    to make my way to a small plane which had just stopped slowly on the runway. Once on board, the plane was soon   47   . I began to feel nervous. As we reached one thousand meters, Harry, my teacher, hooked（钩）a   48   from my parachute to a steel ring inside the plane. The line was to pull my parachute    49  after I jumped.
“Get   50  , Henry,” Harry said. I moved carefully to the door. I wanted to   51  , “NO, no, no!” But no word came.
“Jump!” Harry called   52   . “Jump!”
Away from the plane, and down, down I fell, arms stretched. It worked All at once I was very happy. Then I felt a quick   53  . My big parachute had opened! It was the best   54   I ever had. I looked down. There were rivers, trees, fields and houses. I heard the soft sound of the air. This was   55  .