外研选修七英语课文.docx

选修7
Module 1 Basketball

Michael Jordan — Head and Shoulders Above the Rest!
During the 1990s, Michael Jordan was probably the best-known athlete in the world. He was the top scorer in the NBA, and played for the Chicago Bulls from 1984 to 1993. He was named their most valued player five times. Wearing his famous number 23 shirt, Michael Jordan became the most successful basketball player in the history of the game.
Jordan was born in New York and grew up in North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina for a year before leaving to join the Chicago Bulls. He finished his first season (1984-1985) as one of the top scorers in the league, with an average of 28.2 points per game.
In 1987, Jordan became only the second player to score more than 3,000 points in a season. He was the top scorer in the NBA for seven consecutive seasons (1987-1993). During this time, the average number of points he scored was more than 30 points per game. With him, the Bulls won their first NBA championship in1991. During this successful period they won the title again in 1992 and 1993. Jordan was also in the United States Olympic Basketball Team, known as “the Dream Team”, which won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Jordan surprised everyone when he retired before the 1993-1994 season, but he rejoined the Chicago Bulls and won three more championships with them from 1996 to 1998. He played again for the Washington Wizards before finally retiring from sport in 2003 at the age of 40. Millions of fans admire his athletic ability, motivation and confidence. They have fantastic stories to tell about Michael Jordan, such as the time when he rescued the Bulls from ending a game on a tie. He stepped to the line and made two free throws. Each time he threw the ball straight through the basket — and each time he had his eyes closed.
Off the basketball court, Michael Jordan opened his own steak restaurant because he loves steak so much. He also found success as an actor in the film Space Jam alongside the famous cartoon character Bugs Bunny!
There is only one word to describe the best player in the world — awesome!

Wilt the Stilt — the Tower of Power!
Michael Jordan was the second player to score more than 3,000 points in a season – but the first was Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia on 21st August 1936. He was one of the 11 children, the only one who was very tall. His father William worked in a shipyard and his mother Olivia was a cleaner. As a child, Chamberlain had various health problems. He had pneumonia and almost died when he was ten.
Chamberlain is the only NBA player who averaged over 50 points per game for an entire season. At one point, Chamberlain was so much better than all the other players that they changed the rules of the game to try to stop him!
The giant player joined the NBA’s Philadelphia Warriors in the 1959-1960 season and was an immediate success. During 14 seasons with four different teams, Chamberlain was named the most valued player in the league four times. On 2nd March 1962, he scored 100 points in a single game — no one has ever done that since! The final score was Warriors 169 New York Knicks 147!
He ended his career after five amazing seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers By the time he retired, Wilt held many NBA records: he scored 50 or more points 118 times and 60 or more points 32 times.
Was Wilt Chamberlain better than Michael Jordan? Who knows? But there is no doubt that he deserves the title “outstanding player of his generation”.

Is Yao Ming Too Nice to Be a Star?
Jeff Van Gundy, the head coach of the Houston Rockets, has a dream. He wants Yao Ming to be like other players. Star players, says Gundy, are “selfish” and want the ball all the time. “Let’s put it this way,” he said. “When they ask for the ball, they don’t say ‘please’!”
Yao, however, is a selfless and kind person. He has been brought up and trained in this way. It is not in his nature to be “selfish” and “rude”.
When he first arrived in the US, Yao was an instant hit among basketball fans nationwide. They all loved this kind, gentle but powerful giant. Van Gundy wanted to build his team around the talented Chinese player. To do this, he told Yao to be more aggressive and, if necessary, to be rude to his teammates.
“He’s a wonderful guy, he has every physical basketball skill and he puts the team first,” Van Gundy said. “But I want him to be a star, not just a great team player. He’s got to think that he’s the best player out there. That way, he can dominate the game.”
“At first, I didn’t really understand what the coach wanted,” Yao said. “But now I do. In China, everyone gave me the ball, I didn’t have to ask! Here, I have to be a little ‘impolite’! I’m not quite used to it yet. If you give me a little time, I can get more used to it. I have to learn to be a little more ‘selfish’.”

