The triathlon promises to be one of the most popular Olympic sports. Recently it has drawn huge crowds attracted by athletes swimming 1,500m, cycling 40km, and then running 10km, without stopping. But what makes an attractive 17-year-old give up everything for the doubtful pleasures it offers? Melanie Sears has not yet learnt those often-repeated phrases about personal satisfaction, mental challenge and higher targets that most athletes use when asked similar questions. "You swim for 1,500m, then run out of the water and jump on your bike, still wet. Of course, then you freeze. When the40kmcycle ride is over, you haveto run10km, which is a long way when you're feeling exhausted. But it's great fun, and all worth it in the end," she says. Melanie entered her first triathlon at 14 and she won the junior section. Full of confidence, she entered the National Championships, and although she had the second fastest swim and the fastest run, she came nowhere. "I was following this man and suddenly we came to the sea. We realized then that we had gone wrong. I ended up cycling 20 kilometers too far. I cried all the way through the running." But she didn't give up. "Sometimes I wish I could stop, because then the pain would be over, but I am afraid that if I let myself stop just once, I would be tempted to do it again." Such _ draws admiration from Steve Trew, the sport's director of coaching. Melanie was top junior in this year's European Triathlon Championships, finishing 13th."I was almost as good as the top three in swimming and running, but much slower in cycling. That's why I'm working very hard at it." She is trying to talk her long-suffering parents, who will carry the PS1,300 cost of her trip to New Zealand for this year's world championships, into buying a PS2,000 bike, so she can try25kmand100kmraces later this year. But there is another price to pay. "I don't have a social life," she says. "After two hours' hard swimming on Friday night, I just want to go to sleep. But I phone and write to the other girls... What is Melanie trying to persuade her parents to do? A) Buy an expensive bike for her. B) Give her half the cost of a bike. C) Pay for her to go to New Zealand. D) Let her compete in longer races.
A
Do Algebra problems 15 through 25. Give the different forms of the verbs on page 50 of your French workbook. Read page 12 through 20 of the Shakespeare play, and when you have finished that, don't forget to fill the missing chemical symbols on the Periodic Table of Elements worksheet. Homework is a major part of going to class, and it helps students grasp important concepts. Luckily, you can do a few things to make homework less painful. First, be sure you understand the assignment. Write it down in your notebook or day planner if you need to, and don't be afraid to ask questions about what is expected. It is much easier to take a minute to ask the teacher during or after class than to struggle to remember later at night! Second, use any extra time you have in school to work on your homework. Many schools have study halls that are specifically designed to allow students to study or get homework done. It is attractive to hang out with friends during study periods or unscheduled time, but the more work you can get done in school, the less you will have to do at night. Third, pace yourself. If you don't finish your homework during school, think about how much you have left and what else is going on that day, and then budget your time. Most high school students have between 1 and 3 hours of homework a night. If it is a heavy-homework day and it seems like you have got an assignment on every subject but gym and lunch, you will need to devote more time to homework schedule, especially if you are involved in sports or activities or have an after-school job. Which of the following would be the best title of the passage? A) Why students should do homework B) How to make homework less work C) It is high time teachers gave less homework D) Who is to blame for children's poor eyesight
B
Q: These are some signs that you can see on the roads of Great Britain. Number one is a sign with the number thirty on it. When drivers see this sign they must not go at more than thirty miles an hour. We see this sign when we get to parts of the country where there are many houses and other buildings, for example, when we are getting near a town. Thirty miles an hour is the speed limit. Number two is sign for the end of the speed limit. We are out of the town now and may go at more than thirty miles an hour. Number three is a sign that we are near a crossroads, that is, a place where two roads cross. We must drive carefully. Number four is a sign that there is a bend in the road. Again, we must drive slowly and carefully. Number five is a sign that there is a hill and number six is a sign that the roads get narrow. Drivers must go slowly and carefully. Number seven has the word "school" on it. This is a sign that there is a school at the side of a street or road. Perhaps there are children going to school or leaving school. So drivers must look carefully and go slowly until they are past the school building. Number eight is a sign with the letter P on it. The letter P is for "parking." A parking place is a place where drivers may leave their cars. If the driver of a car wants to leave his car and go to the shops, he looks for this sign. Then he knows that he may leave his or her car there. If a driver wants to leaves his car and go to the shops, _ . A) he can leave his car anywhere B) he can leave his car at the gate of any shop C) he must look for the sign with the letter P on it D) he can leave his car at the side of the street.
A: C
(Question)
Sports account for a growing amount of income made on the sales of commercial time by television companies. Many television companies have used sports to attract viewers from particular sections of the general public, and then they have sold audiences to advertisers. An attraction of sport programs for the major U. S. media companies is that events are often held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons--the slowest time periods of the week for general television viewing. Sport events are the most popular weekend programs, especially among male viewers who may not watch much television at other times during the week. This means the television networks are able to sell advertising time at relatively high prices during what normally would be dead time for programming. Media corporations also use sports to attract commercial sponsors that might take their advertising dollars elsewhere if television stations did not report certain sports. The people in the advertising departments of major corporations realize that sports attract made viewers. They also realize that most business travelers are men and that many men make family decisions on the purchases of computers, cars and life insurance. Golf and tennis are special cases for television programming. These sports attract few viewers, and the ratings are unusually low. However, the audience for these sports is attractive to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, to certain advertisers. It is made up of people from the highest income groups in the United States, including many lawyers and business managers. This is why television reporting of golf and tennis is sponsored by companies selling high-priced cars, business and personal computer, and holiday trips. This is also why the networks continue to carry these programs regardless of low ratings. Advertisers are willing to pay high fees to reach high-income consumers and those managers who make decisions to buy thousands of "company cars" and computer, with... Television sport programs on weekend afternoons _ A) result in more sport event B) get more viewers to play sports C) make more people interested in television D) bring more money to the television networks
(Answer)
D