阅读理解。
The New York City Marathon was started by a man named Fred Lebow. It began in 1970 as a small,
unimportant race. Only 127 people ran, and just 55 of them finished. They ran around Central Park four
times. Few people watched them run. However, over the years the marathon grew and became more popular.
Today people come from all over the world to run in the marathon. Runners must be at least 18 years old,
but there is no age limit (限制). In fact, the oldest runner was an 89-year-old man. Recently, more than 27,000
people ran in the New York City Marathon. Large crowds cheered the runners and offered them cold drinks
and encouragement.
The course (路线) of the marathon has changed, too. Instead of running around Central Park, the runners
go through the five districts of New York City: Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
The marathon begins at the base (基座) of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Staten Island. The runners go
across the bridge into Brooklyn. Then they go up through Queens and into the Bronx. The marathon finishes
in Central Park in Manhattan. The complete course is 26. 2 miles, and takes the best runners less than 3 hours.
Although it has changed since 1970, the New York City Marathon is always exciting. Through the years,
many unusual events (事件) have happened during the marathon. For example, Pat Tuz and John Weilbaker
got married a few minutes before the race. Then they ran the race with their party members. Some people
run the whole marathon as a family. Other people run the race backwards.
In the fall of 1992, Fred Lebow, the founder (创始人) of the New York City Marathon, slowly ran his
last race. He was very ill with cancer, but he did not want to stop running. In October 1994, Fred died.
However, the New York City , Marathon, and all its excitement, will continue for many years to come.
1. 根据短文内容完成句子(每空限填一个单词)。
The course of the New York City Marathon in 1970 was to ___________ ___________ the Central
Park four times.
2. 根据短文内容完成句子(每空限填一个单词)。
Look at the map. A runner has to go across ____________ ___________ over the river before he
completes the whole course. In October 1994, ____________ ___________ to Fred Lebow, the founder
of the New York City Marathon.
3. 把短文中画线的句子译成汉语。
___________________________________________________________
4. 根据短文内容回答问题（不超过10个单词）。
What does the writer want us to know about the New York City Marathon from the passage?
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