高中英语Unit 1 Breaking records 背景知识 试题

Unit 1 Breaking records
Part Two: Teaching Resources Section 2: Background information for Unit 1 Breaking
records
1. Facts of Ashrita Furman
Ashrita Furman, born September 16, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York, is the holder of 26 records in the Guinness Book of Records, including being the individual with the most current Guinness World Records [1]. Furman first entered into the Guiness book by doing 27,000 Jumping Jacks in 1979. Since he began in 1979, Furman has broken more than 100 Guinness records.
Furman is a graduate of Jamaica High School in Jamaica, Queens, New York. He went on to attend Columbia University but dropped out in 1974 after he had become a devout follower of Sri Chinmoy, the Indian philosopher and religious teacher.
●World records Records held by Ashrita Furman include:
Most hopscotch games in 24 hours
Most rope jumps in 24 hours
Fastest 10-km sack race
Most underwater rope jumps in one hour Fastest pogo stick ascent of Canada's CN Tower Largest bouquet of flowers
Greatest distance traveled on a pogo stick Most milk crates balanced on chin
The longest distance walked by a person balancing a milk bottle on their head Greatest amount of beer glasses balanced on
chin
Most sit-ups performed in an hour
The fastest mile, pushing an orange with his nose
Longest time juggling underwater
Longest continuous somersaulting
Fastest time juggling 3 balls while running 50 miles
Longest distance pogostick Jumping
Fastest mile on a pogostick
Fastest walking lunge mile
Fastest marathon mile skipping
Swiss ball balancing
Fastest hula hoop racing
Furthest distance traversed carrying the most bricks with one hand
Fastest 100 meters on a kangaroo ball Fastest mile on a kangaroo ball
Most Guinness records in different categories
2. About Beijing Olympic
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing in the People's Republic of China from August 8, 2008 to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony to take place at 8 p.m. on August 8, 2008 (the number 8 stands for prosperity in Chinese culture). Some events will be held at venues constructed in neighboring towns and in the coastal city of Qingdao.
On July 8 2005, the International Olympic Committee announced that Hong Kong will hold the equestrian events at the site of the Hong Kong Sports Institute in Fo Tan, Sha Tin. The facilities of the Sports Institute may be moved to Wu Kai Sha. This will be the second time the same season of Olympics Games has been hosted by two members of the International Olympic Committee.
On October 28 2005 The UK's Guardian newspaper reported that a new discipline of 10km open-water swimming for men and women will be added to the Summer Olympic schedule in 2008.
3．The meaning of life
The philosophical question "What is the meaning of life?" means different things to different people. The vagueness of the query is inherent in the word "meaning", which opens the question to many interpretations, such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is valuable in life?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?". These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.
4. Many people believe that the meaning of life is:
...to accumulate wealth
...to advance natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race ...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future human
...to become God, or God-like
...to compete or co-operate with others
...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
...to express compassion
...to gain and exercise power
...to give and receive love
...to learn and find enlightenment
...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
...to live in peace with each other, and in harmony with the natural environment
...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction
...to pursue a dream, vision, or destiny
...to relate, connect, or achieve unity with others
...to search for truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
...to seek and find beauty
...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally, financially, or spiritually
...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
...to serve others or do good deeds
...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose, existence has no meaning beyond which one chooses to give it)
...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means (see life extension) ...to work for justice and democracy
...to worship, serve, or achieve union with God。