1.

Early Career

Born on September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas, Lance Armstrong was raised by his mother, Linda, in the the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. Armstrong was athletic from an early age. He began running and swimming at 10 years old, and took up competitive cycling and triathlons (which combine a 1,000 meter swim, 15-mile bike ride and three-mile run) at 13. At 16, Armstrong became a professional triathletehe was the national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990. Soon, Armstrong chose to focus on cycling, his strongest event as well as his favorite. During his senior year in high school, the U.S. Olympic development team invited him to train with them in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He left high school temporarily to do so, but later took private classes and received his high school diploma in 1989. The following summer, he qualified for the 1990 junior world team and placed 11th in the World Championship Road Race, with the best time of any American since 1976. That same year, he became the U.S. national amateur champion and beat out many professional cyclists to win two major races, the First Union Grand Prix and the Thrift Drug Classic. D. READING: gap- fill ( options), multiple choice I. Read the following passage then choose the best answer from the four options (marked A, B, C and D) to complete the numbered blanks in the passage. Identify your answers by writing the corresponding letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet. 1. A. early 2. A. take 3. A. famous 4. A. during 5. A. in 6. A. had 7. A. diploma 8. A. group 9. A. become 10. A. some B. lately B. took B. good B. when B at B. received B. degree B. class B. finished B. many C. young C. join C. bad C. until C. on C. find C. certificate C. people C. became C. a D. old D. participate D. professional D. while D. to D. standard D. prize D. team D. start D. the

http://www.biography.com/people/lance-armstrong-9188901

3. British Queen Drop IN On Wedding

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1203/120326-wedding_gift.html

A newlywed couple got the surprise of their life at their wedding when Britains Queen Elizabeth turned up as a guest. John and Frances Canning were married at Manchesters Town Hall on Friday. In the same building the Queen and her husband Prince Phillip were at a lunch as part of the celebrations for her Diamond Jubilee sixty years as the British monarch. The Cannings found out that the Queen would be at the town hall at the same time as their wedding after they had booked the wedding venue. They decided to write to Buckingham Palace inviting the Queen to their wedding. They received a letter back from a palace official thanking them for the invite and informing them the Queen would be too busy John Canning said it was "just phenomenal" and "one of the most memorable moments of my life". Frances Canning said: "It was a bit scary but lovely. She said the Queen was beautiful - a really nice woman, and wished us all the best." She added: Basically, it was a wedding gift for us." Mr Canning explained how events unfolded at the wedding, saying: After we'd got married, we walked through our guests into the middle room where we were going to spend five minutes together. The gentleman from the Town Hall came up and said the Queen had agreed to meet us. Little did we know it had already been arranged a long time before. The Queen also made time to pose for pictures with and congratulate the happy couple.