The Tour de France  环法自行车大赛
Before You Read  阅前思考
Answer the following questions.
1. Do you like cycling? How popular is cycling in your country?
2. What long-distance sporting events are popular in you country?
3. What do you know about the Tour de France?
Target Vocabulary 目标词汇
Match each word with the best meaning.
1. alien    a. including everything; total
2. clockwise    b. a path along which one travels
3. consist of    c. to be made up of
4. cycle    d. ride a bicycle
5. dot    e. in the direction that the hands of a clock move
6. honor    f. one from another country, or from space
7. neighboring g. a small circle or point
8. overall h. located near
9. route i. ride or run as fast as you can over a short distance
10. sprint j. a special award for doing something good
There is a saying in France that states: “The government could fall, the Louvre could be broken into, or aliens could land on Earth, but if any of the these things happened during the Tour de France, no one would notice.” The Tour de France is the most famous cycling race in the world. The race, which is held in July every year, consists of twenty one-day stages, plus several rest days. The course follows a clockwise route around France, and often neighboring countries, including Luxembourg, Belgium, and Italy. The winner is the rider who completes all twenty stages of the race in the shortest overall time.
The Tour de France first started on July 1, 1903, when sixty cyclists left from in front of The Alarm Clock Café, just outside of Paris, and rode 467 kilometers to Lyon. The first time there were no rest days-the winner was the rider who finished the race in the shortest total time. The winner of the first Tour de France, Maurice Garin, the most popular cyclist in France at that time, received 2,000 francs (about $ 350). It took him 94 hours and 33 minutes to ride all 2, 428 kilometers of the race, three hours faster than the runner-up. Over the weeks during which the race, the idea of the Tour de France slowly caught on with the people of France. The race has been held every year since that time, except during the years of World Wars I and Ⅱ.
The Tour de France has developed several special honors for which racers compete. The highest honor is the “yellow jersey.”Henri Desgranges, the founder of the race, introduced the yellow jersey in 1919 to show the leading racer each day of the Tour de France. Each day, the officials who keep track of the all of the rider’s times compare each rider’s total time up to that point. The racer with the lowest overall time wears the yellow jersey during the following day’s
race. Other honors include the “green jersey,” which is given to the best sprinter, and the “polka dot jersey,” a white jersey with read dots, for the best rider in the mountains along the route.
Over the years of the race, the competitors have gained a reputation for good sportsmanship. For example, if a lead rider falls off his bike, it is common for the following riders to slow down to allow the fallen rider to catch up. Some watchers are surprised by this, but as German rider Jan Ullrich, who came in runner-up in 2002 after waiting for winner Lance Armstrong, says, “Of course I would wait. If I would have won this race by taking advantage of someon e’s bad luck, then the race was not worth winning.”
Circle the letter of the best answer.
1. What is this passage mainly about?
a. famous Tour de France winners    c. the rules and history of the Tour de France
b. sportsmanship in the Tour de France    d. techniques of the Tour de France cyclists
2. Who wins the Tour de France?
a. the cyclist with the most points c. the first cyclist to finish the race
b. the cyclist with the shortest overall time d. the cyclist with the polka dot jersey
c. the first cyclist to finish the race
d. the cyclist with the polka dot jersey
3. Who was Henri Desgranges?
a. a famous cyclist
b. the man who won the first Tour de France
c. a café owner
d.
4. Today, the Tour de France is different from the original race because cyclists…
a. ride in a clockwise direction
b. receive money as a prize.
c. receive money as a prize.
d. have to ride
5. Who wears the yellow jersey?
a. the fastest cyclist of the previous day c. the fastest cyclist over short distances
b. the fastest overall cyclist up to that time d. the winner from the year before
idioms习语
Find each idiom in the story.
1. Keep track of-keep accurate information about something
·The university uses special software to keep track of its students’
·For her diet, Melanie keeps track of how many calories she eats every day.
2. take advantage of —to use an opportunity; to cheat someone
·I had a chance to buy a car for a low price, so I took advantage of it.
·
l an doesn’t know much about business, so people are always taking advantage of him.
