Unit 2 How often do you exercise?(同步阅读)and the Bike Race (The Adventures of Victor)(书籍音频+Word)-八年级英语教材同步单元主题阅读（人教版）

The Adventures of VICTOR and the Bike Race Written and illustrated by Jan Ivens English text: Joanna Neville One fine sunny day, Tim and Victor decide to take their ball to the park. Their friends, Victoria and Tufty, are already there. They park their bikes and start playing right away. "Catch!" shouts Victor. Tim tries his best to catch the ball, but Victor is much stronger than him! The two friends are having a great time. Victor and Tim are so caught up in their game that they don't notice Ralph hurtling towards them. "Pass me the ball, if you think you can," shouts Tim, teasing Victor. But just as Victor is dribbling the ball past Tim, Ralph appears, as if from nowhere! "Move it! Make way for the world's greatest cyclist!" he cries. Our two friends jump in alarm – and Tim actually has to jump out of the way to avoid being run over by Ralph! Tim falls to the ground. "Aaaarghh!" he cries, hurting himself. "Goodness me!" exclaims Victor. "Ralph! What's got into you acting like that? Can't you be a bit more careful with that bike?" Victoria is also annoyed with Ralph. "That really wasn't very nice of you, Ralph!" she exclaims. "What's the matter? That little mouse shouldn't get in the way of the world's fastest cyclist!" he boasts, not even sorry that he knocked Tim over. Pulling himself up, Tim is really quite cross. "Oh yeah… Ralph's the fastest cyclist, is he? My friend Victor is the fastest in the world," he retorts, wanting to annoy Ralph. Victor tries to calm Tim down, but Tim carries on, even challenging Ralph to a race: four laps of the park! "No problem," Ralph replies, very sure of himself, "but what's the prize?" "Mmm…" says Tim, unsure. "The winner will get a kiss from Victoria! Is that okay, Victoria?" "If the boys want to fight over a kiss, that's fine by me!" she confirms. A race – everyone thinks it's a great idea, except for Victor. He isn't feeling so happy. "Victor doesn't have the guts to race me," says Ralph, jeering at Victor. "Oh yes I do!" retorts Victor. "I'll rise to the challenge." So off he walks, bravely, towards his bike. He doesn't want his friends to think he's scared. However when there's a kiss from his beautiful friend at stake, he'll certainly try his hardest to win. Ralph and Victor line up on the starting line to begin the race. "On your marks!" shouts Tim. He raises his hand. "Get set…! Go!" Our two rivals set off, full speed ahead. They cross the bridge and quickly complete their first lap. Ralph was the quickest away from the line and is now leading the race.After two laps, Ralph notices that Victor is edging closer. Ralph is getting tired and Victor finds himself just behind him. Victoria, Tufty and Tim can see that Victor is catching up and shout encouragement – they think Ralph deserves to be taught a lesson: "Come on, Victor! Faster! You can do it!" his friends call out. The race is in full swing. But Portia, the tortoise, hasn't realised what's going on. She is making her way across the path Victor and Ralph are about to take. Fortunately, she has a narrow escape. Even though Ralph is cycling as fast as he can, Victor manages to overtake him on the third lap. This makes Ralph very angry – he really doesn't want to lose. "I've got to win!" Ralph tells himself. "So if I'm not the fastest, then I'll just have to be the smartest." There is always a cunning plan brewing somewhere at the back of Ralph's mind. He grabs a handful of nails out of his sweatshirt pocket and hurls them behind him. "Ha ha, Victor, that'll stop you! You haven't heard the last of me!" He sniggers to himself on peering back over his shoulder at the nails he has scattered on the ground. Ralph's cheat works! On his final lap, Victor rides over the nails! Bam! The front wheel of his bike bursts! Victor stares at his flat tyre in frustration. Ralph comes up behind him, delighted that his plan has succeeded. "Ha ha!" he exclaims triumphantly, "I'm going to win." Ralph overtakes Victor and cycles cheerfully towards the finish line. "Hooray – I'm the fastest cyclist in the world," he shouts out proudly. "But that's not fair, Ralph," protests Tim, "Victor has a flat tyre…" "It doesn't matter, I've still won," replies Ralph. "Yes," retorts Tim, "but Victor is still the fastest." "You only won because of Victor's flat tyre," add Victoria and Tufty. "Rubbish! First is first, and I've earned that kiss," Ralph replies. Meanwhile, Victor comes up, pushing his bike. "It's okay, Ralph won – I was unlucky, I rode over a nail," concedes Victor. "Hey, Ralph! What's that falling out of your pocket?" asks Tim all of a sudden… "They're nails!" exclaims Tim. "Just like the ones Victor rode over!" "Ralph, did you throw nails on the track?" Tim asks. Ralph blushes with embarrassment when he realises he's been found out. "Oh Ralph, that's so dishonest!" says Victoria. "Since you cheated, you're not the winner anymore!" "That's not fair!" Ralph, furious at being found out, walks away from our group of friends. Tim is pleased he caught that nasty Ralph out. After Ralph leaves, Victoria turns to Victor and exclaims: "Which means that Victor won! Come here Victor, so I can give you your prize! You're my champion," she says, hugging him fondly. The friends laugh as they watch Victor go red. "You see, Victor," says Tim, "you really are the fastest cyclist in the world!" Tufty gives his pal a friendly tap on the shoulder. "Congratulations on winning the race, Victor!" he says. Victor is thrilled to hear all his friends' kind words. 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $$null