Dizzy Heights of School Basketball
Basketball is one of the safest sports. Unlike wrestling or boxing, it’s not usually dangerous. One reason for this is that the players’ energy is partly directed upwards, at a 90-degree angle to the ground, and over the heads of the others. So there’s less risk of a collision between two players.
In other sports, such as baseball and American football, the player’ energy moves parallel to the ground and towards their opponents, so they wear helmets which give adequate protection to their heads.
But although basketball players wear socks and sneakers which are specially designed to absorb energy when they bound into the air, they wear no other protection, just a vest and shorts. If there is an abrupt change of direction in their energy, from vertical to horizontal, such as when they accelerate across the court, bouncing the ball, there is a real danger of personal injury.
For example, in the Kent State High School Basketball tournament, Chandler High was playing St Mary Central and at the interval the score was 50-52. But St Mary had appointed a captain who was not a typical basketball player. Whereas everyone else was tall and slim with short haircuts, Joe Johannsen was short and stout, with long hair and a large belly. But he was really fast, and when he obtained control of the ball, he could make a circuit of the court and reach the opposing team’s boundary within seconds.
Anyhow, twelve minutes into the second half, Frank Sackler, the Chandler star player, made a controversial pass over Joe’s head. Joe stepped aside and dipped his head down. Sackler bounced off him and committed a foul. The referee interrupted the match ,and there was a suspension of play. But Joe was unhurt, short the penalty, and the score was 88-90. There were three minutes to go.
Joe immediately took possession of the ball and ran, … and suddenly 80 kilos hit the Chandler star, who howled loudly in pain and fell, with his nose bleeding and a cut on his left cheek. For a moment, he lay very still ,and the referee even checked his pulse, but soon confirmed he was OK. But when Sackler stood up he was dizzy, so they put a bandage round his head, a blanket round his shoulders, and called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Joe was a considerate guy, and apologized as Sackler left, sniffing and weeping, either in pain or in frustration.
Chandler scored with the penalty, and their teamwork had won the match. But Frank Sackler still has the scar on his face as a souvenir of the tournament.

How Did They Start?
How did American football start?
Football — or soccer — started in England 800 years ago. The game was played with a round ball that players kicked but could not carry. There were two teams, but there were often a hundred players on each team!
However, in 1823, William Webb Ellis, a pupil at Rugby School in England, picked up the ball during a soccer game and ran with it. Teachers at the school were shocked and angry but Webb Ellis’s schoolmates enjoyed this new game, which they named after the school. Eventually, rugby was played with an oval ball that could be both carried and thrown.
Rugby was exported to the United States, changed a lot and became the sport that Americans now call football. During a game of American football, the ball can be kicked, thrown or carried.

How did basketball start?
Basketball was invented in 1891 in a gymnasium in Springfield, Massachusetts by Dr James Naismith, a physical education teacher. Naismith wanted to create a game that would provide exercise for a noisy class through the cold winter months. Naismith attached two baskets to two tall poles at each end of the gymnasium and gave the players a soccer ball and told them to try to throw the ball into the baskets. Naismith later wrote 13 rules which are the basis of modern basketball rules.

How did baseball start?
The exact origin of baseball is unknown, but it is probably based on an old English game called rounders. In the USA, a version of the game became popular in the early 19th century and eventually, a man called Alexander Cartwright wrote the rules for baseball in 1845. Cartwright is called “the father of baseball” because the modern rules of the game are very similar to his original rules.

