Liceo Técnico Municipal

Juan Hoppe Gantz

Olivar

Reading Comprehension Test

Name: __________________________ Grade: 2nd _______ Date: _________________

Objective: Identify general and specific information related to the world of sports in
order to comprehend each text.

Read the text

The 2010 world cup (South Africa)

The 2010 world cup football (soccer) competition took place in South Africa between June
11 and July 11, 2010. It was the 19th FIFA World Cup. This event is held every four years.

This was the first time that the world cup was hold in an
African country. South Africa competed against Morocco,
Egypt, Tunisia and Libya (Tunisia and Libya offered to co-host
the competition) for the organization of the event. Following
the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-
hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding
process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's
solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in
the official List of Requirements. After one round of voting,
the winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on
15 May 2004 in Zürich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament as it
got 14 votes, defeating Morocco (10 votes) and Egypt (0 votes)

During 2006 to 2007, a lot of rumors circulated in various news sources that the 2010
World Cup could be moved to another country. Some people expressed concern over the
planning, organization, and pace of South Africa's preparations. Others even expressed
concerns over the safety of world cup visitors. In fact, South Africa has a high rate of
criminality. However, FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa
as host and showed their trust in the ability of the country to organize the competition
successfully.

I. Match the words with their synonyms

a. Allow ____ Make an offer

b. Tournaments ____ Condition
c. Withdraw ____ Loss
d. Bid ____ Worry
e. Stipulations ____ Victoriously
f. Award ____ Retire
g. Defeat ____ Competitions
h. Concern ____ Security
i. Safety ____ Prize
j. Successfully ____ Permit
Liceo Técnico Municipal
Juan Hoppe Gantz
Olivar

II. Answer the following questions. Colored the part of the text where you got the
information.

a. Where and when did the 2010 world cup soccer competition take
place?

___________________________________________________________

b. Why was Lybia’s solo bid not consider in the competition?

___________________________________________________________

c. When was the winning bid announced?

___________________________________________________________

d. How many votes did South Africa get?

Read the text

Powerful teen breaks strongman records

Max Pippa pulled a 12,000-pound truck during the Lift for Hope Strongest Man
competition at the Kansas Expocenter in Topeka.

Pippa, who was a 17-year-old competitor in the “Lift for Hope” event, concentrated as he
had one thing on his mind: setting a new North American Strongman Inc. record in the
teenage heavyweight division. Pippa put on a weight belt and got down to business.
Before each heavy lift, he recited the Lord’s Prayer.
On his first attempt, Pippa lifted 550 pounds. On his second lift, Pippa lifted 600 and on his
last attempt, he lifted 630 pounds. He has played baseball and football in the past and has
lifted weights and competed for two years.

“I guess I found a sport I’m good at,” Pippa said during a telephone interview, “I like
weight lifting because it’s an oddball sport. I’m not a normal teenager. I would rather train
by picking up stones and tires than go drinking with my friends.”
Pippa trains three to four days in the gym, watches what he eats and stays away from
steroids.
“I’m planning on doing this for the rest of my life,” he said. “I believe I’ve received a gift,
and if I don’t develop it, it will go away.”
The Topeka’s Strongest Man competition raised $2,161 for the American Cancer Society’s
Camp Hope, a camp for children who are recovering from or are battling cancer.

I. Complete the chart with the information from the text

Sports max has Max’s training Max’s lifting Max’s plans for
practiced details record the future
Liceo Técnico Municipal
Juan Hoppe Gantz
Olivar

Read the text

EXTREME CHALLENGES
I. ____________ Try the experience of running through the city, climbing walls, crossing
roofs, and jumping from building to building! This new sport has become well known
through videos on the Internet since it started in Paris. People say they have never tried
anything like it before. This is not about exercise; it’s about finding a new approach to
things and a different way of looking at life!
II.____________ Do you like flying kites? Do you like surfing? Then, try this new sport that
started in France in the 1980s and has recently become very popular worldwide! You use a
small surfboard and a large kite on 30-meter lines. The kite pulls you through the water
and you can steer with the lines. You can just speed through the water or you can do
jumps as high as a house. Kirsty Jones, Women’s U.K. Kite Surfing Champion, has been into
it for more than ten years. “I’ve never enjoyed myself so much”, says Kirsty.”Try it! It’s
more fun than water-skiing behind a boat!”
III.____________Have you ever wanted to ski off a mountain and fly? If you like skiing and
paragliding, then this is the sport for you! You ski straight down a hill with the parachute
wing behind you, then you let the parachute come up in the air behind you and whoosh!
You’re flying!
IV.___________You think flying is impossible? Try to fly through the air using a special
jumpsuit called wingsuit! Also called birdman suit or squirrel suit, you can use it from any
point with altitude enough to glide through the air, such as skydiving aircrafts or base
jumping points. The flier opens the parachute at a planned altitude and unzips the arm
wings, if necessary, so they can reach up to the control toggles and fly to a normal
parachute landing.
V.____________Imagine being inside a giant bouncy beach ball rolling down a steep hill at
50 km an hour! This sport, also called sphereing, started in New Zealand in the mid 1990s.
What’s it like? It’s like bungee jumping, it’s like floating, it’s like going on a roller coaster,
and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever done before! Two people are strapped into the two-
meter sphere and pushed over the top of a hill.
“I didn’t have a clue what was going on”, says someone who has just tried it. “I saw colors
passing by - blue sky, green grass, blue sky, green grass- and I could hear myself laughing
uncontrollably”. Have you ever wondered what’s it like inside a washing machine? Well,
then try hydrosphereing, where one person rolls down the hill in a sphere containing 30
liters of water!

I. Write the following sports in the corresponding headline in each paragraph.

a. Zorbing c. Paraskiing e. Free running

b. Wingsuit flying d. Kite surfing

II. Choose the correct alternative for each question. Mark with an X.

1. How and when did the sport of Free
Running start?
a) In Italy through videos on the tv
b) In Rome through videos on the
internet
c) In Paris through videos on the internet
3. Can you use the squirrel suit from any
point of altitude?
a) Yes, but you have to be high enough
to glide.
b) No, you have to be very very high.
c) Yes, you don’t have to be very high.

2. What is Kirsty Jones’s message about 4. What other name does Zorbing have?
Kite Surfing? a) Balling
a) Don’t try it. b) Sphereing
b) Try it! You’ll enjoy it. c) Rolling
c) It’s boring.