—I'm not sure. It________ be a present from your brother.

—So that's why I decide to buy the present in ________ shop.

—Sorry, I have no idea. But it has changed the world greatly.

    David Beckham opened his London football academy (学院) in 2005. The academy welcomed boys and girls aged 8 to 15. It accepted 15,0001a year, 10,000 of them free. In America, football is a2sport.3, American football is quite different. Players sometimes kick the ball but they often throw the ball and4with it. They try to take it to the other end of the field. They have four chances to5the ball ten yards (码). They can6and throw it. If they move the ball ten yards, they can try to move it7ten yards.8they move it to the end of the field, they can get six points.

    It is difficult to move the9. Eleven men on the other team try to stop the man with the ball. If he doesn't move the ball ten yards, his team kicks the ball to the other team.10university wants its own team to win. Thousands of people come to watch. They all shout for their11teams.

    Young men and women come on the field to help the people shout more. Each team plays 10 or 11 games each12. The season begins in September and ends in November. If a team is very good, it can play another game13the season ends. The14teams play again on January 1st, the first day of the New Year. Many people go to see these games and many others watch them15TV.

    Today, roller skating (滑旱冰) is easy and fun. But many years ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1743, people never tried skating on wheels. That changed because of a man named John Joseph Merlin. Merlin's work was making instruments. In his free time he liked to play the violin. Merlin was a man with many ideas and many dreams. People called him a dreamer.

    One day Merlin received an invitation to go to an important party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think. He wanted to find a way to make a wonderful entrance at the party. Merlin had an idea. He thought that he would attract a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.

    Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skate shoes. Merlin was very proud of them. He dreamed of arriving at the party and skating into the room while playing the violin. He was sure that everyone would be very surprised.

    On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room, playing his violin. Everyone was really surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skating. He rolled on, playing the violin. Then, with all eyes on him, Merlin hit into a huge mirror on the wall. The mirror broke into many pieces with a very loud noise. But nobody forgot Merlin's wonderful entrance after that.

    What is the hardest sport in the world? Some people say it's boxing (拳击), because boxing is dangerous and boxers have to be strong and fast. Other people say the hardest sport is soccer.

    However, most people say the hardest sport is the triathlon (三项全能运动). A triathlon is a race that includes three sports. First, racers swim. After that they ride bicycles and finally they run. In the most common triathlon, racers swim 1.5kilometres, bike 40 kilometres, and run 10 kilometres. The winner is the person who finishes the race first.

    There is another kind of triathlon too. It is called the "Ironman Triathlon (铁人三项)". This triathlon is much longer. People who finish this triathlon are called "ironmen" or "ironwomen". This is because these people are so strong that their bodies are just like iron (铁).

    In the past, there were other races including three sports. However, they didn't use the word "triathlon". That word was first used to describe a race in California in 1974.

    Triathlon racers have to train very hard for their races. Many of them swim and run. A lot of people also do things like yoga (瑜伽). They have many different ways to prepare, but they all have the same goal. They want to be in perfect shape.

    To be an ironman or an ironwoman, you have to be strong and smart. You should know how to save energy during the race.

    Have you ever considered starting a fitness program? Since exercise can reduce the risk of diseases, improve balance, help lose weight, better sleep habits and even make you confident, you should start a fitness program in the following steps.

    Test your fitness level

How many meters can you walk or run in one minute? How much time does it take you to swim 50 meters? What is your heart rate (心率)? The data (数据) of your fitness level can help you know what activities you need.

    Design your fitness program

You may have begun your daily exercise. But a personal plan helps more. First, you should have your fitness goals (目标). For example, what do you want to look like, to be slimmer or quicker? A balanced plan will help you start low, progress slowly, do right activities and even allow you to recover (康复) if you get hurt.

    Prepare things needed for sports

You need something practical, enjoyable and easy to use. It could be a pair of trainers, a volleyball or a bicycle. You can also download fitness apps (应用程序) on your mobile phone to measure distances, calories burned or your heart rate.

    Take action

Now you're ready for action. When you begin, don't always try tough tasks. Listen to your body and reduce exercise time if necessary.

    Monitor your progress

Test your fitness level again six weeks later. If you have achieved your goals, increase exercise time to continue improving.

Starting an exercise program is an important decision. By planning carefully and acting step by step, you can have good health.

    Where were dominoes (多米诺骨牌) from? Modern dominoes first showed up in Italy during the 18th century. But it is believed that the earliest dominoes were Chinese playing cards. Italian missionaries (传教士) in China may have brought the game to Europe. Do you think so?

    Do you like to play with dominoes? Dominoes are small rectangular (长方形的) pieces made of wood or plastic (塑料). People can place dominoes in different shapes. Then, they push one domino down and the rest of the dominoes fall one by one. It is interesting to watch.

    But placing dominoes is hard. To make sure the dominoes fall smoothly, the space between each domino is important. According to domino—play. com, if a domino is about 4 cm long, then the space between two dominoes should be1—2 cm. If the space is too big, the dominoes will stop falling halfway. If the space is too small, the dominoes will fall too quickly and won't look interesting.

    Beginners can start by putting dominoes in a straight line. This is the easiest shape. Professional (专业的) players can place dominoes in many other shapes, including big circles, beautiful flowers and even famous paintings.

She is dying              foreign countries.

             at the main gate when you arrive here.

Tom couldn't wait             camping.

He             and broke his leg yesterday.

He tried to              his strength.

How to keep on your exercise plan during winter? Here I'll give you some suggestions.

To stay active during the winter, you should first make it as easy as possible to do your exercise. Second, make something different before you       doing exercise. The following advice will give you some ideas for making winter exercise more comfortable and more enjoyable.

Put your sports clothes in the dryer. If you want to exercise outside, you might keep the clothes in the dryer for a few minutes before that. It's often harder to       when it's cold outside.       clothes fresh from the dryer is just one way to get your body warm.

Take a hot shower. If it's really cold outside, you might even try a quick shower to get yourself warm before you do exercise.

Walk indoors. Walking is a good way to       . To get out of cold weather of winter, you can simply walk indoors, probably in the living area of your room. Walking indoors makes you       and gives a warm temperature to do it.

    Mary likes to run. Ever since she was in the third grade, she has been training to run long distances. Now that she was in her eighth grade, her parents agreed to let her run in the Banana Classic. The Banana Classic is a ten-kilometre race. It takes place every year in Mattydale. The winners get a lifetime supply (提供) of peanuts and fruit juice.

    Mary practised by running ten kilometres, twice every day. On the average (平时的) run, she would finish in thirty minutes. Last year's winner finished the race in twenty-six minutes and ten seconds!

    On the day of the race, Mary ran faster than she ever had in the past. As she came across the last kilometre, she was in the fourth place. She picked up the pace (步伐) and quickly reached the second place, just as she could see the finishing line. She ran as fast as she could in a mad dash (冲刺) to the finish line, but she just wasn't fast enough to get ahead of the leader.

提示：1）What's your favourite sport?

2）How often do you play it?

3）Who do you usually play with?

4）What kind of memory do you have about playing this sport?

My favourite sport