Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, the first man from his country to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field and a former world-record holder, announced his retirement Tuesday due to injury. "I have to leave you right now, although I hate to give up," he said on his official Weibo account, "I am really 'old' and 'sick.’ I want to start a new journey. I will end my professional sports career and formally retire from today. I have no other choice."

Last week, Shanghai newspaper Xinmin News reported that Liu would indeed formally hang up his boots Tuesday, and his public declaration makes him the third recently retired Chinese superstar athlete after former NBA player Yao Ming and tennis champion Li Na.

Liu said that he plans to finish his education to enrich himself, engage in anything beneficial to the development of Chinese youth physical education and the improvement of national health, and Chinese influence on track and field internationally.

A Shanghai native, the 31-year-old Liu trained as a high jumper at first but turned to hurdling. The move paid off. Liu first made it to the world stage in 2001 by winning the 110-meter hurdles at the East Asian Games and World University Games. He also reached the semifinals of the World Championships that year.

His greatest victory came at the 2004 Athens Olympics when Liu easily won the 110-meter hurdles and tied Colin Jackson's 11-year-old world record with a time of 12.91 seconds. Liu went on, hitting his career peak at the 2006 IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland by setting a new world record of 12.88 seconds. A year later he won his world championship gold in Osaka.

While Liu kept making waves around the globe, he was affected by an injury, which resulted in him pulling up in a false start at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Although he returned after a 13-month recovery, Liu failed to clear the first hurdle in the heats at the London Olympics in 2012.

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1.The underlined word “you” in first paragraph may mean ______.

A country

B medal

C hurdling

D injury

解析：选C。C。词意推测题。从文章第1段第1句的announced his retirement可知他宣布退役，因此可以得知他要离开的是“跨栏”，故此处的you指的是hurdling。

2.What is the main idea of paragraph 2?

A Liu Xiang is going to retire formally.

B Liu Xiang is a Chinese superstar.

C NBA player Yao Ming is famous.

D Chinese superstar athlete will leave.

解析：选A。A。主旨大意题。根据第2段第1句的Shanghai newspaper Xinmin News reported that Liu would indeed formally hang up his boots Tuesday可知该段主要讲述的是刘翔要正式退役。

3.What will Liu Xiang do after his retirement?

A He will begin his colleage education.

B He will improve his own health.

C He will keep running on the track.

D He will help physical education.

解析：选D。D。推理判断题。根据第3段的engage in anything beneficial to the development of Chinese youth physical education可知他将会致力于体育教育。

4.When did Liu Xiang win his first championship gold medal?

A In 2001.

B In 2004.

C In 2006.

D In 2007.

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。根据第5段最后1句的A year later he won his world championship gold in Osaka可知他在2007年第一次获得了世锦赛的金牌。

5.What made Liu Xiang fail at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

A He made a mistake when he started.

B He wasn’t able to pass the first hurdle.

C He fell ill suddenly before he began.

D He made a hitting in his career peak.

解析：选A。A。细节理解题。根据文章最后1段第1句的which resulted in him pulling up in a false start at the 2008 Beijing Olympics可知是因为起跑的失误才导致了刘翔的失败。