French President Emmanuel Macron launched the 500-day countdown to the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics on Tuesday, bringing the public up to date with his government’s hopes for the Games, including the ambitious use of the Seine. 

Macron addressed hundreds of officials at a “speech of thanks” in the Paris police headquarters(总部), saying that though plans are advancing, “nothing should be taken as a guarantee.” “All that remains for us are 500 short days that separate us from the extraordinary events that are the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games, where we are going to host the world,” Macron said. In the speech, Macron thanked the 45,000 volunteers taking action to make the Games “a success” and again talked proudly about the 5,000 new sports grounds that are in the works. Also, officials are pushing to get infrastructure(基础建设) and sites ready in time.

Macron also made reference to the ambitious 1.4-billion-euro plan to clean the polluted waters of the Seine. “The Seine River will be made swimmable,” he said. Making the Seine fit for swimming is an old Parisian dream. In 1988, former French president Jacques Chirac, then the city’s mayor(市长), famously promised to make the river swimmable “in three years”. It has become a pledge he never delivered on. The dream has become a necessity now that Paris has formally promised to organize several Olympics events, including the 10 kilometre swimming marathon, in the Seine.

Organisers even plan to take the opening ceremony out of its traditional stadium setting and organize it on water. However, some security experts have voiced concerns, warning about the dangers of uncontrolled crowd movements close to the water. They point to the chaotic(混乱的) scenes at last year’s Champions League final in Paris, when Liverpool fans found themselves in a crush outside the stadium, as a reminder of the dangers of badly organised sporting events.  

本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写，未经书面授权，禁止复制和任何商业用途，版权所有，侵权必究！（作者投稿及时文阅读定制请联系微信：18980471698）

1.What does the second paragraph mainly talk about?

A Who attended Macron’s speech.

B What Macron said in his speech.

C How French people value the Olympics.

D Why Paris will achieve success.

解析：选B。B 段落大意题。 根据第二段中的关键词句“Macron addressed hundreds of officials at a ‘speech of thanks’...”“Macron said.”“ In the speech...”以及“...talked proudly about...”等可知，本段主要介绍了法国总统马克龙的演讲内容。故选B。

2.What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph mean?

A Jacques Chirac never swam in the Seine River.

B Jacques Chirac refused to host the Olympics in Paris.

C Jacques Chirac didn’t clean the polluted Seine River.

D Jacques Chirac became French president before he could swim.

解析：选C。C 句意理解题。根据划线句子前文“Making the Seine fit for swimming is an old Parisian dream.”“famously promised to make the river swimmable”可知让塞纳河变得适合游泳(清洁塞纳河)是一个很老的巴黎梦想，因为在1988年法国前总统雅克·希拉克(Jacques Chirac)曾承诺要清洁塞纳河；结合后文的“The dream has become a necessity...”现在这个梦想必须实现……，可知雅克·希拉克没有完成清洁塞纳河的承诺。故选C。

3.What’s some security experts’ attitude toward the opening ceremony on water?

A Indifferent.

B Supportive.

C Neutral.

D Negative.

解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据最后一段的“some security experts have voiced concerns, warning about the dangers of uncontrolled crowd movements close to the water”一些安保专家对于把开幕式搬到水上表示担忧，他们警告会发生危险。由此可知，他们对此持消极态度。故选D。

4.Which can be a suitable tittle for the text?

A Paris Is Almost Ready for the 2024 Olympics.

B Macron Kicks Off Countdown to 2024 Paris Olympics.

C The 2024 Paris Olympics Will Bring Big Surprise.

D Macron Promises to Make an Old Parisian Dream True.

解析：选B。B 主旨大意题。文章第一句就是本文的主题句，因此“马克龙开启2024年巴黎奥运会倒计时”可概括本文主旨大意。故选B。