Read the text and answer the following questions.

“Make every obstacle an opportunity, make every negative a positive” My mother raised me with this rule, and this is how I have lived. In a small town in Texas where I grew up, you were nobody unless you played football. I tried to be a football player, but I was no good. So I wanted to find something else. When I was a boy, I did not get along with my stepfather (1), which frustrated me. But something happened (a)that gave me a chance to get over this problem: I came across my first bike. I was attracted to it and thought, “If I ride the bike on this road long enough, it will take me somewhere better than here.” Rain or shine, I kept on pedaling the bike. When I was 13, I won a triathlon for young cyclists. Not long after that, I won another (2)one. I liked the feeling of being a top junior cyclist in the United States. This was how I started my life with the bike. In 1990, when I was 18, I made my international debut as a cyclist in a race in Utsunomiya, Japan. I was a tough rider but wasn't good at tactics. I needed to use my energy more effectively so that I would not be exhausted by the middle of the race. Although I did my best, I finished in 11th place. In 1993 I won the world championship held in Oslo. My racing skills had become better but still needed improvement. It was in 1995 that I first competed in the Tour de France. (3)I had succeeded in entering the world's toughest race for cyclists, but I was not yet good enough to win it. After the Tour, though, I had the feeling (b)that I was coming into the peak of my career. As one of the world's top riders, I had a mansion, a beautiful sports car, and a fortune in the bank. I thought everything would always go well. Then suddenly came the worst obstacle in my life. The true meaning of the word “fear” became clear to me when I heard the words, “You have cancer.” ( d ) this fear, the fears I had had before meant nothing. “You have cancer in the lungs and brain,” said the doctor. My chance of survival was 40 percent. I was only 25 and I wanted to live. I went through three operations, and a long painful series of chemical treatments followed. I was in constant pain and kept vomiting. I thought the treatment was as bad as, or worse than, the disease itself. It lasted four full months. Miraculously, I became a cancer survivor. The question was whether I should get back to my career. Due to the long, hard chemical treatments, I had lost all my muscles and felt too weak to do anything. I thought riding was no longer for me. I heard people say, “Armstrong is finished. He'll never race again.” I thought of giving up my career as a professional cyclist. I spent most of my time playing golf and watching TV, but it wasn't fun. I felt neither happy nor free. Just then, my coach came to see me. In the garage he looked at my bike and knew I had not been riding it. “You're alive again, and now you need to get back to living,” he said. Then he suggested setting up a training camp in Boone in the Appalachians. I was not quite ready. But it was the place where I had won two races before. It was not a bad place to start again. Taking some time, I ( e ) to get back on my bike. I pedaled many hours day after day. One day, when I was riding uphill in the rain, washed-out yellow and white lettering on the road ( f ). It read Viva Lance, which had been written by a spectator who had seen me in the previous race. As I continued upward, I saw more fading letters under my wheels: Go Armstrong. There I began to see what my life was destined to be. It was simply this: my life was meant for a long, hard climb. I realized what I had to do: to win the Tour. I had sacrificed everything and ( g ) hard training until I took on the challenge of the Tour again in 1999. Very few people expected me to win. In the first half of the race, I saved my energy and stayed back. In the middle part of the Tour, I took the lead and ( h ) it. My bike swayed under me as I pedaled along and I was breathing hard. I kept on riding day in and day out (4), with my energy balanced over the three-week race. I was exhausted, but I kept going on. Going into the final six kilometers, I pedaled on and on with all I had. When I crossed the finish line, the clock showed (c)that I was nine seconds ahead of my closest competitor. I won the Tour! I once read a newspaper article saying, “Lance flew up the hills and mountains of France.” But you never fly up a hill. You struggle slowly and painfully up a hill, and maybe, if you work really hard, you get to the top. Life is full of obstacles. And it is up to you to turn them into opportunities. 1 Paraphrase the underlined phrases of (1) to (4) (1) ① , and football frustrated me. ② , and he frustrated me. ③ , and that frustrated me. ④ , and the small town frustrated me. (2) ① bike ② cyclist ③ tour ④ triathlon (3) ① I had entered the world toughest race in succession ② I had gained successive entry into the world toughest race ③ I had successively entered the world toughest race ④ I had successfully entered the world toughest race (4) ① , and I balanced my energy over the three-week race ② , and my energy balanced the three-week race ③ , and I had my energy balancing the three-week race ④ , and the three-week race balanced my energy 2 Choose the most appropriate latter half of each sentence. (1) Lance had a cancer ① when he was 18 years old. ② when he was 21 years old. ③ when he was 23 years old. ④ when he was 25 years old. (2) Lance finished in 11 the place in Utsunomiya in 1990, ① because he could use his energy effectively. ② because he couldn’t use his energy effectively. ③ because he didn’t do his best. ④ because he was good at tactics. (3) Lance had a training camp in Boone in 1997, ① and a spectator had written “Viva Lance” in 1996. ② and a spectator had written “Viva Lance” the day before. ③ and his coach had written “Viva Lance” in 1996. ④ and his coach had written “Viva Lance” the day before. (4) In the first half of the Tour de France in 1999, Lance saved his energy and stayed back, which meant ① he became good at tactics. ② he wasn’t good at tactics. ③ he couldn’t use his energy effectively. ④ he sacrificed everything. 3 Choose the most appropriate answer for these questions. (1) What did Lance think after he took part in the race in Japan? ① He thought he needed to use his energy more effectively. ② He thought he was coming into the peak of his career. ③ He thought he was good at tactics. ④ He thought, “If I ride the bike on this road long enough, it will take me somewhere better than here.” (2) What did Lance realize when he saw the words “Go Armstrong” on the road? ① He realized he did not need a large fortune. ② He realized he had to win the Tour de France. ③ He realized he should give up racing. ④ He realized riding was no longer for him. (3) Which of the following is the most important message from this story? ① You should decide things on your own. ② You should never give up in your career. ③ You should turn obstacles in your life into opportunities. ④ You should use your energy more effectively. 4 Choose from the following sentences one which has the same use of “that” with (a), (b), and (c) in the text. ① The fact that Tuvalu is surrounded by the sea was once a blessing for the Tuvaluans. ② Many scientists think that this is speeding up global warming. ③ Tuvalu is not the only nation that is going to be affected by the rising sea level. 5 Fill in the blanks (d) to (h) using idioms from the box on page 4. Change word forms if necessary. 6 Are the following sentences true or false? Write T or F. (1) Lance was good at playing football when he was a boy. (2) Lance wasn’t worried about what the doctor had told him. (3) Most people did not think that Lance would win the race before the Tour de France in 1999.