3. Catch up (with /to someone)—reach someone in front of you by moving faster; reach
·I had to walk slowly to let him catch up with me.
·Philip missed a lot of school while he was sick, and had to study extra hard to catch up to the rest of the class.
A. Circle the letter of the word or phrase that best matches the word(s) in italics.
1. According to a survey, more than fifty percent of Americans believe in aliens.
a. dead people come
b. reading other
c. invisible people
d. people from space
2. I’m not really very good at sprinting.
a. cycling
b. running fast
c. swimming
d. sportsmanship
3. Which way did you take to get here?
a. automatic
b. factor
c. circumstances
d. route
4. Meeting the president was a special thing for me.
a. notorious
b. an incident
c. humble
d. an honor
5. I’m going to take advantage of the quiet time at work and go on vacation.
a. stand a chance with
b. rely on
c. keep track of
d. use the opportunity offaster怎么读?
6. He was walking so quickly that I had to ask him to slow down so I could reach him.
a. make up with
b. catch up to
c. keep track of
d. take advantage of
7. Her dress is covered in black dots.
a. circles
b. squares
c. stripes
d. dirt
8. Many rock bands contain three guitarists and a drummer.
a. restore
b. honor
c. consist of
d. expect
B. Complete the passage with items from the box. One item is extra.
The Tour de France is the most famous (1) race in the world. The race follows a (2) route around France, and some parts of the race may go into (3) countries like Belgium and Italy. The race (4) twenty one-day stages, but there are a few rest days for cyclists during these twenty days. The judges of the race (5) the time each rider takes to complete each stage of the race. At the end of the race, the cyclist with the shortest (6)
time is the winner.
What Do You Think? 你怎么想？
1. Do you agree with Jan Ullrich? Is sportsmanship more important than winning?
2. Is there any athlete in your country who is famous for his or her sportsmanship?
Part 1: Find the same meaning 同义替换
Read the article and then answer the questions below.
Not many people get the chance to ride in the Tour de France, but people all over the world ride bicycles. Bicycles are so common that we often take them for granted. In the Netherlands, people of all ages and lifestyles ride bicycles instead of using other types of transportation. Along any bike (1) path you’ll see businessmen with their briefcases, mothers with small babies, and elderly grandmothers bicycling home after food shopping. In Southeast Asia, goods are often transported from place to place on bicycles. High piles of boxes are taken by bicycle from one twon to a (2) nearby one. In India and Indonesia, bicycle rickshaw’s are used instead of taxis. It is cheaper to use bicycles than other forms of transportation, and it’s better for the environment, too, since bicycles create no air pollution.
In other countries, people ride bicycles mostly for recreation as a hobby or sport. Recreational cycling (3) is made up of several different types of activities. Cycle touring involves riding bicycles
for long distances, often in places with spectacular scenery. Touring cyclists carry everything they need with them in small bags called panniers that hang from their bicycles. They take their route into account and bring equipment, clothing, and everything needed for repairs if they are planning to travel far from towns. They can’t (4) depend on finding a garage or repair shop to fix problems. Although they
travel with all their equipment, their bicycles are quite light so they don’t have to use a lot of energy to ride them.
In recent years, mountain bikes have become popular. Cyclists use these bicycles off roads on rough dirt tracks to go up and down hills and mountains. Mountain bikes have to be strong to stand a chance in these environments. They have larger tires, many gears, and more powerful brakes to help cyclists ride up and down safely. After riding hard to get to the top of a hill, cyclists an (5) use the opportunity in the downhill sections to relax.
Decide which words or idioms in the box mean the same as the underlined words in the article. Write the word on the line next to the number. There are three extra items.
1.    2.    3.    4.    5.
Part 2: Read and answer 阅读并答题
Read the passage and decide if the statement is true, false, or unknown. Circle your answer.
1. true false unknown Only women regularly use bicycles in the Netherlands.
2. true false unknown Bicycle transport costs less and is better for the environment.
3. true false unknown Cycle touring is the most popular recreation activity among
Indonesians.
4. true false unknown Traditional panniers were made of baskets.
5. true false unknown Rickshaws have fewer gears than mountain bikes.

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