If Yao Ming is not the biggest sports star in the world, he is almost certainly the tallest. At 2.26m, he is the tallest player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and holds the record as the most
towering
Olympian ever to compete in the Games.
But what really stands out about the giant center is his celebrity (名气). Few, if any, Chinese athletes are as well-known as Yao around the world. People across the globe are fascinated with Yao, not only for his basketball prowess (杰出的才能) but also for being a symbol of international commerce.
When Yao joined the Houston Rockets as the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NBA draft (选拔), he was the first international player ever to be selected first. His assets on the court are clear enough—no NBA player of his size has ever possessed his mobility, so he is a handful (难对付的人) for opponents on either end of the court. But what makes Yao invaluable to the Rockets organization is his role as a global citizen and as a bridge to millions of potential basketball fans in China.
When it was announced in February that Yao would miss the rest of the NBA season and possibly the Olympics with a stress fracture (骨折) in his left foot, a collective shudder (震动) spread across China. After considerable debate and discussion, Yao opted to get his foot surgically treated in an operation that placed several tiny screws across the bone, to offer his overburdened foot more support. The surgery was a success, and though the estimated four-month recovery period will leave him little time to prepare with Team China, Yao has vowed to be ready for the Beijing Olympics.
Yao wrapped up a 10-day trip to China, where he underwent a series of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments, hoping to accelerate his recovery process. Western experts are generally skeptical of TCM"s benefits, although new research from the University of Rochester suggests that a certain compound derived from shellfish may indeed stimulate bone repair.
"There is no reason to dismiss TCM," Yao told a press conference in Beijing. "It"s been used in our country for thousands of years. I don"t think that it"s short on science."
单选题
The word "towering" in Paragraph 1 means ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 词义猜测题。由第一段“If Yao Ming is not the biggest spots star in the world, he is almost certainly the tallest.”(如果姚明不是世界上最闪耀的球星，那他一定是最高的那个)可知，姚明的身高很突出，是奥运会参赛运动员的一项纪录，而且第一段都在强调他的身高。另外，根据“tower(塔)”一词也可猜测联想到“towering(像塔一样)高耸的”。故选C。
单选题
Opponents find it very difficult to control Yao Ming because of his ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。由文章第三段第二句“His assets on the court are clear enough—no NBA player of his size has ever possessed his mobility, so he is a handful for opponents on either end of the court.”可知，姚明在场上的优势很明显，没有哪个和他身高一样的NBA球星有这样的灵活性，所以他才会让对手觉得很难对付。故选A。
单选题
Yao Ming had to undergo a series of TCM treatments because ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。由文章第五段第一句中的“he underwent a series of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments, hoping to accelerate his recovery process”可知，姚明接受一系列传统中医治疗，是为了加快脚伤的恢复过程。故选B。
单选题
Which statement about Yao Ming is NOT true?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 事实判断题。根据第一段第二句话中的“he is the tallest player in the National Basketball Association (NBA)”可知，姚明是NBA球员，故B正确；根据第三段最后一句话中的“what makes Yao invaluable to the Rockets organization is his role as a global citizen”可知，姚明对于火箭队的价值就在于他是全球范围内的名人，故D正确；根据第四段第一句话中的“Yao would miss the rest of the NBA season and possibly the Olympics with a stress fracture in his left foot”可知，他左脚骨折，故C也正确。而且他错过的是剩下的NBA赛季，可能错过的是北京奥运会，并不是说他错过了雅典奥运会。故本题选A。
单选题
In general, the Western experts" attitude towards TCM is ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。由文章第五段第二句“Western experts are generally skeptical of TCM"s benefits”可知，他们对中医治疗方法广泛持怀疑态度，skeptical和选项D中的doubtful是同义词，故选D。