Zinedine Zidane, who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month, has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words.

    Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany’s Leverkusen 2－1.

He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy’s Juventus for US $ 66 million. And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3－0 defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final.

    But despite his success, Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground. He leads a quiet family life, there is hardly any gossip^① about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight^②.

“Just because I’m a public figure it doesn’t mean I have to express myself on everything. I don’t like to discuss some personal matters publicly.” he said.

    Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille, France, where he was raised by his Algerian parents, Zidane was shy.

    He loved football even as a little kid. “I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking,”he said.

    Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread, Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich.

    Before he was 10 years old, it was obvious that he could become a great footballer. He was offered his first professional contract^③ when he was just 20. Now, at the age of 29, he has already picked up two World Player of the year awards.

This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup. But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he’ll do this time.

Notes:

gossip  n. 流言蜚语

spotlight  n. 聚光灯

contract  n. 合同

What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that _______.

A. he could become a great footballer

B. he could become rich if he became a footballer

C. football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking

D. football is a favorite sport in the future

According to the article, what are Zidane’s main characteristics?

A. He is a shy but successful man.

B. He loves his wife and children.

C. He doesn’t like to speak in public.

D. He is a quiet, down-to-earth person of few words.

When the writer says “Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”, he means that _______.

A. Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days

B. Zidane is a down-to-earth person

C. Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch

D. Zidane likes standing when he succeeds

The sentence “Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich” means ________.

A. football made Zidane’s poor family wealthy when he was a child

B. Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child

C. football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family

D. Zidane knew that if he wanted 10 be rich he must play football from childhood

From poor beginnings to most expensive player

      ZINEDINE Zidane，who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month，has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words．

      Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany's Leverkusen 2一1．

      He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy's Juventus for US $ 66 million．And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3-O defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final．

      But despite his success，Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground．He leads a quite family life，there is hardly any gossip about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight．

      “Just because I'm a public figure it doesn't mean I have to express myself on everything．I don't like to discuss some personal matters publicly．”he said．

      Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille，France，where he was raised by his Algerian parents，Zidane was shy．

      He loved football even as a little kid．“I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking，”he said．

      Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread，Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich．

      Before he was 10 years old，it was obvious that he could become a great footballer．He was offered his first professional contract(合同)when he was just 20．Now，at the age of 29，he has already picked up two World Player  of the year awards．

      This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup．But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he'll do this time．

What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that_____________.

A．he could become a great footballer

B．he could become rich if he became a footballer

C．football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking

D．football is a favorite sport in the future

According to the article，what are Zidane’s main characteristics?

A．He is a shy but successful man．

B．H e loves his wife and children．

C．He doesn't like to speak in public．

D．He is a quiet，down—to earth person of few words．

When the writer says“Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”,he means_________.

A．Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days

B．Zidane is a down-to earth person

C．Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch

D．Zidane likes standing when he succeeds

The sentence“Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich”means___________．

A．football made Zidane's poor family wealthy when he was a child

B．Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child

C．football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family

D．Zidane knew that if he wanted to be  rich he must play football from childhood

Five years ago, Steven Gerrard fulfilled a boyhood dream when he was made captain of   Liverpool, the football club he   had supported all his life. As one of the best teams in the English Premier League, the captain's armband weighed heavy on a player who had only turned 23.

  But through a combination of individual brilliance on the pitch (球场) and a growing awareness of what being a skipper (队长) is all about, Gerrard has gone on to make the captain's role his own.

He performed a rescue act for Liverpool by twice scoring as they came from 2－0 down to draw 2－2 against Hull City on December 13.His efforts steered (带领) the team to the top of the Premier League. “It's  easy for me to say we're a great team  and the squad's great，” said Gerrard.  “The hardest thing is to actually go out there and prove it on the pitch. I call the Premier League the bread and butter and I'm desperate for the title.”

Liverpool enjoyed some real success during the five years when Gerrard has been captain of the club—they've been to two Champions League finals and an FA Cup final, winning two out of three. But Gerrard believes he has learned more from being a captain “when things haven't gone too well”．

“You learn more from bad experiences really. Bad defeats, going out of competitions or failing short in the league, as captain, I feel more responsible, particularly when we get beaten，” he said. “I remember all those experiences and learn from all of that.”

 Gerrard grew up watching Liverpool. He joined the club's youth academy as a school boy. He then had tryouts with various clubs at 14, including Manchester United, which he claimed in his autobiography (自传) was “to pressure Liverpool into giving me a contract.” He signed with the club in 1997.

 Gerrard has dedicated his entire career to Liverpool and he is confident that the club will start another legend soon. “You just expect that dynasty to come，” he said.

1．The passage is mainly about ________.

A．Gerrard's love of Liverpool

B．what kind of person Gerrard is

C．Gerrard's latest performance on the pitch

D．Gerrard as captain of the Liverpool football club

2．From the text, we can see that ________.

A．Gerrard has outshone other captains of Liverpool

B．Gerrard did quite a good job in leading his team

C．Gerrrad intended to make the captain's role his own

D．Gerrrad has been confident of being a captain since chosen

3．Gerrard admitted that he learned more from ________.

A．try outs with various clubs

B．unsuccessful experiences

C．steering the team to the top

D．striving for the league title

4．From the last two paragraphs, we know that ________.

A．Gerrard compared Liverpool with other football clubs and finally decided on it

B．Gerrard was made captain soon after he signed with Liverpool

C．Gerrard believed the next season would be his dynasty

D．it was Liverpool that Gerrard had his eye on all along