2．The summer of 2001saw．Australians win the Cycling Tour de France，beat the world at cricket and rugby，and have a player in the final of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament for the eighteenth time．
Many countries would be amazed at that kind of success．For Australia，it was just a typical sporting summer．At the 2000Olympics，Australia came fourth in the medals table．That does not sound great，yet Australia has a population of only 19million．There are more Olympic medal winners per head of population in Australia than any other country．
What is it that makes Australians a sporting people？This is a question that many people participating in sports have asked themselves over the years．
Some of the answers are simple．Sports need space．Australians have 7.4million square kilometers of space to play sports in．Many other countries are either too crowded or too small to encourage everybody to take part．Besides that，Australia is a warm，dry country．This encourages people to go outdoors to enjoy themselves．Furthermore，since 85percent of Australians live near the sea，they learn water sport early； and since sharks swim off the coasts of Australia，they also learn to swim very fast．
Other reasons go deep into the history，culture and economy of the country．When the British first found Australia they decided that it would be a great place to send criminals to．Life for the first Australians was very tough，so they had to be independent and develop a will to win just to survive．Yet they also had to be able to trust each other and be willing to help each other out．In other countries，coaches train people in mental toughness and team building．In Australia，these qualities are part of the general social environment．
From the cultural perspective，being far away from Europe also means that Australians are far away from the centers of Western arts and cultures．As a result，sport itself has become a way of cultural expression and part of Australian nationality．An English football fan wants to see the national team do well，but really cares about his local club．For an Australian，representing the nation is the most important of all．Everything else is just good practice．Being good at sports is part of what it means to be an Australian．
55．What can we learn from Para.2？D
A．Australia has the most medal winners in the world．
B．The achievement made in 2001is abnormal for Australia．
C．Australia has a smaller population than any other country．
D．The performance of Australia in sports is great in relation to its population．
56．According to Para.4，the following factors make Australians a sporting people EXCEPTC．
A．climate B．playground
C．a(chǎn)dvertisement D．geography
57．Supposing you are an English football fan，you are most delighted thatB．
A．you will watch a live football match
B．the club you support wins the match
C．you will see a football star in the flesh
D．the national team defeats its competitor
58．In the following paragraph，the author is probably toA．
A．explain the reason in economy
B．introduce the sports stars in clubs
C．foresee the future of sports in Australia
D．describe the competition in the Olympics．
分析 本文為新聞報道類文章，2001年夏天，澳大利亞贏得了環(huán)法自行車冠軍，在板球和橄欖球項(xiàng)目上擊敗全世界選手，還有一個澳大利亞選手進(jìn)入溫網(wǎng)比賽的決賽．為什么澳大利亞在體育運(yùn)動上如此突出？原因有三：場地，氣候和地理位置．除此而外，文章還從文化、歷史等角度進(jìn)行了分析．
解答 解析：
55．答案D．主旨大意題．在2000年奧運(yùn)會上，雖然澳大利亞獎牌數(shù)位居第四，但它人口總數(shù)僅為19，000，000，因此每個澳大利亞人所擁有的獎牌數(shù)比其他任何國家都多．因此"相對于它的人口，澳大利亞在體育上的表現(xiàn)是優(yōu)異的"．
56．答案C．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．由提示詞Besides that，F(xiàn)urthermore可知第四段列舉了三個因素：場地，氣候和地理位置．
57．答案B．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．由最后一段An English football fan wants to see the national team do well，but really cares about his local club．得知對于英國球迷而言，"俱樂部的輸贏"更重要．
58．答案A．推理判斷題．根據(jù)第五段第一句可知要從history，culture and economy三個方面解釋深層的原因，其中第五段涉及的是history，第六段culture，因此接下來要闡述的是"經(jīng)濟(jì)原因"．
點(diǎn)評 新聞報道類文章，留意開頭和結(jié)尾，尋找文章的主旨句，把握文章大意．然后根據(jù)題目的類型采用不同的閱讀技巧．主旨大意題，要認(rèn)真閱讀文章的第一段或每段的第一個句子．文章的主題作者往往有意識地反復(fù)論述．抓住反復(fù)出現(xiàn)的中心詞，即高頻詞，也叫做主題詞．細(xì)節(jié)理解題，要先用尋讀法找出與問題相關(guān)的詞語或句子，再對相關(guān)的部分進(jìn)行細(xì)讀，排除干擾項(xiàng)，找出正確答案．
