I got tired of living the life that everybody told me I “should” be living, so one day I decided to start living life in my own ways. Frustrated（挫败）with my job, I came home, put on my shoes, and just started running. It felt so good to be free. That first day I ended up running 30 miles without stopping. Yes, I had rediscovered my old passion ( 酷爱的事物) — and it felt so good that I set a goal to support myself and my family from my running alone.
I trained hard every day. Since I wanted to be the best I could be, I knew I would have to set some clear goals for myself. A couple of my goals were: run a 135-mile ultra-marathon(超级马拉松) across Death Valley, win the Badwater Ultra-Marathon, and run a marathon to the South Pole.
I had no idea how I was going to achieve these goals, but they certainly encouraged me to work hard. Today, I am really grateful to say that I have achieved all of them. Shortly after completing these goals, I set another goal: to run fifty marathons, in fifty states, in fifty days. Nobody had done anything like this before. To be honest, I was not quite sure if I could. But there was only one way to find out…so I just started training and preparing to give it my best try.
I completed that goal one year ago, and it felt great! But for me, life is not all about achieving goals. Sure, it feels good to succeed, but the greatest reward for me was learning more about myself and what I was able to do.
Only by stepping out into the unknown and stretching(使倾注全力) ourselves can we really discover what our true potential(潜能) is。
小题1:Which played an important role in the author’s success?
A．Setting goals
B．Learning from others.
C．Being honest
D．Keeping on reading .小题2:According to Paragraph 3, before achieving the goals the author felt _____________
A．very grateful
B．not quite confident
C．quite afraid
D．not very satisfied小题3:What does the underlined part “that goal” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A．Win the Badwater Ultra-Marathon.
B．Run a marathon to the South Pole.
C．Run fifty marathons, in fifty states, in fifty days.
D．Run a 135-mile ultra-marathon across Death Valley.小题4:The author probably agrees that____________.
A．life means achieving goals
B．success is the greatest reward
C．sports help develop our potential
D．everyone may have great potential.
