Question

Zinedine Zidane, who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month, has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words.

    Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany’s Leverkusen 2－1.

He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy’s Juventus for US $ 66 million. And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3－0 defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final.

    But despite his success, Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground. He leads a quiet family life, there is hardly any gossip^① about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight^②.

“Just because I’m a public figure it doesn’t mean I have to express myself on everything. I don’t like to discuss some personal matters publicly.” he said.

    Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille, France, where he was raised by his Algerian parents, Zidane was shy.

    He loved football even as a little kid. “I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking,”he said.

    Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread, Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich.

    Before he was 10 years old, it was obvious that he could become a great footballer. He was offered his first professional contract^③ when he was just 20. Now, at the age of 29, he has already picked up two World Player of the year awards.

This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup. But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he’ll do this time.

Notes:

gossip  n. 流言蜚語

spotlight  n. 聚光燈

contract  n. 合同

What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that _______.

A. he could become a great footballer

B. he could become rich if he became a footballer

C. football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking

D. football is a favorite sport in the future

According to the article, what are Zidane’s main characteristics?

A. He is a shy but successful man.

B. He loves his wife and children.

C. He doesn’t like to speak in public.

D. He is a quiet, down-to-earth person of few words.

When the writer says “Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”, he means that _______.

A. Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days

B. Zidane is a down-to-earth person

C. Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch

D. Zidane likes standing when he succeeds

The sentence “Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich” means ________.

A. football made Zidane’s poor family wealthy when he was a child

B. Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child

C. football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family

D. Zidane knew that if he wanted 10 be rich he must play football from childhood

Answer 1

【小題1】C

【小題2】D

【小題3】B

【小題4】C

解析:

【小題1】細節理解題。從倒數第四段可知，他意識到了足球的本質是什么。

【小題2】 概括歸納題。從第四段及倒數第四段可知，Zidane是一個喜歡平淡的生活，實事求是而且不善言辭的人。

【小題3】句意猜測題。從上下文可知，該句意為：Zidane是一個腳踏實地、實事求是的人。

【小題4】 句意猜測題。倒數第三段句意為：即使當時的比賽獎品只是巧克力和面包，他發現足球使他窮的童年生活變得富足了。這說明足球給Zidane貧困的童年帶來很多快樂。