Thursday, March 13, 2003

Hundreds of Japanese fans at Bangkok’s National Stadium fell into silence when the referee whistled on Wednesday dusk, ending Kashima Antlers’ struggle to change their 3-4 failure to China’s Shanghai Shenhua.

“This time the luck isn’t on us, ”said the Kashima Antlers coach Toninho Cerezo.

“But it’s an exciting match, ”said an anonymous official of the Asia Football Confederation(AFC) after the match.

If only judged by the number of shots, the match between Antlers and Shenhua was really an exciting one, which witnessed the most shots of seven in the AFC Champion League 2002/2003 quarter-final Group A.

The shot of Chinese player Yang Guang in two minutes seemed to predict the high frequency of shooting at this game.

In less than 10 minutes, Shenhua’s Chinese international Zhang Yuning scored one more goal for Shenhua.

Under the swift attack of Shenhua, Antlers’ Takuya Nozawa pulled one goal back at the 25th minute, while Shenhua’s Martinez Ascel scored the third goal in the 32nd minute.

The game grew more and more intense in the second half after Antler scored one more goal at the 14th minutes.

Wishing to draw the rival, Antlers beefed up its attack, while the match was interrupted several times by controversial whistles.

But Shenhua’s Martinez found the opportunity in about 80 minutes to have his second successful shoot, which almost set the result of the game.

Antlers’ desperate efforts brought them one more goal a few minutes before the end, but it was too late and the game ended at 4-3.

In a later game, Thailand’s BEC beat South Korea’s Taejon Citizen 2-0. BEC and Antlers, which drew on Monday’s match, will fight against Shenhua and Citizen respectively on Friday. Shenhua lost to Citizen by 1-2 on Monday.

1. What time did the match between Kashima Antlers and Shanghai Shenhua come to an end?

A. In the morning. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　   B. At noon.

C. Before daybreak. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. In the dusk.

2. What kind of match was it between Kashima Antlers and Shanghai Shenhua? It was 　　　　　　   .

A. a match in Chinese series A league

B. a match in the AFC Champion League 2002/2003 quarter-final Group A

C. a match between Japanese teams

D. a match between Italian teams

3. An anonymous man is a person who 　　　　　　   .

A. didn’t want anybody else to know who he is for some reason

B. didn’t like to tell anybody else about his team

C. a referee who doesn’t like to tell out the result of the match

D. a coach who doesn’t like to meet the journalists

4. How many goals did Martinez shoot?

A. 1. 　　　　    B. 2. 　　　　　　 C. 3. 　　　　　　　　   D. 4.

When a storm is coming, most people leave the area as quickly as possible and head for safety. But there are a few people who will get into their cars and go straight for the center of the storm. These people are willing to risk being killed by floods or 100-kilometre-an-hour winds for the excitement of watching the storm close up.

“Storm chasing” is becoming an increasingly popular hobby, especially in the Midwest of the United States, where there are frequent storms between March and July. A storm chaser begins the day by checking the Internet for the latest weather reports, and then drives up to 1,000 kilometers to where the storm will be and waits for it to develop.

Although anyone can do it, storm chasing is extremely dangerous. The power of a big storm can throw a cow into the air or destroy a whole house in seconds. Storm chasers are also often hurt in accidents caused by driving in a heavy rain. If you are a beginner, it is much safer to join a group for storm chasing vacations during the storm season.

Even then, storm chasing is not all adventure or excitement. “Storm chasing is 95% driving,” says Daniel Lynch, who spends most of his summer storm chasing. Sometimes you can sit round for hours waiting for something to happen, and all you get is blue sky and a few light showers.”

However, for storm chasers, it is all worth it. “When you get close to a storm, it is the most exciting sight you will ever see in your life,” says Jasper Morley. “Every storm is an example of the power of nature. It is the greatest show on Earth.”

56. For storm chasing, the first thing storm chasers do is to ____.

A. head straight for the center of the storm　 B. get into the car for safety

C. wait patiently for the storm to develop　　 D. collect information about a coming storm

57. Beginners of storm chasing are advised ______.

A. not to drive in a heavy rain　　　　　 B. to do it in an organized way

C. not to get too close to a storm　　　D. to spend more time on it in summer

58. By saying “it is all worth it” in the last paragraph, the author means that ____.

A. storm chasing costs a lot of money　　 B. storm chasing is worth hours of waiting

C.efforts in storm chasing are well paid　 D. a storm presents the greatest show on Earth

59. What can we learn from the text?

A. Sometimes storm chasers get nothing but disappointment

B. Many storm chasers get killed in the storms.

C. Storm chasing is becoming popular around the world

D. Storm chasing is only fit for young people.

60. According to the passage, the right order in which the following things happen is_________?

a. collect information about a coming storm

b. get into their cars and go a long way for the area where the storm will be

c. determine on the months between March and July

d. be patient and waits for the storm to develop

A. c, d, a, b　　　 B. c, a, d, b　　　 C. a, c, d, b　　 D. c, a, b, d

HK’s Family Affair
　The 32nd Hong Kong Art Festival, to be held early next year, will be based on the theme of “family”.
　The art festival, considered to be Asia’s best, began in 1973.
　“We hope that people from Beijing and from all over the world will go to Hong Kong to enjoy the multiple performances in our art festival,”Douglas Gautier, the festival’s management director, said in a press conference in the capital.
　In the 29 days of the festival, which runs from February 8 to March 7, 2004, the audience can choose from 111 performances of 51 programmes staged by 700 foreign performers, 450 local artists and 160 actors from the mainland.
　Programmes vary from classical music, jazz, world music, Western and Peking opera, drama and dance to outdoor spectaculars.
　The programmes include Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio, Shakespeare’s drama Rromeo and Juliet, the ballet Mozartina and African dances, to name just a few.
　The lineup（阵容）includes the English Touring Theatre, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Ballet, The Spanish National Dance Troupe, as well as Europe Galante, the Petersen Quartet, pianists Angela Hewitt and Marc-Andre Hamelin, and saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
　In an effort to increase attendance, hotels and airlines are offering discount packages along with art festival ticket sales, most of which are at 20% and 30% discounts.
　　For more information, please check:
　　www. hk. artsfestival. org
【小题1】The press conference must have been held ________.

The time he has devoted in the past ten years ________ the disabled is now considered ________ of great value.