2020-2021学年度第3期总第802期
Pushing your endurance (P4-5)
山东省烟台第二中学 赵霞

Lead in
Look at the picture. What do you think they are doing? Are they starring in an action movie? Or having a military training?

Neither!

They are taking part in an activity called the Spartan Race. The race’s distance ranges from 6 km to 42 km (a full marathon). There are different kinds of obstacles. Participants learn how to deal with obstacles. They challenge themselves both mentally and physically.

Let’s read the article and find out more information about the Spartan Race.

Read for main idea
What is the main idea of the article?
It introduces the Spartan Race to us, including the features of the activity, what people think of it what the purpose of it is.

Read for detailed information
Read the article again and answer the following questions.
1. What are some features of the Spartan Race?
2. What do runners think of the race?
3. What is the purpose of the race?

1. What are some features of the Spartan Race?
   The Spartan Race features a series of obstacle courses of varying distances and difficulty, ranging from 6 kilometers up to a full marathon. Runners challenge themselves both mentally and physically.   
   The race is also a bonding exercise. When most people run the Spartan Race, they do so in teams. During the race, they encourage and help each other.

2. What do runners think of the race?
   The race is full of obstacles, which may represent everyday trials. The way one faces those obstacles is how they may face adversity. This race has encouraged some participants to face challenges bravely and with a positive attitude.

3. What is the purpose of the race?
    Along with the test of pushing your body to its limits and working together as a team, the fundamental purpose of competing in the Spartan Race is to have fun.
 

Read for language and grammar
Useful words and expressions

1.Thousands of people are crawling (爬行) under the barbed wire, moving through heavy mud or jumping over walls.
2. You may think it’s a scene from an action movie or perhaps a military training exercise (军事训练演习).
3.However, these were the nearly 10,000 people who took part in this year’s first leg (今年的第一赛程) of the Spartan Race in Chongli county of Zhangjiakou city in Hebei province in August.
4. The race originated (起源于) in the United States and now is popular worldwide.
5. They represent the trials (考验) we face in life.
6. Along with (除了) the test of pushing your body to its limits and working together as a team, the fundamental purpose (主要目的) of competing in the Spartan Race is to have fun.
7. The social pleasure of shared experience tends to outweigh (大于；重于) the joy of doing something extraordinary on your own.

Useful grammar

1. The way we face those obstacles is how we face adversity.
How引导表语从句，在从句中作状语。
译文：我们如何面对障碍，便如何面对逆境。

Test yourself
1.It all depends on how we solve the problem.
2.We are worrying about what we should do.
3.They couldn’t understand why I refused it.
4.The problem is where we should stay.

Read for language and grammar
非谓语动词

① Thousands of people are crawling under the barbed wire, moving through heavy mud or jumping over walls.
② The Spartan Race features a series of obstacle courses of varying distances and difficulty, ranging from 6 kilometers up to a full marathon (42 km).
③ Runners challenge themselves both mentally and physically, learning how to deal with unforeseen obstacles and keeping focus among the chaos.

Enjoy the language

Runners challenge themselves both mentally and physically, learning how to deal with unforeseen obstacles and keeping focus among the chaos.
译文：跑步者挑战自己的精神和身体，学习如何处理不可预见的障碍，并在混乱中保持专注。

The social pleasure of shared experience tends to outweigh the joy of doing something extraordinary on your own.
译文：共同经验带来的社交乐趣往往会超过独自做一些不同寻常的事情带来的乐趣。

Read for thinking
Would you want to take part in the Spartan Race? Why or why not?