Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class pick

Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket — anything with a round ball, I was useless,” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15 ^th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set up his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year he met John Ridgway and started to work as a teacher at Ridgway’s school of adventure（冒险）in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway’s cold—water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures; he decided that this would be his future.
In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long—distance expedition (探险) towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite, ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his sled up and over the rocky mountains.
Saunders has become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man. His old playmates would not believe the change.
小题1: According to Paragraph 2, what changed Saunders?

A．A friend’s words.	B．A mountain bike.
C．His 18 th birthday gift.	D．His first marathon.

小题2: What did Saunders do in 2001?

A．He decided to build up his body.

B．He met John Ridgway in Scotland.

C．He worked as a teacher at school.

D．He took an adventure to the North Pole.

小题3: What does the story mainly tell us about Saunders?

A．He is a success in sports.

B．He is the youngest British skier.

C．He is Ridgway’s best student.

D．He is a good teacher at school.

Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis Cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless, “he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.
Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many peiole dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy, ’”Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.
小题1:The turning point in Saunders’life came when _____

A．he started to play ball games

B．he got a mountain bike at age 15

C．he ran his first marathon at age 18

D．he started to receive Ridgway’s training

小题2:We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.

A．dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy

B．built up his body together with Saunders

C．hired Saunders for his cold-water experience

D．won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic

小题3:What do we know about Saunders?

A．He once worked at a school in Scotland.

B．He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.

C．He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.

D．He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.

小题4:The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.

A．Excited

B．Convinced

C．Delighted

D．Fascinated

小题5:It can be inferred tat Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.

A．was accompanied by his old playmates

B．set a record in the North Pole expedition

C．was supported by other Arctic explorers

D．made him well-known in the 1960s