Form A • Extra Reading

1. Reading
A Read the article quickly. Check (✓) the questions you think
the article will answer.
1. When was Yao Ming born?
2. Where did he use to live?
3. When did he start to play basketball?
4. What team does he play basketball for?
5. How many points does he usually score in a game?
6. What does he like to do in his free time?

B Read the article slowly. Check your answers in Part A.

The Giant Everybody knows Yao Ming’s a fantastic

basketball player, but what do you know

from China
about his personal life? He was born on
September 12, 1980. When he was in the first
grade, he was taller than his teacher. Now he
stands 7 feet 5 inches tall (about 2.3 meters)
and weighs 296 pounds (about 134 kilograms).
His parents are both very tall. They used to
play professional basketball in China during
the 1970s.
This soft-spoken giant was recruited
in 2002 to play basketball for the Houston
Rockets. Yao used to live in Shanghai, but he
doesn’t anymore. Now he lives in Houston,
Texas. When he wasn’t playing basketball in
China, he used to hang out with his friends
and play video games at Internet cafés. He
misses China and likes to go back as often as
he can. Now he tries to watch American TV and
read newspapers every day to master English.
After a hard day at practice, he loves to go
home to his mom’s home-cooked Chinese
meals. And one day, he’s going to ride his bike
all over Houston – just the way he does when
he’s in China!

© Cambridge University Press 2010 Photocopiable Connect 4 Unit 1 1

 Form A • Extra Reading
C Complete the sentences with the words in the box.
fantastic (adj.) master (v.) recruits (v.)
giant (n.) personal (adj.) soft-spoken (adj.)

1. Jim needs to practice every day if he wants to the violin.

2. That college students with sports skills and good grades.
3. My family and I had a time at the beach last summer.
4. Do you remember that story about the – the big man –
and his family?
5. A lot of people don’t like to answer questions about how
much money they make.
6. I have trouble hearing him on the telephone because he’s so .

D Answer the questions.

1. When was Yao Ming born?
He was born on September 12 , 1980 .
2. How tall is Yao Ming? How much does he weigh?

3. What did Yao Ming do when he wasn’t playing basketball in China?

4. Where does Yao Ming live now?

5. How does Yao Ming try to master English?

E What do you think? Answer the questions. Give reasons.

1. Do you think it would be difficult to be a lot taller than everyone else as
a child?

2. In your opinion, what are some of the good things about being very tall?

3. In your opinion, what are some of the bad things about being very tall?

4. Do you think it would be difficult to leave your country?

5. Are watching TV and reading newspapers good ways to learn English?

© Cambridge University Press 2010  Photocopiable Connect 4  Unit 1 2

 Form A • Extra Reading

2. Writing
A Answer the questions about one of your parents or grandparents.
1. Who’s the person, and what does he or she do?

2. When was he or she born?

3. Where did he or she grow up?

4. What did he or she like to do when he or she was a child?

5. What does he or she miss about being a child?

6. What does he or she enjoy doing in his or her free time now?

B Write about the life of one of your parents or grandparents.

Use the information in Part A to help you.

My is a . He / she was born

© Cambridge University Press 2010  Photocopiable Connect 4  Unit 1 3