Wilma Rudolph—from disability to glory

湖南江华一中 何高伦

体裁篇幅 建议用时365词 7分钟记叙文

难词探意

1.treatment /΄triːtmənt/ n.治疗

2.acquire /ə΄kwaɪə(r)/ v.获得

3.determination /dɪˌtзːmɪ΄neɪ∫n/ n.决心

4.victory /΄vɪktəri/ n.胜利

Wilma Rudolph was born in 1940, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee.She had many illnesses when she was very young, including pneumonia(肺炎) and scarlet fever(猩红热).She also had polio(小儿麻痹症), which damaged her left leg.When she was six years old, she began to wear metal leg braces because she could not use that leg.Every week, Wilma's mother drove her to a special doctor eighty kilometers away.Here, she got physicaltreatmentsto help heal her leg.

She later said, “My doctors told me I would never walk again.My mother told me I would.I believed my mother.”

Soon, her family's attention and care showed results.By the time she was nine years old, she no longer needed her leg braces.Wilma was very happy, because she could now run and play like other children.

At age 13, she entered a race.She came in last.She entered every race in high school, and in every race she came in last.Everyone begged her to quit! However, one day, she came in next to last.And then there came a day when she won a race.From then on, Wilma Rudolph won every race that she entered.

Wilma went to Tennessee State University, where she trained hard.In 1960, she set the world record for the fastest speed in the two-thousand-meter event.She said, “I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.”

That same year, Wilma Rudolph went to the Olympics, this time in Rome, Italy.She won two gold medals—first place—in the one-hundred-meter and the two-hundred-meter races.She set a new Olympic record of 23.2 seconds for the two-hundred-meter dash.Her team also won the gold medal in the four-hundred-meter sprint relay event, setting a world record of 44.5 seconds.These three gold medals made her one of the most popular athletes at the Rome Games.Thesevictoriesmade people call her the “world's fastest woman”.

Reading Check

1.Which of the following words can best describe Wilma according to paragraph 4?

A.Warm-hearted.

B.Determined.

C.Generous.

D.Clever.

2.Wilma Rudolph owed her recovery to .

A.the special medicine she took in the hospital

B.her mother's encouragement and physical treatments

C.her metal leg braces

D.the teachers in her school

3.What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?

A.How many gold medals Wilma got altogether.

B.Where that year's Olympic Games took place.

C.Why people call Wilma the “world's fastest woman”.

D.What events Wilma took part in in the Olympic Games.

Language Study

Sentence for writing

I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.我每天都跑步并下定了决心——无论发生什么我都不会放弃。

【信息提取】本句是由and连接的并列句，no matter what else happened是让步状语从句。

【句式仿写】无论你做什么，你都应该全身心地投入。