UNIT 8.pdf

UNIT 8

A sporting chance

Language Focus: Vocabulary

Sport

1) Describe the activities shown in each photo. In what ways are the people involved taking risks?

1 Look at the lists of factors below. Choose the factors which are most and least important for

each of the activities shown in the photos, giving reasons.

skill

muscular control

sense of balance

co-ordination

sense of timing

mental qualities

strong nerves

courage

determination

self-control

trust

sensitivity

technology

special clothing and equipment

back-up support

safety checks

fitness

regular training

special diet

individual fitness programme

gene traits

individual body chemistry

Can you add any other factors which may be important?

3) Read the headline of the article opposite and look at the accompanying photo and caption. What

do you think ‘THE EDGE’ refers to? Read the article to find out.

Find one phrase from the article which illustrates each of the following ideas.

• the skill of the windsurfer, e.g. ‘... he swoops down the front of the wave’

• the nerve of the windsurfer

• the quality of the technology and equipment involved

2 Match each of the verbs in the box below to one of the following subjects. Then check your

answers by referring to the text.

a) the windsurfer

b) the sail

c) the sea

heaves

powers

accelerates

catapults

hums

leans

rises

snaps

spins

swoops

twists

splashes

Which verb(s) in the box suggest(s):

very rapid, powerful movement?

an upward movement?

movement accompanied by sound?

WINDSURFING THE EDGE

a circular movement?

Rocking gently on his board a thousand yards out from shore on the blue-grey waters of the Pacific,

Rich Foster is waiting for a wave. Or rather, the wave. Then the sea slowly heaves itself skyward, rising into a

mountain of water. Foster leans well back into his harness and as his sail snaps into a tight aerodynamic curve,

the wind’s energy surges down through his body and into the shark-like board below.

To gain momentum, he swoops down the front of the wave, the nose of the board slicing through the

water, and then turns back to power up the steepening cliff. The sail hums with energy as man and board

accelerate through the foamy wave-crest and catapult skyward. Day-Glo sail and board form a pyrotechnic

display against the blue sky.

Foster spins and twists in the air, a quick barrel-roll before board and rider splash down safely into the sea to

wait for the next wave. Once again he’s escaped being thrown into the craggy embrace of the many rocks

fringing this Hawaiian beach. For this is windsurfing at the edge: the edge of your skill, the edge of your nerve,

and the cutting edge of technology.

Catapulted by wind and wave, a windsurfer experiences the thrill of staying in control aboard one of the most

high-tech machines there is.

5) Work with a partner

1 Choose one of the photos you discussed in Exercise 1. Use some of the verbs in the box

below to help you describe more accurately the type of movement or activity involved.

dive

drive

flash

grasp

hurtle

leap

plummet

shoot

spin

strike

sweep

swerve

wheel

whirl

strain

2 Write a caption for your photo similar to the one used with the picture of the windsurfer. Use

these prompts to help you.

Photo 1: nerves/to the limit/racing cyclist/into a corner/last lap/grueling race

Photo 2: heart pound/striker/swerve round defender/shoot into net/best goal/season

Photo 3: grasp partner/under arms/lift/whirl round/fast spin

6) Interview a partner about his/her attitudes to sport and risk, using these questions as a guide.

What is your favourite sport, either as a spectator or participant?

What skills and training does it need? Is any special equipment required? Which of the factors in

Exercise 2 are most important?

What do you think are the main benefits of sport?

• builds team spirit

• provides the chance of fame and fortune

• promotes health and fitness

What do you think is the attraction of sports that are physically dangerous?

What drives some people to push themselves to ‘the edge’ of their skill and nerve?

Reading

Paper 1, Part 3

1) What other types of risk may people take in addition to sport? Which of the following high-risk

activities do you think you might like to try one day? Which would you never want to try? Why?

• riding on a ‘state-of-the-art’ roller-coaster

• exploring an undeveloped area of the world

• gambling on the stock exchange

• resigning from a safe job to set up your own business

2) You are going to read an extract from a book written by a young couple which recently traveled by

canoe up a remote river in South America. The extract is narrated by the woman.

Why might the following qualities be needed for such an expedition? Can you suggest any more?

• ability to keep your head in a crisis

• a sense of humour

• physical strength

• a high level of fitness

3) Read the text quickly and answer the following questions. Do not look at the jumbled paragraphs

on page 113 yet.

What is the main event described in the text?

Are the events described in chronological order? If not, how are they ordered?

While I was drowning I thought of Martin, and wondered if he were drowning as well. But in the

urgency of my predicament there was no time to worry about it – I was being whisked along beneath

murky water by a relentless current and my senses were spinning out of control. Everything was

going wrong; the day hadn’t begun very well, and it certainly wasn’t improving.

1 ………………………………………

Martin lit the wrong end of a cigarette and spluttered over the smouldering filter tip; I could tell he

was nervous. Our anxieties concerned not just the unseasonably high and turbulent river, but also

our twelve-foot fiberglass canoe that was overloaded to the point of instability. With only two inches

of freeboard we were forever bailing water out of it.

2 ………………………………………

By mid-morning we were padding away upstream like a pair of demented river turtles. My fingers

were numb with the cold, and with the effort of fighting the current. As the river narrowed, the current

increased . Then the paddle slipped from my hands. Immediately the water carried it away until it

was caught against a rock a little way downstream, and at the same time the canoe spun into the

bank beneath a mass of overhanging foliage.

3 ………………………………………

In that fraction of a second, water flooded in and the bow sank beneath me. Martin, unconcerned in

the back, had no idea what was happening until he was unceremoniously tipped out, a look of utter

astonishment on his face as he was whipped away downstream.

