Mother always said I was born to swim. I was     41     at the amazing fact. If this was true, then why was I afraid of water? I went to swim every summer, but I made    42     progress. I was worried and blamed myself several times. When I watched people swimming    43    , how I wished I had learnt to swim!

The story of how I learnt to swim is dramatic. One summer afternoon, my     44    and I went to the swimming pool to swim. While he was     45   his clothes, I was wandering along the bank of the pool. Suddenly I heard a voice, “    46  !” and then came a big noise and     47   splashes(溅水). Just when I was     48    the swimmer’s skills, I slipped into the pool! I was so afraid that I     49  at once! But the water kept coming towards me and I     50   lots of it. I was moving upside down and trying to reach the    51   . I was struggling very hard to keep my head     52    the water. A(n)    53    was like a hundred years to me. To my surprise, I was able to keep the style! Just then, my father saw me and he seemed to be   54   . He then said, “Calm down, just     55   your arms and legs like this. Right!” And I     56    it! I finally learnt to swim! You can’t imagine how happy I was and I wanted to     57 for joy!

From this experience I learnt that one’s power is     58   . Sometimes you could show that power in an emergency. If you believe that, you will discover the power     59    within yourself and achieve your goals. And one has to stay calm when it’s     60   . To calm down helps you to think clearly and make the best decision.

Mother always said I was born to swim. I was     41     at the amazing fact. If this was true, then why was I afraid of water? I went to swim every summer, but I made    42     progress. I was worried and blamed myself several times. When I watched people swimming    43    , how I wished I had learnt to swim!
The story of how I learnt to swim is dramatic. One summer afternoon, my     44    and I went to the swimming pool to swim. While he was     45   his clothes, I was wandering along the bank of the pool. Suddenly I heard a voice, “    46  !” and then came a big noise and     47   splashes(溅水). Just when I was     48    the swimmer’s skills, I slipped into the pool! I was so afraid that I     49  at once! But the water kept coming towards me and I     50   lots of it. I was moving upside down and trying to reach the    51   . I was struggling very hard to keep my head     52    the water. A(n)    53    was like a hundred years to me. To my surprise, I was able to keep the style! Just then, my father saw me and he seemed to be   54   . He then said, “Calm down, just     55   your arms and legs like this. Right!” And I     56    it! I finally learnt to swim! You can’t imagine how happy I was and I wanted to     57 for joy!
From this experience I learnt that one’s power is     58   . Sometimes you could show that power in an emergency. If you believe that, you will discover the power     59    within yourself and achieve your goals. And one has to stay calm when it’s     60   . To calm down helps you to think clearly and make the best decision.

John is a good swimmer, but I don’t like the way ____ he always shows off in front of everyone.

A. how      B. why      C. 不填     D. which

One of Lewis Gordon Pugh’s first big attempts to put his cold-water skills to the test nearly ended in disaster. On a one-mile swim in Antarctica in December 2005, just yards from the finish, his body began to give in. The temperature inside his thigh muscle dropped to 87.8 degrees, the lowest ever measured in him. He was completely at the limits of his ability.

   Despite what he called the “grueling (折磨人的)” Antarctic swim, Pugh scheduled an even more fearsome test for himself at the North Pole. Stepping off the way of the Russian icebreaker that had crunched(咯吱作响的穿过) through floating sea ice for five days to take him to the North Pole, Pugh walked across the ice to a pool of open water over one mile long and two and a half miles deep. The sea temperature was 29 degrees, only a little above the freezing point of salt water.

   Pugh quickly took off his padded clothes. In only his bathing suit and cap, his skin already pink, he walked to the water’s edge. “The only place I’m getting out is at the end,” he told himself. Then he removed his earphones and dived in.

   The pain was immediate. His entire body felt on fire. The doctor kept pace with him in a boat. Through iced-up goggles(护目镜), Pugh could see the armed guards keeping watch for bears.

   His friend Becker had broken down the huge task into manageable parts, each one marked by a flag planted in the ice that represented a friend, family member, or teammate. Fog started to roll in as Pugh headed for the final marker, the flag of Great Britain. He imagined his late father standing beside it--- the man who had done so much to give him an interest in adventure. Then Pugh drove himself to the finish. After 18 minutes 50 seconds in the water, his body was not even hypothermic(体温过低的).

1..

Why did Lewis Gordon Pugh swim in Antarctica in December 2005?

   A. To train his determination.

   B. To end a disaster.

   C. To test his cold-water skills.

   D. To check the temperature in Antarctica.

2..

. It can be inferred that in the pool at the North Pole Lewis Gordon Pugh __________.

   A. had to suffer from the cold water with his goal to achieve

   B. dived to the depth of two and a half miles

   C. broke the records that the Russian kept

   D. spent nearly 19 minutes walking over one mile

3..

. To make sure of the successful test in the pool at the North Pole, __________.

   A. Lewis Gordon Pugh had to carry flags

   B. Lewis Gordon Pugh was accompanied by his father

   C. Pugh took measures to keep his body temperature

   D. Pugh’s task was separated into several parts

While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.
The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to compete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.
I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I’m not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold – his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.
I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.
But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.
No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout “Come on, you can do it!” and he did.
A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.
Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.
【小题1】From the passage we can learn that the young man         .