FEBRERO 2010, COLEGIO CLARET, SEVILLA.

INGLÉS

NAME: CLASS:
EXTREME SPORTS
Extreme sports received a huge popularity boost in the mid-nineties, when American
sports channel ESPN launched the ‘X Games’. Broken into two seasons – the Winter X
Games and Summer X Games – these huge annual events bring together the best of the
world’s extreme athletes to compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. The games are
high profile, and the superstars of extreme sports often use the contests to showcase new
jaw-dropping tricks and attempt records.
Some enthusiasts describe themselves as ‘adrenaline junkies’, and for them the
obsession with reaching new extremes has become a way of life, complete with clothing
fashions and music. In fact, the X Games tournament has developed a festival-like
atmosphere with bands performing live at the venues.
Extreme Sports are big business, make no mistake. Sports such as skateboarding and
BMX would once conjure images of teenagers with nothing better to do. Many of those
teens now make annual earnings exceeding $100,000 US through prize money in
contests like X Games, merchandising and sponsorship. There is even a dedicated cable
channel, launched in 1999 – a student majoring in business studies could learn a lot
from the cross-promotion and branding of extreme sports.
If you consider yourself keen to push the limits of your own courage and physical
ability, you might want to consider taking up kayaking, free style snowboarding,
bungee, sky diving, or any other from the wide variety of activities in this category.
However, remember that your life is the most valuable gift and you ought to take care of
it.
(A) COMPREHENSION (4 points)
a) ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-3 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN
THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS. (1 point per answer)
1) What is an “adrenaline junkie”?

2) How were BMX riders often described?

3) How can extreme-sport athletes make money?

b) ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS

WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT. (0.5 points per
answer)
3) Extreme sports already existed in the nineteenth century.

4) X-games take place once a year and may be watched on cable TV.
(B) USE OF ENGLISH (3 points)
7) Find in the text one synonym for release (verb) (0.25 points) _______________
8) Find in the text a word with the following definition: “it is an astonishing or
surprising performance, event or sight:” _______________ (0.25 points)
9) Give an adjective with the same root as PRESIDENT _____________ (0.25 points)
10) Find in the text the opposite for peaceful (adjective.) ____________ (0.25 points)
FEBRERO 2010, COLEGIO CLARET, SEVILLA. INGLÉS

11) Fill in the gap with a correct form of the verb in brackets. (0.5 points)
Spain (beat) _________ Canada at football last year.
12) Join the following sentences using a relative pronoun. Make changes if necessary.
Nowadays new kinds of sport attract more and more people. They seldom appear on
television. (0.5 marks)

13) Turn the following sentence into Reported Speech: (0.5 points)
He asked: “Do you often play rugby?”

14) Give a question for the underlined words: (0.5 points)

The new manager stayed three months in England.

(C) PRODUCTION (3 points)

15) WRITE A COMPOSITION (80-100 WORDS). CHOOSE ONE OF THE
FOLLOWING OPTIONS. SPECIFY YOUR OPTION.
a) Do you think sports are related to politics? Why and how?
b) China’s Olympics should or should not take place? Discuss.