When I was little, I was really little. But my dream was big. I dreamed of being a basketball player. I tried out for the teams at school, but I was never given a chance.
As I got older, I did grow a little bigger, but not a lot bigger. On my 12th birthday, I decided to try a new sport: running. I told Grandpa. “I’m going to be an athlete.”
“Dave.” Grandpa began gently, “if you can’t be big, you can do something big.”
I ran 12 miles on my 12th birthday. On my 13th birthday, I did it again, but I added an extra mile. On my 14th birthday, I ran 14 miles. 15 on my 15th, 16 on my 16th, and you guessed it—17 miles on my 17th birthday.
All this running inspired （激发） another big dream. Someday, I’d run the Boston Marathon （波士顿马拉松赛） . I told Grandpa about my decision.
“But, Dave, you haven’t trained for the marathon. Are you sure you’re ready?” Grandpa asked. But he still promised to walk over and cheer me on.
I ran fast that day, But I fell at Mile 18 and was driven to the hospital. Later that night, I called Grandpa and told him I failed.
“No,” he said calmly, “you didn’t fail. You discovered something.”
“I did?” I asked.
“Yes, you discovered that big dreams don’t just come true. They take work. If you train and work hard, I promise to wait for you next year and cheer you on.”
I trained every day, running miles and miles. Sadly, just two months into my training, Grandpa died. He wouldn’t be waiting for my second Boston Marathon. I decided I’d run for him.
That day, I ran fast. “Keep going! You can do it!” His words filled my head as I forced my legs to make each painful step. As I crossed the finish line, I threw my arms in the air and cried, “Grandpa, we did it!”
22 ． Why did Dave fail to join the school basketball team?
A ． He couldn’t run fast. B ． He didn’t work hard.
C ． He was not tall enough. D ． He wasn’t a quick learner.
23 ． What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph A refer to?
A ． Adding an extra mile. B ． Running on his birthday.
C ． Training for the marathon. D ． Trying out for the basketball team.
24 ． Which of the following words best describes Grandpa?
A ． Creative. B ． Modest. C ． Generous. D ． Encouraging.
25 ． What is the best title for the text?
A ． Dream Big B ． The Boston Marathon
C ． Think Twice D ． The Story of Grandpa
C 23 ． B 24 ． D 25 ． A
【导语】本文主要讲述了作者通过自己的努力终于参加了马拉松比赛，并且取得了成功的故事。
22 ．细节理解题。根据 “When I was little, I was really little. But my dream was big. I dreamed of being a basketball player” 可知，因为作者不够高，所以没有进入篮球队，故选 C 。
23 ．词义猜测题。根据 “I ran 12 miles on my 12th birthday. On my 13th birthday, I did it again, but I added an extra mile” 可知，在作者 13 岁生日时也坚持跑步，只不过是额外增加了一英里，所以 it 指代 “ 在生日这天跑步 ” ，故选 B 。
24 ．推理判断题。根据 “Yes, you discovered that big dreams don’t just come true. They take work. If you train and work hard, I promise to wait for you next year and cheer you on” 可知，从祖父在作者失败时对他的鼓励可以看出，祖父是一个鼓舞人心的人，故选 D 。
25 ．最佳标题题。通读全文可知，本文多次出现 “big dream” 这样的词语，可以推断出本文也是围绕 “ 大梦想 ” 这个线索展开描述，故选 A 。