第 48 至 51題為題組
In the Spartathlon, one of the world’s toughest ultra-marathons, runners run 245 km, about six
marathons, within 36 hours. The runners start in Athens, and run all the way to historical Sparta.
The Spartathlon’s heritage goes back to 490 B.C., when Pheidippides, an Athenian, made the journey
to Sparta to ask the Spartans for help in fighting the invading Persians. It is recorded that he reached
Sparta on the day after he left Athens. In 1982, this story sparked the interest of a British air-force officer
and long-distance runner called John Foden, who wondered if it really was possible to run from Athens to
Sparta and arrive the next day. With four other officers, Foden decided to see for himself; after a 36-hour
slog they arrived in Sparti, as the town is now called. That achievement inspired the organization of the
first Spartathlon a year later.
The Spartathlon’s attraction has two sources. The first is the difficulty of finishing it. The
Spartathlon is not the most difficult race, but it combines lots of different tests. There is the heat of the
Greek day, and then the plunge in temperatures when darkness falls. There are climbs: the route includes
a series of ascents, among them a 1,200-meter mountain pass in the dead of night. Above all, there is the
relentless pressure of the clock. The second reason is that the idea of retracing Pheidippides’s footsteps
still grips many participants. It feels like racing in history, passing through places where history began. 第 7 頁 102 年指考
共 7 頁 英文考科
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As finishers receive a laurel wreath and water from schoolgirls, many are overjoyed with emotion.
However, the euphoria is fleeting. Within a few minutes, their joints and muscles start to seize up: after
the race, Sparti resembles the set of a zombie film as participants lumber slowly around on legs that will
not bend. But the itch to do it all over again soon appears.
【題組】48. What is the second paragraph mainly about?
(A) The background of John Foden. (B) The route of an ultra-marathon.
(C) The origin of the Spartathlon. (D) The story of Pheidippides in ancient Athens.
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