If a cheetah, a wolf, and a well-trained human all entered a marathon, who would win?The cheetah would defifinitely take an early ______(16) . The wolf would probably pass the cheetah after a few miles. But at the end of the 26 miles, the human would be the first to cross the ______(17) line.

Humans have only two legs but a(n) ______(18) capacity for running. Our powerful lungs give us the stamina needed to run great distances. And because we can sweat, we can control our body ______(19) while we run. Why are we so good at running? Running was necessary for early human ______(20) . Of course, we don’t often need to run for survival these days. All the same, running ______(21) to play an important role in human cultures all over the world.

Marathon running is perhaps the best-known example of human running ______(22) . That is because it is big business. Millions of people worldwide watch on television as elite runners ______(23) for millions of dollars. And, of course, businesses ______(24) products such as athletic shoes during the competition. 

How does someone become an elite marathoner? The ______(25) runners of Kenya seem to have found the answer. Iten is a small farming town in Kenya’s western highlands. It is also home to seven of the world’s top ten marathon winners. Most of them are ______(26) of the Kalenjin tribe. They tend to have ______(27) bodies for running. Their slim bodies, long legs, and short waists concentrate ______(28) where a runner needs it most–the legs. And because Iten is 8,000 feet above sea level, the Kalenjin ______(29) an enormous lung capacity. They need it to get oxygen out of the thin air. This gives the Kalenjin an important ______(30) when they compete in races at lower altitude.

A 

The next time you see an ant in your kitchen, think twice before you kill it. why? Scientists  believe that ants can help us solve some serious problems. 

Ants are very successful animals. They can be found in every part of the earth except for  Antarctic and a few small islands. Over 12, 500 species of ants exist. Their population numbers  in the millions. In fact, biologists say that if you weighed every living thing on the planet, 15 to  25 percent of the total weight would be made up of ants. 

What explains ants’ success? They have very small brains and no leader. But as a group,  they are organized, effiffifficient, and excellent at solving problems. For example, they are always  able to fifind the fastest way to get to food. Thousands of them can travel to the same place at the  same time without getting into a traffiffiffic jam (something humans have not been able to fifigure out  how to do). How can they do these things with such small brains? 

The answer is simple. Any one ant doesn’t need to know much; it just needs a few simple  rules. When it follows those rules, it becomes one small part of a large group brain. This is called swarm intelligence. 

Scientists now hope to imitate ants’ organizational power. Computer scientists think it  can help in communication. They are using swarm intelligence to fifind the fastest way to send  messages over the Internet. 

Other scientists are making simple robots that work in swarms, like ants. One day, they  hope to use these robots to investigate dangerous places. They also think that the cells in our  bodies might use swarm intelligence. If so, the lessons learned from ants might one day help us  treat a variety of medical conditions.

B 

I was talking to my Scottish friend Angus the other day and he was telling me all about  the Highland Games. I’d never heard of them before, but they sound really interesting. He told  me that he’d been a couple of times, and he said that he’d take me there next year. I can’t wait!  Meanwhile, I thought I’d fifind out a bit more about the Highland Games. 

The Highland Games are an annual competition to celebrate Scottish and Celtic culture and  history, especially that of the Scottish Highlands, the northernmost part of Britain. Participants  wear traditional Scottish costume, including the kilt. Pipers play the bagpipes and dancers  perform traditional Highland dances such as the Sword Dance and the Highland Fling, a dance  traditionally performed by warriors after victory in battle. 

The games started as early as the 11th century when King Malcolm of Scotland organized  a race to fifind the fastest runner in Scotland. The king said that the winner would be his offiffifficial  messenger. However, the games as they’re known today started in the 19th century. The biggest  event in Scotland is the Cowal Highland Gathering which is held in the town of Dunoon every  August. This event started in 1894 and attracts over 3,500 competitors from all over the world  and about 25,000 spectators. 

There are many similar celebrations around the world, with annual games in Canada, the  USA, and even Switzerland. The games are especially popular in America, which hosts over 50  festivals. My friend told me that he’d been to one in San Francisco, which is even bigger than  the Cowal event. The San Francisco games were first held in 1865, making them older than  many Scottish events. 

The main sporting competitions are called the “heavies”. These involve throwing heavy  objects—the most famous of which is “tossing the caber”. A caber is a wooden pole similar to  a telegraph pole. This is similar to the Olympic “shot put” but instead competitors throw a large  rock weighing between 9 and 12 kilos. Cultural events include dancing championships and  bagpipe competitions. 

So, I know where I’m going next August! And my friend said he’d lend me his kilt!

Many people think of virtual reality(VR) as a toy. However, to many professionals today, VR is not a game. It is one of their most important tools. In fact, VR has become as important to some professionals as a stethoscope is to a doctor or scissors are to a hairdresser.

