普通高中课程标准实验教科书 英语选修9 Unit 1 Breaking records

Lance Armstrong

Date of Birth: 8th September, 1971

Country: USA

Lance Armstrong's Guinness record for the fastest average speed at the Tour de France was set in 1999 with an average speed of 40.27 km/hr. In his teens he was a triathlete but at 16 he began to concentrate on cycling. He was an amateur¹ cyclist before the 1992 Olympic Games but turned professional after he had competed in the Games. In the following few years, he won numerous² titles, and by 1996 he had become the world's number one. However, in October 1996, he discovered he had cancer and

had to leave cycling. Successfully fighting his illness, Armstrong officially returned to racing³ in 1998. In 1999 he won the Tour de France and in 2003 he achieved his goal of winning five Tours de France.

 

Michellie Jones

Date of Birth: 9th June, 1969

Country: Australia

In 1988 Michellie Jones helped establish the multi-sport event, the triathlon, in Australia. After completing her teaching⁴ qualifications in 1990, she concentrated on the triathlon. In 1991, she finished third at the world championships. In 1992 and 1993, she was the International Triathlon Union World Champion. Since then, she has never finished lower than fourth in any of the world championships she has competed in. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000 she won the silver medal in the Women's Triathlon, the first time the event had been included in the Olympic Games. Recently, for the first time in 15 years, Jones was not selected as part of the national team and therefore did not compete in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

 

Fu Mingxia

Date of Birth: 16th August, 1978

Country: China

Fu Mingxia first stood on top of the 10-metre diving platform at the age of nine. At 12 years old she won a Guinness Record when she became the youngest female⁵ to win the women's world title for platform diving at the World Championships in Australia in 1991. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, she took the gold medal in the women's 10-metre platform, becoming the youngest Olympic diving champion of all time. This was followed by great success at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games where she won gold for both the 10-metre platform and the three-metre springboard. This made her the first woman in Olympic diving history to win three gold medals. She retired⁶ from diving after Atlanta and went to study economics⁷ at university. While there she decided⁸ to make a comeback and went on to compete at the Sydney Olympic Games, where she won her fourth Olympic gold, again making Olympic history.

 

Martin Strel

Date of Birth: 1st October, 1954

Country: Slovenia

Strel was trained as a guitarist before he became a professional marathon swimmer in 1978. He has a passion for swimming the world's great rivers. In 2000, he was the first person ever to swim the entire length of the Danube River in Europe - a distance of 3,004 kilometres in 58 days. For this, he attained⁹ his first entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. Then in 2001 he broke the Guinness record for non-stop swimming - 504.5 kilometres in the Danube River in 84 hours and 10 minutes. Martin won his third entry in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002 when he beat his own record for long distance swimming by swimming the length of the Mississippi River in North America in 68 days, a total of 3,797 kilometres. Then in 2003 he became the first man to have swum the whole 1,929 kilometres of the difficult Parana River in South America.In 2004, Strel again broke his own Guinness record by swimming the length of the dangerous Changjiang River (4,600 km), the third longest fiver in the world.

 

1 amateur   

adj.业余的，非专业的；n.业余爱好者

参考例句：

• He made an amateur attempt to build a cupboard.他很外行地试做了一个碗柜。
• Although Tom's only an amateur he's a first-class player.虽然汤姆只是个业余爱好者，但却是一流的高手。

2 numerous   

adj.为数众多的；极多的

参考例句：

• There have been numerous exchanges of views between the two governments.两国政府间曾多次交换意见。
• There are numerous people in the square. 有许多人在广场上。

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

5 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。