Unit 1 – Taking Risks: Reading Text

The Sky Is Our Limit: Wingsuit Jumping School

Man has always wanted to fly, but no one believed it was possible. Here, at The Sky Is Our
Limit, we will make this dream come true. After flying through the air, your life will never
be the same.

How it’s done

Wingsuit jumpers jump from a plane, a helicopter or a cliff. They spread their arms – and their
man-made wings – and fly! The wingsuit allows them to fly horizontally at a speed of about 100 km
per hour. When they fly vertically, their speed can reach 260 km per hour if the wind is strong.
When they move their bodies, they change their speed. To land, they use a parachute to slow down
and make a safe landing.

What you should know

• Wingsuit jumping is only for people who really like taking risks. Once you have jumped, you
can’t turn back! So, we are going to interview you to make sure that you won’t regret anything.
• You are going to make 200 regular skydives before you try wingsuit jumping. Experts recommend
this because the biggest danger for beginning wingsuit jumpers is lack of training. Wingsuit
manufacturer Robert Pecnik has made about 1,000 wingsuit jumps and he says, “The big problem
we have now is that young people want to go from zero to hero in three weeks.” They haven’t got
the patience to practise first. They just want to fly and this can lead to catastrophe. Pecnik says,
“The technology is very good, but the skill of the jumpers is much lower.”
• You are going to make your first jump from a very high cliff in Italy. This cliff is safe because
there is little danger of wingsuit jumpers hitting rocks after they jump.
• Even with the best training in the world, things can go wrong. Wingsuit jumping has claimed
many victims. In 2012, stuntman Mark Sutton parachuted into the opening ceremony of the
Olympic Games in London pretending to be James Bond. About one year later, he crashed into
a mountain on the Swiss-French border while doing a wingsuit jump and died.

Are you still interested? Our courses start every September and May. Next September, we are
opening new courses in Europe, and in May we are going to add a course in the USA.
Join us – and you’ll be flying like a bird!

New English in Use 4 Photocopiable © Burlington Books 1

Unit 1 – Taking Risks: Reading Text

On the Front Line

Reporters play an important role in bringing us the news every minute of every day. Their work
isn’t easy and can be dangerous, particularly for war correspondents. They cover news stories from
war zones and often risk their lives.
Both sides in a war used to consider reporters neutral. Recently, however, attitudes have changed.
Some terrorists have taken reporters prisoner because they want to put pressure on the reporters’
governments or because they want to get money for their return. Consequently, the British and
US governments have made their policy clear; they will not enter into negotiations in order to free
reporters from terrorists. Reporters entering war zones will be doing so at their own risk.
Television companies and newspapers have begun to give their reporters special training
before they send them to war zones. Reporters learn how to avoid dangerous situations or at least
to minimise risk. For example, they should never film for more than half an hour in the street.
That’s how long it takes terrorists to identify them and organise people and a car to take them
prisoner. War correspondents also learn first aid and information like which floors of hotels are the
safest. Many employers give reporters psychiatric counselling when they return home. There’s no
doubt about it – war correspondents have to be tough, daring and resourceful.
Today, reporters are in danger in many countries – especially Pakistan, Iraq and Syria. Since the
fighting in Syria began in March 2011, more than 35 reporters have died. In February 2012,
US-born journalist Marie Colvin was killed in a rocket attack in the Syrian town of Homs along
with a French photographer. Spanish reporter Javier Espinosa was also in Homs at that time.
Espinosa survived the fighting in Homs, but just over a year later, along with photographer Ricardo
García Vilanova, he was taken prisoner by a terrorist group as they were crossing from Syria into
Turkey. The terrorists held them for about six months, but Espinosa and Vilanova were lucky. They
were released in March 2014. That day, Espinosa’s girlfriend, Mónica García Prieto, expressed
everyone’s feelings in two words on Twitter: “pure happiness”.

New English in Use 4 Photocopiable © Burlington Books 2