人教版（新课程标准）高中英语必修2 Unit 2 The Olympic Games 同步练习3

Volunteer Opportunities Abroad

    For those looking to break into the competitive world of journalism (新闻工作), this is for you! You will be working at “The Village”, an English and Romanian language magazine. As a writer you will work on special tasks, reporting local events with guidance from the editor. You will be interviewing local people, writing reports, and taking photographs. You will also have the chance to live with a local host family to experience their culture.

    Volunteers joining our project (项目) in Cambodia will travel to the island of Koh Sdach. You will become part of this tiny island, learn to dive (潜水), and take part in valuable social projects.

    During your stay you will complete a course to learn to dive. After that you will take part in dives to clean up rubbish under the sea and collect information on rare fish. During the two weeks you may also have the chance to join in a village fun day where volunteers play games with the village children.

    On this project you will spend two weeks living with a host family and coaching soccer in friendly West Africa! You will spend your two weeks in Accra helping local children develop their soccer skills. You will develop their skills and confidence while having fun playing soccer at the same time.

    Abebe Bikila stared at the athletes from his own country, who were competing in the Olympic Games. The name Ethiopia (埃塞俄比亚) was written across the back of each athlete's uniform (衣服). As Abebe Bikila watched, he made up his mind to become one of those athletes.

    In 1932, Abebe Bikila was born in a poor family in a small town near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As a child, he always ran to school a few kilometres away from his home. After leaving school, Abebe Bikila went into the army. He was later found to be excellent as a marathon (马拉松赛跑) runner. In 1960, he was on his way to Rome as a member of the Ethiopian Olympic team.

    In Rome, Abebe Bikila succeeded in completing things that no runner had ever achieved before. When he won the Olympic marathon, he became the first black African to win a gold medal. And he set a new world record. Another thing that made people surprised was that he ran the race in his bare (赤祼的) feet. When asked why he ran barefoot, Abebe Bikila said, "I wanted the world to know that my country Ethiopia has always won with determination and heroism."

    By 1964, Abebe Bikila had become well­known as a barefoot runner. In the same year, he headed for the Tokyo Olympics. But six weeks before his big race, Abebe Bikila suffered an attack of appendicitis (阑尾炎). When he arrived in Japan, he was still recovering from the operation to remove his appendix. But Abebe Bikila ran the marathon — this time wearing shoes — and won it! He beat his own record in 1960 by more than four minutes. That made him the first runner to continuously win two Olympic marathons.

    In 1968, a car accident left the great runner unable to walk for ever. Abebe Bikila died in 1973. A huge crowd, including the then ruler of Ethiopia, Atse Haile Selassie, gathered as he was laid to rest. Abebe Bikila will always be remembered for his great ability, love of country, and true Olympic spirit. In the heart of all sports fans, Abebe Bikila remains an excellent Olympic athlete.

    Montgomery County Special Olympics held its eighth yearly show of unified (联合的)basketball at Blessed Sacrament School. The gym was filled with cheerleaders (啦啦队队员), parents and friends. The walls were covered with posters made by third­and­fourth­graders at the school. And all the elementary, middle and high school unified teams were playing hard and having fun. Every basket, no matter which team scores, is cheered and celebrated.

    Special Olympics support more than 20 unified games. What are unified games? They are programs designed for players with special needs. In the games, they play with kids who are volunteers, called unified partners. The special athletes are unable to play normally like other healthy kids, and some of them are wheelchair (轮椅) users. In basketball, the unified partners rebound (抢得篮板球), pass and sometimes push a special athlete's wheelchair. As Brian Ross, a seventh­grader at St. Albans School in Washington, says, "You just try to help and get everyone to take part."

    Some special athletes have come a long way to be where they are. Caleb Head is a 15­year­old special athlete. When he started, Caleb would only stand at the door and watch. Then Caleb began to practice his shooting but still would not play in the games. Now Caleb runs up and down looking for his shot.

The special athletes are not the only ones who benefit (受益) from unified sports; the unified partners do, too. Marla Grusin, whose son Tyler is a special athlete, says every kid should come to a Special Olympics game. If they do, they will learn "to share the ball" and that the game "is not all about me".

Not a bad lesson for any athlete.