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It was August 10, 2011. Diana Nyad was dozens of miles into her dream to complete a 103-mile
swim from Cuba to Key West. Because of the currents in the Florida Straits, Nyad would have to last
60 hours-if everything went perfectly.
For two years, this dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida had been part of her every waking
hour. She was about to turn 60. "I wanted to be filled with commitment to the best of myself so that 1
wasn't looking back later saying, 'What have I done with my life?''' says Nyad.
Those extreme physical struggles are not new to her. In 1974, 25-year-old Nyad became the first
person to swim across Lake Ontario against the current. A year later, Nyad's 28-mile swim around the
island of Manhattan made the front page of the New York Times.
"Physically, I'm stronger. I weigh a lot more," Nyad said after a training swim in Key West in June.
"There are also mental advantages to being older," says Steven Munatones, an expert in swimming.
Feeling a sharp pain in her right shoulder, she changed the angle of stroke (划), telling herself to go
gently until her hand caught the water. In the 17th hour, she swam over to the boat, and the crew
located a pain reliever. Nyad took it. She lay on her back, rolled onto her belly and continued swimming,
and then she'd turn on her back again, gasping(喘气), unable to fill her lungs. "I'm trying to make it. I'm
barely going forward. I feel so sick. This has been my dream forever, but I can hardly make it another
hour," Nyad told David Marchant, the boat's navigator (领航员). Between the 23rd and 27th hours,
Nyad had gone just five miles. "OK, Diana, I'm going to touch you, and it's going to be over," Stoll said.
Nyad agreed. And with that, 29 hours and 43 minutes after she'd jumped into the water, the swim came
to an end.
"She just wouldn't quit. It was more amazing to see her not make it the way she fought than if
everything had gone exactly right and she'd made it the whole way," says Mark Sollinger, who piloted Nyad's lead boat.
At a press conference in Key West after being pulled onto the support boat, Nyad choked back
tears and said, "Sometimes the will is so strong. But I was shaking and freezing, and I thought, 'There's
no mind over matter anymore.' I think I'm going to have to go to my tomb without swimming from Cuba
to Florida."
But when Nyad returned home to Los Angeles, the pain began to fade. "Something says to me the
goal is still there," says Nyad.
1. Nyad decided to swim from Cuba to Florida because she _______.
A. wouldn't swim against the current
B. wanted to prove she was stronger than before
C. had David Marchant as her navigator
D. wanted very much to fulfill her dream
2. We can learn from the passage that Nyad _______.
A. refused any help as she struggled in the water to make it
B. has given up the dream of swimming across the Florida Straits
C. appeared on the front page of the New York Times at the age of 25
D. began the swim from Cuba to Florida when she was about 60 years old
3. What can we conclude from what Mark Sollinger says in Paragraph 6?
A. He didn't expect Nyad to succeed.
B. He was disappointed at Nyad's failure.
C. He really admired Nyad for her struggle.
D. He was not sure about Nyad's success.
4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. A Highly Skilled Swimmer
B. The Unsinkable Diana Nyad
C. A Regrettable Experience
D. The Inspiring Adventure
