A French father-of-two who swam across the Channel 16 years after losing all his limbs(四肢) in an electrical accident said Sunday that he was “the happiest man alive.”

Philippe Croizon, a 42-year-old former metalworker, said he had performed his feat(壯舉)to inspire all those “who think life is nothing but suffering.”

He set off from Folkestone in southern England just before 8:00 am on Saturday, and arrived on the French coast near Wissant just before 9:30 pm, aided by his specially designed flipper-shaped prosthetic(假肢的)legs.

Steadying himself with his prosthetic arms, Croizon kept up a constant speed in good weather and was accompanied by wild dolphins for part of the 33-kilometre (20-mile) crossing. “For a while, I didn’t realize what I’d done. It was only that night, when I went to bed, that suddenly I burst out laughing, and told myself, ‘You did it!’,” he told AFP by telephone from his home in northern France.

In 1994 Croizon was hit by a 20,000-volt charge as he attempted to remove a television aerial from a house roof. “I was on my hospital bed; they’d just finished cutting off my last leg. You can imagine how that felt. And then I saw a television documentary on a female swimmer who crossed the Channel,” he explained.

“There and then, I asked myself: ‘Why not me one day?’” he said.

Croizon trained for two years and last month completed a 12-hour swim between the ports of Noirmoutier and Pornic on France’s Atlantic coast, but his final Channel crossing was much faster than he had expected. “I wanted to slow down, but I couldn’t. The motor was running,” he said, adding that he had expected to be at sea for 24 hours.

“It was huge. I was in the zone. I was inside my head. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone,” he said, declaring that his next long-distance challenge will be to swim between Europe and Africa.

60. What led to Philippe’s decision to swim across the English Channel?

A. The aim to inspire all those suffering from disabilities.

B. His strong will and determination.

C. The female swimmer who crossed the Channel.

D. His unfortunate experience.

61. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. Philippe’s success in crossing the Channel was incredible

B. the wild dolphins kept him company all the way

C. it took him 24 hours to cross the Channel

D. Philippe planned to travel to Africa

62. What does the underlined sentence mean in the last paragraph?

A. Philippe was swimming in his head.

B. Philippe filled his mind with determination to succeed.

C. Philippe was imagining his success.

D. Philippe was dreaming about his swimming across the Channel.

63. What can be the best title of the passage?

A. Limbless Man Crosses The English Channel

B. Crossing The Channel with Prosthetic Flippers.

C. Philippe’s Purpose of Crossing the Channel.

D. How Philippe Became Limbless.

You are walking down the street, minding your own business when you see a snowball. No big deal, right? Except the snowball is as tall as you are. And weighs about a ton. Did we mention that it is June?

   That’s the experience thousand of Londoners had when they crossed paths with “ Snowball in Summer,” Goldsworthy makes sculpture （雕塑）from all sorts of things he finds outside – leaves, earth, and rocks, as well as ice and snow. He wanted to find out how busy people would react to an unexpected snowball melting in their midst.

   During the winter of 2008, he rolled 13 giant snowballs near his home in Scotland. He filled each one with a surprise in the center – such as berries, feathers, little stones or sheep’s wool – which would appear as the snow melted. The finished snowballs were stored in a deep freeze until summer, then transported to London in refrigerated trucks. At midnight on June 21, 2008, while the city slept, Goldsworthy and his helpers rolled their snowballs into place.

  People walking to work or school must have thought the sky was falling when they stumbled across snowballs the size of baby elephants. Some of them had never even seen snow in real life, and they couldn’t help touching them in great surprise. As the snow started to melt, things got even more interesting. The perfectly round snowballs took on different shapes as the stuff inside began to poke through. Two days later, most of Goldsworthy’s snowballs were gone, and their fillings scattered. But Londoners were left with a really good story about that odd summer day when the snowball came.

What is really special about the snowballs is that ______________________.

A. they lie in the street

B. they are in the shape of baby elephants.

C. they have berries, feathers, little stones and feathers in them.

D. they appear in June.

What was the purpose of Goldsworthy in making the snowballs?

A. To find out people’s reactions to them

B. To call up people’s memory of the cold winter.

C. To show off his skills in sculpture.

D. To let people experience the cold winter.

Why did Goldsworthy and his helpers roll their snowballs into place at mid-night?

A. They didn’t want to disturb other people.

B. It was quite at that time.

C. They wanted to avoid the traffic jam.

D, They wanted to give people a surprise.

You are walking down the street, minding your own business when you see a snowball. No big deal, right? Except the snowball is as tall as you are. And weighs about a ton. Did we mention that it is June?
That’s the experience thousand of Londoners had when they crossed paths with “ Snowball in Summer,” Goldsworthy makes sculpture （雕塑）from all sorts of things he finds outside – leaves, earth, and rocks, as well as ice and snow. He wanted to find out how busy people would react to an unexpected snowball melting in their midst.
During the winter of 2008, he rolled 13 giant snowballs near his home in Scotland. He filled each one with a surprise in the center – such as berries, feathers, little stones or sheep’s wool – which would appear as the snow melted. The finished snowballs were stored in a deep freeze until summer, then transported to London in refrigerated trucks. At midnight on June 21, 2008, while the city slept, Goldsworthy and his helpers rolled their snowballs into place.
People walking to work or school must have thought the sky was falling when they stumbled across snowballs the size of baby elephants. Some of them had never even seen snow in real life, and they couldn’t help touching them in great surprise. As the snow started to melt, things got even more interesting. The perfectly round snowballs took on different shapes as the stuff inside began to poke through. Two days later, most of Goldsworthy’s snowballs were gone, and their fillings scattered. But Londoners were left with a really good story about that odd summer day when the snowball came.
【小題1】What is really special about the snowballs is that ______________________.

