40 years ago the idea of disabled people doing sport was never heard of. But when the annual games for the disabled were started as Stoke Mandeville, England in 1948 by Sir Ludwig Guttmann, the situation began to change.
Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who had been driven to England in 1939 from Nazi German, had been asked by the British government to set up an injuries centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital near London. His ideas about treating injuries included sport for the disabled.
In the first games just two teams of injured soldiers took part. The next year, 1949, five teams took part. From those beginnings, thing have developed fast. Teams now come from abroad to Stoke Mandeville every year. In 1960 the first Olympics for the disabled were held in Rome. In the same place was the normal Olympic Games. Now, every four years the Olympic Games for the Disabled are held, if possible, in the same place as the normal Olympic Games, although they are organized separately. In other years Games for the Disabled are still held at Stoke Mandeville. In the 1984 wheelchair Olympic Games, 1064 wheelchair athletes from about 40 countries took part. Unfortunately, they were held at Stoke Mandeville and not in Los Angeles, along with the other Olympics.
The Games have been a great success in promoting international friendship and understanding, and in proving that being disabled does not mean you can’t enjoy sport. One small source of disappointment for those who organize, and take part in the games, however, has been the unwillingness of the International Olympic Committee to include disabled events at the Olympic Games for the able-bodied. Perhaps a few more year are still needed to convince those fortune enough not to be disabled that their disabled fellow athletes should not be excluded.
51. The first games for the disabled were held _____ after Sir Ludwig Guttmann arrived in England.
A) 40 years B) 21 years C) 10 years D) 9 years
52. Besides Stoke Mandeville, surely the games for the disabled were once held in _____.
A) New York B) London C) Rome D) Los Angeles
53. In Paragraph 3, the word athletes’ means____
A) People who support the games
B) People who watch the games
C) People who organize the games
D) People who compete in the games
54. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A) Sir Ludwig Guttmann is an early organizer of the games for the disabled.
B) Sir Ludwig Guttmann is an injured soldier.
C) Sir Ludwig Guttmann is from Germany.’
D) Sir Ludwig Guttmann is welcomed by the British government.
55. From the passage, we may conclude that the writer is _____.
A) One of the organizers of the games for the disabled.
B) A disabled person who once took part in the games.
C) Against holding the games for the disabled.
D) In favor of holding the games for the disabled.
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