英语听力精选进阶版 7199（在线收听）

1000 多名在校学生参加了加沙有史以来的第一个马拉松赛。此次马拉松赛是由联合国工作人员 Gemma Connell 号召组织的。她与另外一名外国参赛者，还有7名加沙当地参赛者，共9人，跑完了全程。以下是 Jon Donnison 的报道。

Something new in Gaza. The tiny Palestinian territory is only just big enough to hold a marathon.

But luckily for the runners, the narrow strip of land next to the Mediterranean is almost exactly 26 miles long. The athletes covered it top to bottom. Hundreds of school children ran the distance in relays, running a mile or so each.

The event was organised by the United Nations. Some of their international staff even ran the whole distance.

And some of the athletes took it pretty seriously. Nader el Masri has Olympic form. The Gazan athlete competed in the 5000 metres in Beijing in 2008. He's hoping to qualify for London 2012.

He ran out a pretty easy winner, finishing in two hours 43 minutes.

Glossary 词汇表

only just 刚刚 

to hold 举行 

to cover 跑完 

in relays 接力赛 

distance 距离 

to take something seriously 严肃对待 

to have (Olympic) form 有（奥林匹克竞赛的）体能 

to compete in 参与竞赛 

to qualify for 取得资格 

to run out 跑完比赛

Questions and Answers

1. True or false? More than 1,000 children ran the full Gaza marathon. 

False. Although 1,000 children took part, each child only ran part of the race.

2. True or false? The marathon was organised by a UN worker from Gaza. 

False. The race was organised by Gemma Connell, a foreign UN worker.

3. What interesting link exists between Gaza and the length of a marathon run? 

The Gaza Strip is almost exactly the right length for a marathon.

4. Hundreds of school children ran the race in relay form. What does this mean? 

It means the children ran the race in teams: each child ran part of the distance.