Notsolongago,mostpeopledidn’tknowwhoShellyAnnFrancisPry...

问题详情：

Not so long ago, most people didn’t know who Shelly Ann Francis Pryce was going to become. She was just an average high school athlete. There was every indicationthat she was just another Jamaican teenager without much of a future. However, one person wants to change this. Stephen Francis observed then eighteen-year-old Shelly Ann as a track meet and was convinced that he had seen the beginning of true greatness. Her timeswere not exactly impressive, but even so, he sensed there was something trying to get out, something the other coacheshad overlooked when they had assessed her and found her lacking. He decided to offer Shelly Ann a place in his very strict training sessions. Their cooperation quickly produced results, and a few yearslater at Jamaica’s Olympic trials in early 2008, Shelly Ann, who at that time only ranked number 70 in the world, beat Jamaica’s unchallenged queen of the sprint(短跑).

“Where did she come from?” asked an astonished sprinting world, before concluding that she must be one ofthose one-hit wonders that spring up from time to time, only to disappear again without signs. But Shelly Ann was to prove that she was anything but a one-hit wonder. At the Beijing Olympicsshe swept away any doubts about her ability to perform consistently by becoming the first Jamaican woman ever to win the 100 meters Olympic gold. She did it again one year on at the World Championshipsin Berlin, becoming world champion with a time of 10.73---the fourthfastest time ever.

Shelly-Ann is a little woman with a big smile. She has a mental toughness that did not come about by chance. Her journey to becoming the fastest woman on earth has been anything but smooth and effortless. She grew up in one of Jamaica’s toughest inner-city communities known as Waterhouse, where she lived in a one-room apartment, sleeping four in a bed with her mother and two brothers. Waterhouse, one of the poorest communities in Jamaica, is a really violent and overpopulated place. Several of Shelly-Ann's friends and family were caught up in the killings; one of her cousins was shot dead only a few streets away from where she lived. Sometimes her family didn’t have enough to eat. She ran at the school championships barefooted because she couldn’t afford shoes. Her mother Maxime, one ofa family of fourteen, had been an athlete herself as a young girl but, like so many other girls in Waterhouse, had to stop after she had her first baby. Maxime’s early entry into the adult world with its responsibilities gave her the determination to ensure that her kids would not end up in Waterhouse's roundabout of poverty. One of the first things Maxime used to do with Shelly-Ann was taking her to the track, and she was ready to sacrifice everything.

It didn't take long for Shelly-Ann to realize that sports could be her way out of Waterhouse. On a summer evening in Beijing in 2008, all those long, hard hours of work and commitment finally bore fruit. The barefoot kid who just a few years previously had been living in poverty, surrounded by criminals and violence, had written a new chapter in the history of sports.

But Shelly-Ann’s victory was far greater than that. The night she won Olympic gold in Beijing, the routine murders in Waterhouse and the drug wars in the neighboring streets stopped. The dark cloud above one of the world’s toughest criminal neighborhoods simply disappeared for a few days. “ I have so much fire burning for my country,”Shelly said. She plans to start a foundation for homeless children and wants to build a community centerin Waterhouse. She hopes to inspire the Jamaicans to lay down their weapons. She intends to fight to make it a woman’s as well as a man’s world.

As Muhammad Ali puts it, “Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision.”One of the things Shelly-Ann can be proud of is her understanding of this truth.

26. Why did Stephen Francis decide to coach Shelly-Ann?

A. He had a strong desire to free her family from trouble.

suffered a lot of defeats at the previous track meets.

C. She had big problems maintaining her performance.

D. He sensed a great potential in her despite her weaknesses.

27. What did the sprinting world think of Shelly-Ann before the 2008 Olympic Games?

A. Her sprinting career would not last long.

B. She badly needed to set higher goals.

C. She would become a promising star.

D. Her talent for sprinting was known to all.

28. What made Maxime decide to train her daughter on the track?

A. Her wish to get Shelly-Ann out of poverty.

B. Her early entrance into the sprinting world.

success and lessons in her career.

interest in Shelly-Ann’s quick profit.

mentioning Muhammad Ali’s words, the author intends to tell us that_________.

ers should be highly inspired by coaches

vation allows great athletes to be on the top

work is necessary in one’s achievements

t athletes need to concentrate on patience

30. What is the best title for the passage?

Key to High Dream for Championship

Making of a Great Athlete Power of Full Responsibility

【回答】

DAABC

知识点：人物传记 故事类阅读

题型：阅读理解