By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.

By mile 21, I was starving!

As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.

I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a ＂marathon winner＂.

24. A month before the marathon, the author ____________.

A. made up his mind to run B. felt scared

C.was well trained​​​​​​​​​ D. lost hope

25. Why did the author mention the P.E. class in his 7th year?

A. To acknowledge the support of his teacher.

B. To amuse the readers with a funny story.

C. To show he was not talented in sports.

D. To share a precious memory.

26. How was the author's first marathon?

A. He quit halfway.​​​​​​​​​​ B. He made it.

C. He got the first prize.​​​​​​​​ D. He walked to the end.

27. What does the story mainly tell us?

A. A man owes his success to his family support.

B. A winner is one with a great effort of will.

C. Failure is the mother of success.

D. One is never too old to learn.

　　More than 10 million Chinese cultural relics have been lost overseas, most of which were stolen and illegally shipped out of China during the times of war before 1949. About 1. 67 million pieces are housed in more than 200 museums in 47 countries, which accounts for 10 percent of all lost Chinese cultural relics, and the rest are in the hands of private collectors.

　　Most of these treasures are owned by museums or private collectors in the United States, Europe, Japan and Southeast Asian countries. There are more than 23,000 pieces in the British Museum, most of which were stolen or bought for pennies more than 100 years ago.

The major method to recover these national treasures was to buy them back. In some cases, private collectors donated the relics to the government. Also the government can turn to official channels(渠道) to demand the return of relics.