Comprehension
4 - ] Upper Intermediate & Advanced
Read
the following , then answer the questions below :
WANTED : Sports -mad training partner
for triathlete , preferably female . Chance
to
work with potential Olympic champion .
Should be extremely keen on distance running
( regular 15 km sessions ) , distance
swimming
( addiction to winter training in cold rivers
useful ) and distance cycling ( love of 100km
an advantage ) . Ability to do all three
without
a rest essential
The triathlon promises to be one of the most popular Olympic
sports . Recently it has drawn huge crowds fascinated ( and horrified ) by
athletes swimming 1500 m , cycling w0 km , then running 10 km without stopping
. Great for those watching , maybe , but what makes the triathletes want to
punish their bodies so much ? And what makes an attractive 17-year-old , with
excellent academic results , give up everything for the doubtful pleasure it
offers ?
Melanie Sears has not yet learnt
those often-repeated phrases about personal satisfaction , mental challenge and
higher targets that most athletes automatically use when asked similar
questions . ‘You swim for 1500 m , then run out of the water and jump on your
bike , still wet . Of course , then you freeze . When the 40 km cycle ride is
over , you have to run 10 km , which is a long way when you’re feeling
exhausted . But it’s great fun , and all worth it in the end ,’ she says .
Melanie entered her first triathlon
at 14 . ‘I won the junior section - but then I was the only junior taking part
. It seemed so easy that I was waving at my team-mates as I went round .’ Full
of confidence , she entered the National Championships , and although she had
the second fastest swim and the fastest run , she came nowhere . ‘I was
following this man and suddenly we came to the sea . We realized then that we
had gone wrong . I ended up cycling 20 kilometers too far . I cried all the way
through the running .’
But she did not give up and is
determined that she never will. ‘Sometimes I wish I could stop , because then
the pain would be over , but I am afraid that if I let myself stop just once ,
I would be tempted to do it again.’ Such doggedness draws admiration from Steve
Trew , the sport’s director of coaching . ‘I’ve just been testing her fitness
.’ he says , ‘and she worked so hard on the running machine that it finally
threw her off and into a wall . She had given it everything , but whereas most
people step off when they realize they can’t go any further , she just kept on
.’
Melanie was top junior in this
year’s European Triathlon Championships , finishing 13th . ‘I was
almost as good as the top three in swimming and running , but much slower at
cycling . That’s why I’m working very hard at it .’ She is trying to talk her
long-suffering parents , who will carry the £ 1,300 cost of her trip to New
Zealand for this year’s World Championships , into buying a £ 2 ,000 bike (It’s
special deal , with £ 1,000 off) so she can try national 25 km and 100 km races
later this year .
But there is another price to pay
. Her punishing training sessions have made her a bit of a recluse . ‘I don’t
have a social life .’ she says . ‘I’m not a party animal anyway . After two hours’
hard swimming on Friday nights . I just want to go to sleep . But I phone and
write to the other girls in the team .’ What does she talk about ? Clothes ?
‘No , what sort of times they are achieving .’
Where
will all this single-mindedness end ? Melanie has tried other events . She has
had a go at the triathlon ‘sprint’ , for example , where you only have to swim
750 m , cycle 20 km and run 5 km . She wants to enter even tougher events than
the triathlon . ‘The big trouble is , I have no one of my age to train with ,’
she says . Funny , that .
************
1 . What is the purpose of the ‘advertisement’ in the
first paragraph ?
( A ) to encourage people to take up the triathlon
( B ) to explain why the triathlon is becoming more
popular
( C ) to describe how difficult the triathlon is
( D ) to criticize people who do the triathlon
2 . How does Melanie differ from other athlete ,
according to the writer ?
( A ) Her personality is not like theirs .
( B ) Her aims are different from theirs .
( C ) She worries less than they do .
( D ) She expresses herself differently .
3 . What upset Melanie during the National
Championships ?
( A ) She was tricked by another competitor .
( B ) She realized she couldn’t cycle as fast as she
thought .
( C ) She felt that she had let her team-mates down .
( D ) She made a mistake during part of the race .
4 . What is meant by Melanie’s ‘doggedness’ ?
( A ) She continues despite all difficulties .
( B ) She feels less pain than most people .
( C ) She knows her own limits .
( D ) She likes to please her coach .
5 . What is Melanie trying to persuade her parents to
do ?
( A ) let her compete in longer races
( B ) buy a special bike for her
( C ) pay for her to go to New Zealand
( D ) give her half the cost of a bike
6 . What does Melanie say about her relationships
with her team-mates ?
( A ) She only discusses the triathlon with them .
( B ) She would like to see them more often .
( C ) She dislikes discussing boys or clothes with
them .
( D ) She thinks they find her way of life strange .
7 . What does the writer mean by the phrase ‘Funny ,
that’ at the end of the article ?
( A ) It is strange that more young people do not
take up the triathlon .
( B ) It is clear that Melanie enjoys training for
tough events .
( C ) It is amusing to hear people’s reactions to the
triathlon .
( D ) It is understandable that Melanie does not have
a training partner of her own age .
8 . What is the writer’s attitude to Melanie ?
( A ) He is worried that her social life is
interesting with her sport .
( B ) He believes that success has come to her too
young .
( C ) He thinks that she is an extraordinary teenager
.
( D ) He envies her enormous determination to succeed
.
Answer Key
1 . C 2 . D 3 . D 4 . A 5 . B 6 . A 7 . D 8 . C
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