Think back to a time in your life when you tried something new.

 

　　When I was a teenager I volunteered to pass out water at a local race. I was so excited to see all the different runners who passed by and quickly took a cup of water. Some ran past， some walked past and a few wheeled past.

 

　　I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! The next year I decided to run for the race， but I had little running practice. I just wanted to finish.

 

　　On the day of the race， it was terribly hot. After running for about 5 miles. I was thinking， “I must be crazy. Why did I do this? What was I thinking?” And at one moment， I said to myself， “I am never doing this again!”

 

　　That first 10 km race was quite an experience. I jogged(慢跑)，I walked， I jogged and walked. At times， I didn’t know if I could finish.

 

　　Near the end， a 70-year-old man ran past me， very fast， and I felt a little embarrassed(尷尬的)that I was more than 50 years younger than he and I couldn’t even keep up with him. But then I realized something. He was running his race and I was running mine. How often in life do we compare(比較)ourselves to others when we really shouldn’t? I decided that I would not give up on running races， and that one day I would be one of those 70-year-old men who were still running.

 

　　As I crossed the finishing line， I was proud of myself. I didn’t regret(后悔)having such an experience.

 

　　1. What did the writer do at a local race as a volunteer?

 

　　A. He helped old runners. 　　　　　　　　B. He cheered up the runners.

 

　　C. He passed out water to the runners. 　　D. He took back the cups from the runners.

 

　　2. Why did the writer join the race?

 

　　A. He just wanted to experience. 　　　　　B. He was crazy about running.

 

　　C. He had practiced running very hard. 　　D. He wanted very much to win a prize.

 

　　3. How did the writer’s feeling change after running about 5 miles?

 

　　① He regretted.

 

　　② He encouraged himself.

 

　　③ He felt a little embarrassed.

 

　　A. ①-②-③ 　　B. ②-①-③ 　　C. ①-③-② 　　D. ②-③-①

 

　　4.What is the best title(標題) of the passage?

 

　　A. To be No. 1.　　　　　 B. Let’s compare.

 

　　C. A volunteering job. 　　D. Running your own race.

 

　　參考答案：本文講述作者比賽時的經歷，因疏于鍛煉。僅僅是想完成比賽的他正當后悔自己的選擇時， 卻被一位70多歲的老人趕上，作者頓生感慨。看到老人超越的自己，于是決定不放棄，最后到達終點。

 

　　1. C 細節理解題 由“When I was a teenager I volunteered to pass out water at a local race.”可知作者志愿給參賽者遞水。

 

　　2. A 細節理解題 由第四段可知作者看到很多人參加這種比賽，因此覺得自己也可試試。

 

　　3. C 整體理解題 由第四段“After running for about 5 miles. I was thinking， “I must be crazy.”六段“Near the end， a 70-year-old man ran past me， very fast， and I felt a little embarrassed that I was more than 50 years younger than he and I couldn’t even keep up with him.”“ I decided that I would not give up on running races”

 

　　4. D 整體理解題 通過作者參加認識到應 “跑自己比賽”。