Module 2 Highlights of My Senior Year

Highlights of My Senior Year
by Joanna Sykes
I can hardly believe it, but my school life is almost over. Prom night has come and gone, and I’ve received my high school diploma at last. It’s a good thing that the exams are finished. I feel too excited to think clearly. It seems strange to think that in a few days’ time I’ll be walking out of the school gates forever. The first thing I’m going to do is to take a long vacation!
Meanwhile, I find myself looking back at my senior year, and thinking about all the wonderful things that have happened. I’ve decided to write them down so that one day, years from now, when I reread them, the memories will come back.
There’s so much to remember. One of the best things about this year has been working as an arts editor for this newspaper. I’ve so enjoyed it! I love writing, and working on this paper is my first step towards becoming a journalist, so this has been a real success for me.
Something else I’ve greatly enjoyed is working as a peer mediator, someone who helps students to settle problems that they have with other students. At the start of the school year, we were given training in how to do this, and it’s clear that this kind of work can really help people. I think I’ll continue to work as a mediator when I go to college.
During the Easter vacation, I went on a short school skiing trip to the Rocky Mountains. I’ve been skiing quite a few times, but never with the school, and since two good friends came on the trip, we had great fun racing each other down the ski slopes. It’s well-known that Americans are competitive, and I did enjoy it whenever I won our races!
Other things I’m pleased about — getting good grades on my final exams, and receiving the senior prize for English Literature. I was given a car by my parents so I’ve been able to drive to school, which is brilliant. And of course, I’ll never forget being elected to the student council. I really enjoyed meeting the teachers and telling them how we, the students, feel about things, and what we think should happen in the school!
All these things have been wonderful. But I have to say, the highlight of the year was the senior prom. For an American girl, it’s so important that you have a good time at the prom. Well, I did! Daniel, a boy in my English class, asked me to go to the prom with him, and I was so pleased — I’d been hoping he would ask me. I found a dress that suited me perfectly, and had my hair specially done on the day of the prom. It took two hours but it was worth it, as everyone told me I looked very elegant! A group of us rented a nice car to take us to the prom. The food was delicious and I ate so much that I had to stop dancing for a while! We shared a table with some good friends, and laughed and told jokes all evening. It’s a great pity that it’s probably the last time this will happen.
Daniel and I danced most of the dances together. But the big surprise of the evening was when I was elected prom queen! This was so unexpected, and I can’t tell you how good this made me feel! After the prom, a group of us drove down to the coast, and sat on the beach in our long dresses and dinner jackets. I shall never forget watching the sunrise over the sea — it was unforgettable! Afterwards, we went and had an enormous breakfast in a nearby hotel — it was a perfect ending to a perfect school year.

After-school Activities
In America, the development of social skills is considered as important as the development of intellectual skills. To help students develop these social skills, schools offer a large number of after-school activities, in other words, activities that take place outside classroom lessons. When deciding which students to accept, employers and colleges look for students who have skills in several areas. Exam grades are very important, but so are the after-school activities. By taking part in these activities, students show their special talents, their ability to lead, and their ability to get on with others.
Competitive sports, for example, baseball, are probably the most popular of all the after-school activities. This is because, for many American parents, it is important that their children, particularly boys, learn how to compete successfully. Young people are encouraged to take part in team sports such as football and basketball, since these games teach you to have the “winning spirit”. For some students and their parents, high school sport is considered more important than academic achievements.
During the long summer holidays, it is a custom for American children to spend several weeks at summer camps. There are thousands of camps, and they can be found all over the country. What these camps offer is an opportunity to take part in many different kinds of outdoor activities, for example, horse riding and water skiing. Older teenagers are more likely to get summer jobs or go camping with a group of friends. Many go backpacking in the mountains of the west.

My Schooldays
They say that schooldays are the happiest days of your life, but not for me! My father worked abroad, so I was sent to a boarding school when I was seven. Like most schoolchildren, I had already been to nursery school. I could recite the alphabet, and read some simple books, but this was my first experience of the institution my parents called “big school’. In fact, the only preparation I had for this adventure was watching as my mother sewed my name tag into my shirts, trousers and woolen sweaters.
I arrived with one suitcase, my only luggage for a term. I was shown to the dormitory where I would sleep with five other innocent boys. The bedding was a pillow, a sheet and a thin quilt. There were two worn armchairs, a