Let’s start with how doctors use VR. VR is used in many ways in medicine. With one VR tool, doctors can practice difficult operations before they perform them on real people. For example, in 2001 doctors in Singapore used a VR tool to plan a very complex and dangerous operation. Twin baby girls were born with their heads joined together. The doctors operated to separate them. The operation was a success, mostly because the doctors were able to perform the operation virtually before they tried it on their real patients.

VR also has important uses in the business world Several European automakers, including the makers of Jaguar Formula One racing cars, use VR to design their vehicles. Mercedes-Benz uses its VR center in Stuttgart, Germany both to design and to crash-test vehicles. Results from these virtual crashes are 98 percent accurate. The virtual testing saves money because no vehicles are destroyed. Also, the computer shows that happens to each part of the vehicles are destroyed. Also, the computer shows that happens to each part of the vehicle. The computer can spot many things that testers might not see in a real crash test.

Scientists use VR in a variety of ways. Meteorologists use VR to enter hurricanes. Chemists and drug designers use VR to look at the shape of complex molecules and build new ones. 

Paleontologists use VR to travel back in time. Entomologists use VR to create life-size models of creatures such as grasshoppers.

Of course, none of these VR programs is cheap. However, as more and more people begin to use VR, prices are likely to come down. And for many professionals, the expense is small when compare to the benefits. The popularity of VR today, both as a toy and a tool, makes it clear that it is here to stay. In the future, we might be spending more time working and playing in the virtual world than we do in the real one.

将下列画线句子译成中文。 

Some second language learners do better than others because they are better motivated.  43. The child learning a fifirst language can not really be spoken about in terms of good or bad  motivation. Language is one means through which all children fulfill their everyday needs,  however diverse these may be. One might as well ask what the motivation is for walking or for  being a human being. 44. In these terms the second language is superflfluous for many classroom  learners, who can already communicate with people and use language for thinking. Their mental  and social life has been formed through their fifirst language. 

45. The usual meaning of motivation for the teacher is probably the interest that something  generates in the students. 46. A particular exercise, a particular topic, a particular song, may  make the students appear involved in the class, to the teacher’s delight. Of course, obvious  enjoyment by the students is not necessarily a sign that learning is taking place—people  probably enjoy eating ice-cream more than carrots but which has the better long-term effffects?  47. Motivation in this sense is a short-term affffair from moment to moment in the class.

教学材料：

School Life in the UK

Last year, I had the chance to study at a British secondary school as an exchange student. I stayed with a lovely host family and went to school with their son, Daniel. We were both in year ten and we got on well. He is learning Chinese and will come to stay with me this year in China!

The British school day begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. Students usually have to learn nine subjects at secondary school. Every student in the UK must study English, Maths and the Science subjects Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Students can also choose to study other subjects, such as History, Art and Business.

The classes are different from those in China. Each teacher has their own classroom and the around for every lesson. In most of my classes, there were only about 20 students. In the beginning, however, it was still tough for me to remember everyone’s name!

I enjoyed most of the classes, but some of them were quite challenging. Technology classes were fun. I made a clock to take home. The teacher helped me put the parts together. I liked it so much that I still use it as my alarm! I found Maths quite easy and enjoyable because the material was less advanced in the UK than in China. However, learning English was great challenge for me. There were a lot of difficult English words, especially in Geography and Biology. Class discussion is very important in the UK, but could not make a great contribution because sometimes I wasn’t able to express myself clearly in English. Although there was not as much homework as I was used to, it was still challenging. Fortunately, my teachers and classmates were always helpful and gave me lots of encouragement. My language skills improved over time. I am glad to have the opportunity to experience this different way of life. I met some great people and 1earnt a lot about school life in the UK. Daniel and his family were fantastic hosts, and his friends were very nice as well. I can’t wait for Daniel to visit China.

教学片段：

Pre-reading
Activity 1 Answer the questions:

What is your senior high school life like?

What do you know about school life in the UK?
Activity 2 Predict what aspects might include in the text.

While-reading

Activity 1

1. Go through the text quickly and answer the question:

What is the genre of the text?

2. List the key elements of a narration, and find the answers to the questions:

What topic does the author talk about?

Who is the narrator of the text?

Where did he study?

When did he study there?

Activity 2

1. Answer the question:

What is the structure of a narration?

2. Read and find the answers to the questions:

How many parts can we divide the text into?

What’s the main idea of each part?

Activity 3

Read and answer the questions:·What aspects of school life in the UK are included in the text?

What challenges was he confronted with? How did he overcome them?

What are the similarities and differences between the school systems in the UK and in China?

Post-reading

Activity 1

1. Answer the question and list the words or expressions in the text to support your idea..

What’s the author’s attitude towards his school life in the UK?

2. Discuss in groups and conclude the overt plot and the covert plot of the text.

Activity 2: Write a narration about your dream school life including at least 3 aspects.