Wang Shun claimed the gold medal at the 15th National Games, marking his 19th gold in total at the event! The 31-year-old swimmer has taken part in the National Games four times before.

The men’s 400m individual medley (混合泳) final on November 17 was full of drama. In the morning preliminary (预赛), Wang did not push too hard because he wanted to save energy for another race. He finished ninth. However, a swimmer dropped out, so Wang got a chance to compete in the final. Later, his relay team was disqualified for a mistake. It was a disappointing moment.

In the final that evening, Wang’s main rival (对手) was Zhang Zhanshuo from Shandong. Zhang had done very well in the preliminaries and had just won the 1500m freestyle race. However, shortly before the 400m medley final, Zhang decided to withdraw. Even without his strongest competitor, the 31-year-old Wang still faced a big challenge — it was his third race of the day. He was under great pressure but finally won the race with a time of 4 minutes 14.90 seconds.

Wang said this day was like a roller coaster. He had a sore waist and couldn’t even move after a nap, but the medical team helped him relieve the pain. He was proud to win the gold for himself and Zhejiang. 

1. 1. How many times in total has Wang Shun joined in the National Games?

A    3 times.

B    4 times.

C    5 times.

D    6 times.

2. 2. What can we know about Wang Shun in the morning preliminary?

A    He dropped out.

B    He saved his energy.

C    He made a mistake.

D    He felt too tired.

3. 3. What does the underlined word “withdraw” mean in the passage?

A    Join in.

B    Give up.

C    Cheer up.

D    Wake up.

4. 4. What can we infer about Wang Shun’s final race?

A    He felt stressed.

B    It was easy for him.

C    He had no competitors.

D    He gave up halfway.

5. 5. Why did Wang Shun describe his day as a “roller coaster”?

A    He took a ride for fun.

B    He traveled to a new place.

C    He felt sick all day.

D    It was full of ups and downs.