My First Marathon（马拉松）
A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.
I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn't do either well. He later informed me that I was "not athletic".
The idea that I was "not athletic" stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!
The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn't even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.
Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces(鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!
At mile 3, I passed a sign: "GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!"
By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.
By mile 21, I was starving!
As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.
I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.
Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a "marathon winner".
Color is fundamental in home design – something you'll always have in every room. A grasp of how to manage color in your spaces is one of the first steps to creating rooms you'll love to live in. Do you want a room that's full of life? Professional? Or are you just looking for a place to relax after a long day? , color is the key to make a room feel the way you want it to feel.
Over the years, there have been a number of different techniques to help designers approach this important point. , they can get a little complex. But good news is that there're really only three kinds of decisions you need to make about color in your home: the small ones, the medium ones, and the large ones.
. They're the little spots of color like throw pillows, mirrors and baskets that most of us used to add visual interest to our rooms. Less tiring than painting your walls and less expensive than buying a colorful sofa, small color choices bring with them the significant benefit of being easily changeable.
Medium color choices are generally furniture pieces such as sofa, dinner tables or bookshelves. . They require a bigger commitment than smaller ones, and they have a more powerful effect on the feeling of a space.
The large color decisions in your rooms concern the walls, ceilings, and floors. Whether you're looking at wallpaper or paint, the time, effort and relative expense put into it are significant. .
A. While all of them are useful
B. Whatever you're looking for
C. If you're experimenting with a color
D. Small color choices are the ones we're most familiar with
E. It's not really a good idea to use too many small color pieces
F. So it pays to be sure, because you want to get it right the first time
G. Color choices in this range are a step up from the small ones in two major ways
According to a review of evidence in a medical journal, runners live three years (long) than non－runners. You don't have to run fast or for long (see) the benefit. You may drink, smoke, be overweight and still reduce your risk of (die) early by running.
While running regularly can't make you live forever, the review says it (be) more effective at lengthening life walking, cycling or swimming. Two of the authors of the review also made a study published in 2014 showed a mere five to 10 minutes a day of running reduced the risk of heart disease and early deaths from all (cause).
The best exercise is one that you enjoy and will do. But otherwise... it's probably running. To avoid knee pain, you can run on soft surfaces, do exercises to (strength) your leg muscles (肌肉), avoid hills and get good running shoes. Running is cheap，easy and it's always (energy). If you are time poor, you need run for only half the time to get the same benefits as other sports, so perhaps we should all give a try.
The Homeless Hero
For many, finding an unattended wallet filled with £400 in cash would be a source（来源）of temptation（诱惑）. But the urge would no doubt be greater if you were living on the streets with little food and money. All of this makes the actions of the homeless Tom Smith1 more remarkable.
After spotting a 2 on the front seat inside a parked car with its window down, he stood guard in the rain for about two hours waiting for the 3 to return.
After hours in the cold and wet, he reached inside and pulled the wallet out hoping to find some ID so he could contact（联系）the driver, only to 4 it contained £400 in notes, with another £50 in spare change beside it.
He then took the wallet to a nearby police station after 5 a note behind to let the owner know it was safe. When the car's owner John Anderson and his colleague Carol Lawrence returned to the car—which was itself worth £35, 000—in Glasgow city centre, they were 6 to find two policemen standing next to it. The policemen told them what Mr. Smith did and that the wallet was 7 .
The pair were later able to thank Mr. Smith for his 8 .
Mr. Anderson said："I couldn't believe that the guy never took a penny. To think he is sleeping on the streets tonight when he could have stolen the money and paid for a place to stay in. This guy has nothing and 9 he didn't take the wallet for himself. It just proves there are 10 guys out there."
Mr. Smith's act 11 much of the public's attention. He also won praise from social media users after Mr. Anderson 12 about the act of kindness on Facebook.
Now Mr. Anderson has set up an online campaign to 13 money for Mr. Smith and other homeless people in the area, which by yesterday had received ￡8,000. "I think the faith that everyone has shown 14 him has touched him. People have been approaching him in the street; he's had job 15 and all sorts," Mr. Anderson commented.
For Mr. Smith, this is a possible life-changing chance. The story once again tells us that one good turn deserves another.
