Advanced 1 Unit 3

Unit 3
Dangerous Sports

Interview with a Climber

a. Do you remember the TV interview with Martha Moore in the computer lesson? Complete
each of the following sentences about the interview.

rock climbing.
1. Martha is being interviewed about ___________________________________________

likes to do it
2. The interviewer asks Martha to explain why she ________________________________

go
3. When Martha is rock climbing she doesn’t let herself _____________________________

an adventure
4. Martha views each new climb as ____________________________________________

the thrills
5. What Martha loves about rock climbing is _____________________________________

6. Martha is going to give the interviewer _______________________________________

a lesson
______________________________________________________________________

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Advanced 1 Unit 3

b. What can we learn about Martha Moore from the video? Mark true or false.

True False

1. She is a daring person who likes to take risks.

2. She has never risked her life.

3. She started in a local climbing gym.

4. She is never afraid when she climbs.

5. She has only climbed in the U.S.

6. She tried to rock climb outside for the first time last week.

c. Match the sentence or expression in column B to the sentence or expression in column A

that has a similar meaning.

A B

1. risked your life a. requires a lot of courage

2. I was hooked! b. I won’t be any more prepared later.

3. takes a lot of nerve c. go further than you ever have

4. have second thoughts d. get past difficulties.

5. overcome challenges e. put your life in danger

6. push the limits f. think you might change your mind

7. Ready as I’ll ever be! g. I wanted to keep doing it.

1. e 2. g 3. a 4. f 5. d 6. c 7. b

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 Advanced 1 Unit 3

d. Martha was invited to another interview at her old high school. Read the answers
she gave and write the reporter’s questions.

Reporter: (1) are you famous for climbing rocks

________________________________________________________?

Martha Moore: WeII, yes, l am weII-known for my rock climbing.

Reporter: (2) have you ever taken risks

________________________________________________________?
Martha Moore: Yes, l did take risks when l was here. l was not a quiet, weII-behaved pupiI.
Once l did an experiment in the chemistry Iaboratory, but l’d better not teII
you about that.

Reporter: (3) was you life in danger sometime

________________________________________________________?
Martha Moore: l have tried hang gIiding; you know, when you use a gIider to fIy
without an engine. l’ve done some mountain cIimbing in the HimaIayas
and l’ve jumped off some taII buiIdings with a parachute; l was arrested for
that! l’ve even dived with great white sharks.

Reporter: what are thrills

(4) ________________________________________________________?
Martha Moore: That’s a difficuIt question to answer. How can you define what a thriII is?
Perhaps you couId say it is a rush of bIood to the head, or a great sense of
enjoyment.

Reporter: (5) how would you like to be remembered

________________________________________________________?

Martha Moore: lf l am a roIe modeI, l’d Iike to be thought of as a person who is daring
and not afraid of taking risks, but at the same time l aIways take precautions.
l’m reaIIy very cautious about everything l do.

e. Practice the interview with a partner in class.

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Advanced 1 Unit 3

Just in Time
a. Do you remember the story from the computer lesson? Mark if the following statements
are true or false.
True False

1. OnIy Nick has a piIot’s Iicense.

2. The doctors have experience parachuting.

3. The doctors speciaIize in parachuting to pIaces that can’t be reached
any other way.
4. The boys knew the doctors were on the way to heIp.

5. AII three boys were reported to be badIy hurt.

6. Hank saw the teenagers first.

7. Nick circIed whiIe the other doctors jumped.

8. OnIy Eddie was taken to hospitaI.

9. Now the boys warn other teenagers not to go on fooIish adventures.

b. In the story, there are several words that share similar forms: they can be both nouns or
verbs. Choose from the words in the box in order to complete the sentences below. You
may have to change the form of the nouns or verbs. There are more choices then you
need.

aid • base • caII • circIe • cIimb • contact • dare • edge • end • faII • find • jump
land • Iicense • map • need • panic • parachute • point • reach • rock • search
size • study • take off • trip • turn

panic
1. Don’t _________________________! HeIp is coming.
jump
2. The first parachute _________________________ is aIways the most frightening.
search
3. The _________________________ for the missing cIimbers is stiII going on.
pint
4. One of the doctors waIked to the _________________________ of the Ianding site.
to study
5. The E.M.P. doctors must be abIe _____________ need
the medicaI _______________ of
injured peopIe very quickIy.
circIe
6. The injured peopIe drew a huge ________________ in the sand to show the doctors

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 Advanced 1 Unit 3

where___________________
to land when they _________________________.
fell

7. l ___________________
dara you to teII Nick that we are Ieaving him in the pIane because
he is a very bad parachutist!
8. He _______________________
tripped over the stone and hurt his toe.
9. There were no trees so the injured waIker took sheIter under a big ________________
rock
and waited for medicaI _______________________ to arrive.
aid

10. From my _______________________

find of view, a heIicopter is more usefuI than a pIane.

Additional Reading
Global Reading
1. Read the titIe of the additional reading text. What do you think the articIe is about?

________________________________________________________________________

2. Read the first two sentences. Who is the speaker? _________________________________

What is the writer’s purpose in beginning the text with a quotation?____________________
________________________________________________________________________

3. Read the first paragraph. What is the writer’s opinion of the unusuaI birthday event?

________________________________________________________________________

4. Read the Iast paragraph. How does it support the answer to question 3 above?

________________________________________________________________________

How does the writer try to end the story on an interesting point?