A．they lie in the street

B．they are in the shape of baby elephants.

C．they have berries, feathers, little stones and feathers in them.

D．they appear in June.

【小題2】 What was the purpose of Goldsworthy in making the snowballs?

A．To find out people’s reactions to them

B．To call up people’s memory of the cold winter.

C．To show off his skills in sculpture.

D．To let people experience the cold winter.

【小題3】 Why did Goldsworthy and his helpers roll their snowballs into place at mid-night?
A. They didn’t want to disturb other people.
B. It was quite at that time.
C. They wanted to avoid the traffic jam.
D, They wanted to give people a surprise.

You are walking down the street, minding your own business when you see a snowball. No big deal, right? Except the snowball is as tall as you are. And weighs about a ton. Did we mention that it is June?

   That’s the experience thousand of Londoners had when they crossed paths with “ Snowball in Summer,” Goldsworthy makes sculpture （雕塑）from all sorts of things he finds outside – leaves, earth, and rocks, as well as ice and snow. He wanted to find out how busy people would react to an unexpected snowball melting in their midst.

   During the winter of 2008, he rolled 13 giant snowballs near his home in Scotland. He filled each one with a surprise in the center – such as berries, feathers, little stones or sheep’s wool – which would appear as the snow melted. The finished snowballs were stored in a deep freeze until summer, then transported to London in refrigerated trucks. At midnight on June 21, 2008, while the city slept, Goldsworthy and his helpers rolled their snowballs into place.

  People walking to work or school must have thought the sky was falling when they stumbled across snowballs the size of baby elephants. Some of them had never even seen snow in real life, and they couldn’t help touching them in great surprise. As the snow started to melt, things got even more interesting. The perfectly round snowballs took on different shapes as the stuff inside began to poke through. Two days later, most of Goldsworthy’s snowballs were gone, and their fillings scattered. But Londoners were left with a really good story about that odd summer day when the snowball came.

1.What is really special about the snowballs is that ______________________.

A. they lie in the street

B. they are in the shape of baby elephants.

C. they have berries, feathers, little stones and feathers in them.

D. they appear in June.

2. What was the purpose of Goldsworthy in making the snowballs?

A. To find out people’s reactions to them

B. To call up people’s memory of the cold winter.

C. To show off his skills in sculpture.

D. To let people experience the cold winter.

3. Why did Goldsworthy and his helpers roll their snowballs into place at mid-night?

A. They didn’t want to disturb other people.

B. It was quite at that time.

C. They wanted to avoid the traffic jam.

D, They wanted to give people a surprise.

 

You’re walking down the street, minding your own business, when you see a snowball. No big deal, right? Except the snowball is as tall as you are. And weighs about a ton. Did we mention that it’s June?

That’s the experience thousands of Londoners had when they crossed paths with “Snowballs in Summer”, the brainchild（創(chuàng)意）of artist Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy makes sculpture（雕刻） from all sorts of things he finds outside—leaves, earth and rocks, as well as ice and snow. He wanted to find out how busy city people would react to an unexpected snowball melting.

During the winter of 2005, he rolled 13 giant snowballs near his home in Scotland. He filled each one with a surprise in the centre—such as pebbles, berries, feathers or sheep’s wool, which would emerge as the snow melted. The finished snowballs were stored in a deep freeze until summer, and then transported to London in refrigerated trucks. At midnight on 21 June 2006, while the city slept, Goldsworthy and his co-conspirators（共謀者）rolled their snowballs into place.

People walking to work or school must have thought the sky was falling when they stumbled across（偶然遇見）snowballs the size of baby elephants. Some of them had never even seen snow in real life, and they couldn’t resist poking （捅）the snowballs or even breaking off a chunk（大塊，厚片）. As the snow started to melt, things got even more interesting. The perfectly round snowballs took on different shapes as the stuff inside began to poke through. Two days later, most of Goldsworthy’s snowballs were gone, and their fillings scattered. But Londoners were left with a really good story about that odd summer day when the snowballs came.

60. What could be the best title of the passage?

　 A. Special Works of Art B. Snowballs in Summer

　 C. No Big Deal　　　　　　　　　　 　　D. Streets Covered with Snow

61. What is really special about the snowballs is that they ________.

　 A. lie in the street　 　　　　　　　　　　B. are in the shape of baby elephants

　 C. have pebbles, berries, feathers in them 　 D. appear in June

62. What was the purpose of Goldsworthy in making the snowballs?

A. To find out people’s reactions to them.

B. To call up people’s memory of the cold winter.

C. To show off his skills in sculpture. 　　

D. To let people experience the cold winter.

63. Why did Goldsworthy and his co-conspirators roll their snowballs into place at midnight?

　 A. They didn’t want to disturb other people.　　 B. It was quiet at that time.

　 C. They wanted to avoid the traffic jam.　　　 D. They wanted to give people a surprise.