备战2026中考 江苏省初中英语听力口语自动化考试 朗读短文(短文11-20参考文本和录音)

Liu Ming did not know what to expect when he volunteered for the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, back in October 2007. Now he thinks it was the most amazing experience of his life. “It’s fantastic to work as a volunteer!” he says.

The Special Olympics World Games give children and adults with intellectual disabilities a chance to show their skills to the world. They include many events similar to those in the Olympics, such as basketball, football and swimming.

Over 40,000 people gave up their spare time for the 2007 Special Olympics World Games. It was necessary for these volunteers to receive training before doing the tasks.

I love Switzerland. It is a country with high mountains and clean blue lakes. It is beautiful, and we should try to keep it that way.

In Switzerland, things like glass, plastic and paper are separated into different groups and then recycled. Even old clothes and shoes can be recycled. I learnt about an organization for recycling clothes. It collects old clothes from all over the country. Some of the clothes are sold in charity shops, some are given to the poor, and others are sent to factories for recycling. My family and I often send our old jeans and T-shirts to this organization.

Some people believe that colours can influence our moods. You may wonder whether it is true. In fact, colours can change our moods and make us feel happy or sad, energetic or sleepy. This article explains what colours can do and what characteristics they represent.

Calm colours：Have you ever walked into a room and felt relaxed? It could be because the walls were painted blue. Blue is a calm colour. It brings peace to our mind and body. Blue can also represent sadness, so you may say “I’m feeling blue” when you are feeling sad. White is another calm colour. It is also the colour of purity. Many women like to wear white on their wedding day.

Although he was a great player at university, the NBA was not interested in him because all its players were more than 20 cm taller than he was. After he graduated, he was forced to play in another basketball league. He remained there for about a year before the NBA took notice of him. In 1985, he joined the Atlanta Hawks and became the shortest player in the NBA at that time. He had many great achievements, but his proudest moment came in 1986—he won the Slam Dunk Contest.

Through hard work, Spud Webb proved that size and body type do not matter—you can do almost anything if you never give up.

Each time a medal was presented to a winner at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the award music was played. The music was written by Tan Dun, a world-famous composer. 

Born in 1958 in central Hunan, China, Tan Dun grew up near the Liuyang River. When he was very young, Tan showed an interest in music. He loves the sounds of the rushing water and the blowing wind because, to him, the best music comes from nature. Since he had no musical instruments then, he made music with common objects like stones and paper.

Early today, the body of a 25-year-old man was found in West Town. The police have confirmed that the victim was a computer engineer. He was last seen leaving his office in East Town at about 7 p.m. yesterday. He said he was going to visit his parents.

The police believe that the murder took place between 9 p.m. last night and 1 a.m. this morning. They are still working at the scene of the crime to find out whether the victim was killed somewhere else and then brought to West Town, or killed at the place where he was found.