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  3. In 1960, Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila earned an Olympic gold medal without wearing any shoes. But bare feet on the Olympic

In 1960, Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila earned an Olympic gold medal without wearing any shoes. But bare feet on the Olympic

admin2015-03-25  42
问题     In 1960, Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila earned an Olympic gold medal without wearing any shoes. But bare feet on the Olympic track these days are passe, as athletes slip into ever more high-tech gear. Shoes, swimsuits, and clothing are getting lighter and stronger, adhering like glue to athletes’ bodies and moving more fluidly through air and water.
    In Beijing, U. S. track and field athletes will be wearing Nike shoes and clothing that incorporate threads made of Vectran, a superstrong liquid crystal polymer that withstands high temperatures. The result, according to Nike, is lighter, stiffer shoes to reduce friction and clothes that reduce drag by 7% compared with the Nike outfits worn at the 2004 games in Athens.
    Sprinters will also benefit from even tighter compression garments. In theory, these improve performance because of proprioception, that unconscious ability that enables you to pinpoint your nose when your eyes are closed. Physiologist Russ Tucker of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, says that because runners need to contract muscles precisely—at the proper angle, velocity, and time—tight-fitting garments help the brain identify where in space the limb is poised so they know when to activate the muscle.
    In the water, the Speedo LZR Racer suit, which debuted in March 2008, is all the buzz. Swimmers donning the suit have broken 46 world records so far. The suit includes polyurethane panels placed strategically around parts of the torso, abdomen, and lower back that experience high amounts of drag in the pool. It also incorporates a corset-like structure that keeps the body in a streamlined position. Raul Arellano, a biomechanist at the University of Granada, Spain, says the LZR Racer suit could benefit older athletes like 41-year-old Dara Torres of the United States, especially in areas where fat tends to accumulate.
    Some of the technologies needed to develop the suit " didn’t really exist 10 years ago," says Jason Rance, head of Aqualab in Nottingham, U. K. , the division of Speedo that designed the suit. Those include ultrasonic welding that eliminated the need for seams, and technology that allowed parts of the suit to be finely sanded and a waterrepellent substance added to prevent water from leaking in.
    But the suit has raised eyebrows. "Who’s going to win the gold medal, the swimmer or the technician?" asks Huub Toussaint, a biomechanist at the Free University in Amsterdam, who worries that the suit gives swimmers an unfair edge, although the international body governing the sport approved it.
    For all the hype surrounding space-age shoes and clothing, there’s a flip side: Any boost to performance could just be psychological. South Africa’s Tucker, who races for fun, says the compression garments make him feel powerful and secure. Such a superhero aura might give any competitor a mental edge. " It doesn’t really matter if the advantages are physically real or not," he says, "as long as the athlete gets some benefit. "  
The expression "flip side"(Line 1, Para.7)probably means
选项 A、either of the two surfaces of a flat object.
B、another, less familiar aspect of a person or thing.
C、a surface or part of an object that extends vertically.
D、either of two parts into which an object, surface, area, etc. , can be divided.
答案B
解析 语义理解题。根据题干提示定位到第七段。上面提到了高科技运动服的科技含量，第七段讲的是运动服能使人自信，这是运动服的另一方面的功能。在这里side一词并不是其本义，指一个具体的东西的面，而是用其引申义，指一个事物的另一方面。[A]、[C]、[D]都说的是side的原义，只有[B]用的是引申义，故选[B]。
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