4 ………………………………………

And now I was drowning. I tried to surface but was caught under a mass of roots. I struggled to free

myself, but just got further entangled. Then the current snatched me back, swished me round as if in

a washing machine, then regurgitated me and flung me against a submerged tree trunk.

5 ………………………………………

Once more I was swept off and flung around like flotsam until I hit the slippery trunk of another

submerged tree with a rib-crunching smack. I had no time to feel any pain. The water dragged my

body under the tree and at first I struggled to hang on to it but as the current pulled the downstream I

began to lose my grip.

6 ………………………………………

Everything was blurred. I had lost my contact lenses but I could still just distinguish the bank, about

thirty feet away. The waves broke over my shoulders. My nose was running and I wiped it with my

hand; it was covered with blood. All I could hear was the ceaseless roaring of the water. I yelled for

Martin but he was gone. Nothing moved except the water.

7 ………………………………………

Then, to my inexpressible relief, I hear a shout over the noise of the waters. It was Martin.

4) Now choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is one extra paragraph

which you do not need to use. Underline the sections of the next which helped you to decide on the

order.

It wasn’t meant to be like this. One of us wasn’t supposed to die. It was just another trip, like the

others. It was supposed to be fun, an adventure. That’s what we did it for, wasn’t it? It was

dangerous of course, and we’d often talked about getting killed. Usually we joked about it, confident

it wouldn’t happen to us.

I hung onto a branch, water up to my chest. I caught a fleeting glimpse of brightly-coloured

equipment floating away, then the branch broke and I was sucked under water.

‘Let’s put our lifejackets on,’ said Martin, and I was eager to comply. Lifejackets were things we

normally used as pillows: sometimes we inflated them to sit on; this day, well into our fourth South

America river trip, would be the first occasion we’d used them for their intended purpose.

The single overwhelming need was to get my head out of the water and breathe again. Surfacing

briefly I managed it, seeing at the same time that I was a long was from the bank. Back in the

depths, brilliant blue lights flashed in my head before I surfaced again, this time to discover that my

lifejacket was now so tightly wrapped around my neck and face that I could see nothing.

The next thing I saw was the canoe floating upside-down next to me. I clutched at it, trying to right it.

It turned, but with a mass of slimy green muck on it, and sank under the weight.

Then, driven by fear, I made a last effort and hauled myself up onto the tree to a position of relative

safety, with my head and shoulders above water and my legs wrapped tightly round the trunk, and

looked around.

Unfortunately we’d parked in a residential area and the alligator whose exit we’d blocked chose that

moment to emerge, suddenly and violently like a cannon-ball shooting out straight under the boat,

tipping it sideways.

Early that morning, in the second week of our journey, we’d emerged from our jungle camp to survey

the river. Downstream stretched the miles of rapids and fast water we’d struggled up the previous

day. Upstream there was no visible end to more of the same.

5) The writer uses carefully chosen words to describe her feelings and sensations during the canoe

accident.

1 Find six verbs in the paragraphs beginning And now I was drowning and One more I was

swept off which have the current or the water as their subject. What do wall these verbs have in

common

2 Choose the word that gives the most dramatic effect in the sentences below. Justify your

choice.

The boat spun/went into the bank.

The water was dark/murky .

I was pulled/sucked under the water.

I hauled/pulled myself up.

All I could hear was the noise/roaring of the water.

Then, to my great/inexpressible relief, I heard a shout.

I tried/struggled to hang on.

6) Although this extract describes a dangerous and frightening situation, the writer occasionally uses

irony and humour to make her point.

Find a phrase in the opening paragraph where understatement is used ironically.

2 Find two examples in the rest of the next (main section and paragraphs A-H) where the writer

adds humour by using images or expressions which would be more appropriate in an urban setting.

Exam Focus

Paper 3, Part 3

In Paper 3, Part 3 you are given six sets of three separate sentences, each with one gap. For each

set, you have to find one word which can fill al three gaps. The word will always be in the same form

and will always be used as the same part of speech.

This question tests your knowledge of collocations. There will be more than one possible answer for

each individual sentence but only one word will be possible in all the three gaps. You should check

your answer carefully with all three sentences. Never base your answer on only one sentence.

The best way to prepare for this question is to record vocabulary in phrases rather than single words.

1 Read this example. What part of speech is the missing word? Can you guess what the word

might be?

I got a lot of ………… out of the coat.

The carpet is showing signs of …………

The shop has a new range of casual ………… for men and women.

Now look at the dictionary definition on page 236 and check your answer.

3 Underline the three sections in the dictionary definitions that relate to the three sentences.

How many other used can this word have?

2) Think of one word only which can be used appropriately in all three sentences.

Here is a procedure to follow for this task.

• Read through the three sentences. If you think of a possible word to fill the gaps, do not write

anything until you have read all the sentences and you are sure that it fits all three contexts.

• If you cannot immediately think of a suitable word, check what part of speech is required, e.g.

noun, verb or adjective. You will probably already know the main meaning of the word, but you

may not recognize it immediately in these contexts. Look carefully at the other words in the

sentence and see if they suggest any collocations.

• If you still can’t think of a possible word, leave the question and go back to it later.

1 She really wanted him to join the company and she got he ………… - though later she

regretted it.

The registry office and the hotel where the reception was to take place were a long ………… apart,

so we had to organize transport.

Gloria thought that working as a make-up artist might be a ………… of getting into films.

2 I’m sorry, I didn’t ………… what you said – could you repeat it, please?

They tried as hard as they could, but didn’t manage to ………… up with Susie and her friends.

As she sorted out the children’s clothes, she would sometimes ………… herself wishing she

was somewhere else entirely.

3 My grandmother was strict, but the advice she gave me was always …………, and I did my

best to follow it.

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