Basketball dreams on “roof of the world”“世界之巅”的篮球梦

周晨曲

17-year-old Tibetan girl Cigla is a freshman at Nagqu No. 2 Senior High School in Lhasa， which sits 3，650 meters above sea level. She now plays point guard for the school’s 12-member female basketball team.

“Practice makes perfect. You get used to the elevation（海拔） when you love the sport and train hard enough，” said the potential basketball star， who has been passionate about the sport since taking it up three years ago.

Cigla wears wristbands when playing her favorite sport. With her outstanding speed， agility （靈活） and accurate passes， she never fails to shine on the basketball court， even when she faces off against the boys. Though she is a freshman in high school， Cigla already has a clear picture of her future—entering a sports college to study basketball. In the eyes of Cigla， who comes from a poor herder’s family in northern Tibet’s Nagqu City， studying in Lhasa， the region’s most developed city， has made it much easier for her to realize her basketball dream.

With an average altitude of over 4，500 meters， Nagqu is among the most uninhabitable places in Tibet， known as the “roof of the world”. Low-oxygen environments and extreme weather have long influenced the health of Nagqu students， hampering the development of primary education in the area.

Like Cigla， many students at the school are from poor farmers’ and herders’ families. Dawa Droma， a senior student also on the school’s female basketball team， said her passion for the sport started from her first basketball game in her freshman year.

“I had never touched a basketball before that game but joined the class team anyway. When I scored and heard my classmates cheer for me， I couldn’t feel more proud. That’s how I fell in love with basketball and never looked back，” she recalled. Reflecting on the influence of basketball on her life， Dawa Droma said the sport has helped her get fit and build up confidence over the years.“Meeting players from different schools has certainly made me a more outgoing person，” she said.

Reading Check

1. Which of the following words can best describe Cigla’s feeling about basketball？

A. Bored. B. Enthusiastic.

C. Confused. D. Confident.

2. What may help Cigla realize her basketball dream greatly？

A. Her family background. B. Her parents’ support.

C. Her plans. D. Her school’s location.

3. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “hampering” in paragraph 4？

A. Improving. B. Forbidding.

C. Preventing. D. Leading.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph？

A. Dawa Droma is influenced by basketball greatly.

B. Dawa Droma seldom feels proud when playing basketball.

C. Playing basketball increases Dawa Droma’s sense of touch.

D. Meeting players from different schools makes Dawa Droma upset.

Language  Study

Sentence for writing

Reflecting on the influence of basketball on her life， Dawa Droma said the sport has helped her get fit and build up confidence over the years. 在谈到篮球对她生活的影响时，达瓦卓玛说，这几年，这项运动帮助她变得健康，变得自信。

【信息提取】over the years是现在完成时态的标志词，其他常见的标志词还有recently、recent years、lately、since、ever since、in the last+时间段、over+时间段、up to now、since then、so far等。

【句式仿写】在过去的两年里，这栋房子已转手三次。

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