Dorothy Hamill, Olympic Champion

Women’s figure skating is one of the most exciting events in

the Winter Olympics. It became an Olympic event in the 1924
games in France. In 1976, a nineteen-year-old American won the
gold medal. Her name is Dorothy Hamill. At the time she was the
greatest skater in the world.
Dorothy Hamill was born in 1956 in Chicago, Illinois. She has an
older brother and sister. When she was in preschool, Dorothy’s family
moved from the Midwest to Connecticut.
When Dorothy was eight, she went skating with her sister and a
friend. She got upset when the other two girls were able to skate
backwards. She was unable to do that and cried about it to her mom.
Mrs. Hamill signed Dorothy up for skating lessons.

When she turned fourteen, Dorothy’s family took her out of school
so that she could skate more. She skated seven hours a day, six days a
week. Private teachers helped Dorothy keep up with her schoolwork.
Dorothy began training with a well-known skating coach, Carlo Fassi.
Together they created Dorothy’s famous move, the “Hamill Camel.” This
is a camel spin that turns into a sit spin. It was the best skating move
ever created!
Dorothy won three national championship medals in a row before the
1976 Olympic Games in Austria. She won the gold medal and became a
star all over America. Many girls showed their love by cutting their hair in
Hamill’s famous short haircut.
Later in 1976, Dorothy decided to turn pro. She joined the Ice
Capades and was their star skater from 1977 to 1984. After the Ice
Capades, Dorothy won four straight World Professional Figure Skating
championships.
Hamill says she does not like to see videos of herself from her
Olympic days. “I wasn’t very good, not compared to what they can do
today [or] to what I can do today.
I don’t think people realize that skaters get better as they get older.”
 Dorothy says of her success, “I worked as hard as I could. I was
always the first one on the ice and the last one off.”
Dorothy Hamill now lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her daughter.
She became a member of The Olympic Hall of Fame in 1996. It was the
highest achievement in her life as a woman athlete.

1-What is the genre of this selection?

A. Fable
B. Autobiography
C. Biography
D. Drama

2- Why did Dorothy feel upset when she went skating with her
sister and a friend?
A. Dorothy didn’t like skating at that time.
B. Dorothy was unable to skate backwards like the other two girls.
C. Dorothy fell down and got hurt.
D. The other girls didn’t like Dorothy because she couldn’t skate like
them.

3- Why did Dorothy’s family take her out of school when she
turned fourteen?
A. She didn’t get good grades.
B. They had to move again.
C. They wanted her to skate more.
D. Her coach, Carlo Fassi, asked them to do this.

4- When and where did figure skating become an Olympic event?

a. in 1924 in France
b. in 1942 in France
c. in 1956 in Chicago
d. in 1976 in Austria
5- Which sentence from the selection is a statement of fact?
A. It was the best skating move ever created!
B. Dorothy Hamill was born in 1956 in Chicago, Illinois.
C. Women’s figure skating is one of the most exciting events in the
Winter Olympics.
D. “I wasn’t very good, not compared to what they can do today [or]
to what I can do today.”

6- Which is a statement of opinion based on the selection?

A. Dorothy Hamill turned pro in 1976.

B. Dorothy Hamill joined The Olympic Hall of Fame in 1996.
C. Dorothy Hamill was the greatest skater of the 1970s.
D. Dorothy Hamill began skating as a little girl.

7- Read the following sentence from the passage.

She won the gold medal and became a star all over America.

Using context clues, the underlined word means __________

A. a very large ball of burning gases in space

B. a very famous, successful and important person
C. a symbol
D. a ranking of quality

8- Dorothy’s parents can be described as _________.

A. strict
B. supportive
C. silly
D. hardworking