The Sound of Speed （速度）

Kathy was a university student. Like most students she had very little money, but she wanted to buy a car.

“If I can buy one really cheap that works, ”she thought, “I will save money on bus fares（车费）. Then I’ll have more to spend on food. ”

She spent a day looking at cars in the second-hand car yards（车场）.Most of them were much too expensive, but at last found one for＄250.

The car was rusty and the paint was badly damaged（损坏）,but it worked .

“It’s got a good engine ,”the salesman said, “and the gear box（变速箱）is O.K. Forget everything else.”

Kathy bought the car and drove it out of the car yard. Everything was wrong with it except for the engine and gear box, which worked very well.

“As long as they work,” Kathy thought, “nothing else matters. The salesman was right.”

Unfortunately, a few days later, while she was driving to her university, a police car drove up beside her and made her stop. A young policeman got out of his car and walked around Kathy’s car. He looked at it disbelievingly.

He made a list of the things wrong with the car. It was a very long list.

Then he looked inside the car.

“Does your speedometer work?” he asked.

Kathy shook （摇）her head.

“It is against the law（法律）,miss,” he said, “not to know how fast you are travelling.”

Kathy smiled at him sweetly.

“Oh, but I do know how fast I am travelling,”she said. “Up to 30 miles an hour, the doors rattle. Between 31 and 50 miles an hour, the whole car rattles. Over 50 miles an hour, I rattle.”

1．Why did Kathy want a car?

A．She liked driving

B．All her friend had cars.

C．College was a long way from her home

D．She wanted to save money on bus fares

2．What kind of car did Kathy buy?

A．a very fast car                 B．a rusty old car

C．an police car                  D．an expensive second –hand car

3．Why was Kathy pleased with the car at first?

A．It was a very good car.

B．The engine and gear box worked well.

C．There weren’t many things wrong with it. 

D．It went very fast

4．Why did the policeman look at Kathy’s car disbelievingly?

A．He thought Kathy was telling lies.

B．He did not trust students.

C．The car had so many things wrong with it.

D．Kathy had broken the law.

5．How did Kathy know how fast she was travelling?

A．She looked at the speedometer.    

B．It couldn’t go faster than 50 miles an hour.

C．Because she knew what the rattles meant.

D．The police officer told her.

What’s the meaning of “dark horse”? It’s someone who wins when no one expects it.

Han Xiaopeng took China’s first gold on snow. He became an Olympic “dark horse” last Thursday by winning the gold medal in men’s freestyle aerial skiing(自由式滑雪空中技巧) at Turin in Italy. He made two almost perfect jumps for the highest score. Han had never won a world gold medal before, let alone(更不用说) in the Olympics!

“I never thought this would happen,” said the 23-year-old. “I feel like I’m in a dream.” It’s China’s second gold medal at the Turin Olympics. But more important, Han’s gold was the country’s first ever in a snow sport. In 2002, China’s Yang Yang won the gold for speed skating at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, US.

Just because Han’s win was unexpected doesn’t mean that he didn’t work hard.

Han grew up in Jiangsu Province. Before he started his training on snow, he used to be an acrobat(杂技演员) at a circus. In 1995, a coach found his talent(才能). The coach, Yang Er’qi, said Han had the agility(灵活性) and courage to be a ski jumper. When Yang first took the 12-year-old to northern China, the boy couldn’t swim, skate or ski. But he wasn’t afraid of the high platform(跳台) and kept on training.

Han almost left the sport after hurting his knee months before the Salt Lake Games. In that Olympics he only got 24^th. “I was hopeless at that time, but my family and the coach stood firmly(坚强地) behind me, helping me through,” he recalled.

    Han Xiaopeng worked so hard that he won the gold medal in the Olympics at last. Because of his success, more and more people in China are becoming interested in skiing. We are proud of him and we hope he will have another big success in the next winter Olympics.

(   )61. What does ‘dark horse’ mean? It means _____________.

   A. a horse which is dark                 B. someone who is expected to win

   C. a horse which likes living in the dark     D. someone whose win is unexpected

(   )62. Where did Han Xiaopeng take China’s first gold on snow?

   A. In China   .    B. In Italy.      C. In America.    D. In Australia.

(   )63. What made the coach, Yang Er’qi, choose Han Xiaopeng to be a ski jumper?

   A. He had the agility and wasn’t afraid of the high platform.

   B. He was good at skiing though he was only 12 years old.

   C. He was born in the north of China and liked sports on snow.

   D. He had the talent and he had won a world gold medal before.

(   )64. Which of the following sentences is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

   A. He was 23 when he won the gold medal at the winter Olympics.

   B. He made two almost perfect jumps and got the highest score.

   C. No one had won the gold before Han Xiaopeng at the winter Olympics.

   D. He never gave up even though he had faced many difficulties.

(   )65. What is the best title for this passage?

   A. A Dark Horse at the Winter Olympics      B. A Wonderful Match

   C. A Hopeless Snow Game                 D. An Exciting Horse Race