Many of us have heard of the saying: everything is possible if you can just believe. But few of us really know the power of faith and perseverance(堅(jiān)定). South African swimmer Natalie du Tiot embodies(體現(xiàn))those virtues.
Du Tiot, 24, became the first swimmer to compete in both the Olympic Games and the Paralympics (殘奧會(huì))in Beijing. Although she finished 16
th in the tough 10km marathon in the able-bodied Games, she has collected three golds in the Paralympics so far.
One of the most successful disabled athletes of all time, Natalie du Tiot was already a promising swimmer when she lost her leg in a motorcycle accident in 2001, at just 17.
“There are a lot of dark moments,” she said, “There are some days when I cry. But I try to remember that better days are ahead. You just go on.”
Within a few months, she was back in the swimming pool.
She still completes and still succeeds. The only difference is she has switched to longer events—from 200m and 400m individual medley to 800m and 1,500m freestyle—to make up for her loss of speed with only one leg. But she made no adjustment to her mental look(精神面貌).
“Going out in the water, it feels as if there’s nothing wrong with me. It doesn’t matter if you look different. You’re still the same as everybody else because you have the same dream.”
She is the owner of many world records, and she also won gold when competing against able-bodied swimmers in the 1,500m freestyle at the All African Games in 2007.
But there is no magic recipe(秘訣) for success. It all comes down to hard work and determination. “She is stubborn, which is good and bad,” said her coach Karoly Von Toros. “Good for the swimming, but bad for the coach.”
There is a poem that hangs on her wall that reads:
The tragedy (悲劇)of life does not lie in not reaching your goals;
The tragedy of life lies in not having goals to reach for.
小題1: Natalie du Tiot is a vivid example that____________________.
| A．you are what you believe |
| B．your biggest enemy is yourself |
| C．results are not so important as the process |
| D．you must set reasonable goals or you will fail |
小題2:According to the text , Natalie du Tiot became________________.
| A．the first athlete to compete with able-bodied swimmers in the world |
| B．the youngest disabled swimmer to break the world record in the 1,500m freestyle |
| C．the youngese disabled swimmer to collect three golds in a single Paralympics |
| D．the first swimmer to compete in both the Olympic Games and the Paralympics |
小題3:Which of the following is the correct order of the events that happened to Natalie du Tiot？
a. She won gold at the All Africa Games.
b. She finished 16
th in the tough 10km marathon in the Olympics
c. She adjusted herself to long events.
d. A motorcycle accident disabled her.
小題4:In dark moments it was_______________ that pushed her on.
| A．her coach | B．her family | C．hope and faith | D．her love of swimming |
le in a special way
100分闖關(guān)期末沖刺系列答案
Your life doesn’t change when everyone around you changes．Your life changes when YOU change，when you go beyond your limiting beliefs inside．Don’t be afraid of 40 ；build yourself and your reality．
It’s the way you face life itself that makes the difference!
．punishmentB．praises C．changes D．blame
back my house, and I had no choice but to move in with my parents, five miles away. My sister has three children, and she had no room. My fiancée(未婚妻), Brandi Wetch, and I have been living in my parents’ house for about a year and a half now.
me at a high school library. My father left for a job in the Marshall Islands a few months ago and will be gone for two years. 
I take care of the garden. Sometimes, I feel like the best part of my life is over. The worst part of the day is when I chat with my friends on the Internet. I’ve talked to about 10 old friends online. The f
irst thing they usually ask is what I’m doing now.
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fraid