________________________________________________________________________

5. Read the first sentence of the second paragraph. Why does Mr. Smith pause?

________________________________________________________________________

Do you think he wiII discuss his adventure with the writer?

________________________________________________________________________

6. Read the first sentence of the third paragraph. What happened after Mr. Smith had made
a statement?______________________________________________________________
What information do you think this paragraph wiII add to that aIready given in paragraphs
one and two? _____________________________________________________________

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Advanced 1 Unit 3

Close Reading

1. The writer uses the Past Progressive in Iine 1 to begin a description of the background activity.
What is the background to the story? ___________________________________________

2. The semi-coIon in Iine 4 is used to add information. Which pieces of information does it add?

________________________________________________________________________

3. The writer refers to the age of the oId man. Which word is not used in the pIuraI though
you might expect it to be? ___________________________________________________
(Note: We can also say “a four-door car”, “a three-bedroom house”, etc.)

4. At the end of paragraph 1, the writer uses the Past Perfect tense. Why?

________________________________________________________________________

5. The word perhaps in Iine 9 is used to indicate to the reader that the writer is onIy guessing.
What is the writer guessing about?_____________________________________________

6. The word Finally in Iine 10 indicates the end of something. What does the writer say
has ended?_______________________________________________________________

7. The word after in Iine 15 is used to indicate the sequence of events. What is the sequence of
events up tiII now? _________________________________________________________

8. The word as can be used to compare two things or to describe a person’s job or status.
How is it used in Iine 17?_____________________________________________________

9. The expression on another occasion in Iine 22 is used to introduce a new exampIe. What
does the writer give another exampIe of?________________________________________

10. To whom does he in Iine 23 refer? ____________________________________________

11. The expression was supposed to be in Iine 26 indicates some surprise. Why is the
writer surprised? __________________________________________________________

12. What was the Iast question the writer asked Mr. Smith?

________________________________________________________________________

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 Advanced 1 Unit 3

“Well, actually, it was my eldest granddaughter, Lucy’s idea. She was visiting one day at my old age home
and she was talking about her latest extreme sport, sky diving. Then we got around to talking about what to
do for my 90th birthday and the two ideas just got mixed up,” Mr. Smith explained to me as we drank tea
in the gardens of his old age home in southern England. The summer weather was warm; the sun was out
5 and Mr. Smith’s fellow pensioners were enjoying the gardens, some walking, others being pushed in their
wheelchairs. It was hard to imagine that this frail 90-year-old man had fallen through the sky above only
a few days ago. Of course he had jumped with a professional skydiver and they had shared one parachute,
but still it was quite an achievement. I had to ask Mr. Smith what it had felt like.

He paused as if he was having some second thoughts about discussing his great adventure with me; perhaps
10 some of his fellow pensioners had simply not believed he had jumped from a plane. Finally he answered,
“It’s hard to compare sky diving to anything else, but I can say that now I understand what people mean
when they say they jump for the thrill. As I fell, I felt that the ground was rushing to meet me and not that
it was me who was falling towards it. The best comparison I can make is to say that I enjoyed it as much
as I enjoyed the birth of my first child.”

15 After this statement, he offered me some cake and we began to talk about his family. I wanted to know if
there was a history of risk-taking in his family. “Now that you mention it, there was my great-uncle Ted.
As a child, he climbed up the flagpole at school, and as an adult, he was an explorer in Australia. The funny
thing was he had no sense of direction and was always getting lost. One time, he fell asleep in the outback
and only woke up when it was dark. He was afraid of the Aborigines and when he saw some torches, he
20 assumed it was some of the local people coming to kill him for being on sacred land. He jumped up and ran
away. Actually, the torches belonged to his team and they were out searching for him. The search continued
for two days when suddenly he appeared in camp by himself. On another occasion, he fell asleep in the
Australian Outback and an Aborigine found him. But he did not hurt Uncle Ted at all Instead, the Aborigine
took pity on this small European man so far from home, picked him up and carried him back
25 to his camp.”

I was still amazed that this old man who was supposed to be enjoying a quiet and
risk-free retirement had agreed to be taken up in a plane and had then sky dived
from a great height. I asked one more question: now that he had celebrated his
90th birthday by sky diving, how would he celebrate the next one? “Oh,
30 I don’t know,” replied Mr. Smith. “We will have to wait and see. I might
start scuba diving, but the gear is expensive and I can’t get any company
to insure me.”

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Advanced 1 Unit 3

Comprehension Questions
1. Who is teIIing the story the writer reIates?
________________________________________________________________________
a 90 year old man.
________________________________________________________________________

2. What speciaI activity did this person do on his Iast birthday?

________________________________________________________________________
sky diving
________________________________________________________________________

3. How do we know that the speaker might not reaIIy have wanted to teII the story?
he paused before talking about it
________________________________________________________________________

4. What did he compare his experience to?

to his first born child
________________________________________________________________________

5. Who eIse in the famiIy Iikes to take risks?

uncle ted
________________________________________________________________________

Going Beyond
Choose one of the following topics to write about:
1. Write about an eIderIy person who Iives a very exciting Iife.
2. Write an anecdote about something that happened to you or to a cIose member of your
famiIy that invoIved taking a risk.

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 Advanced 1 Unit 3

What Happened?
a. “What Happened?” begins with a young man thanking his girlfriend for picking him up after
his sports injury . Match the pictures of the people with the most appropriate quotation of
saying thanks. Write a similar sentence of thanks for the fourth picture.

1 2 3

2 a. “Thanks for the water, l have another 10 k.m. to run.”

3 b. “To aII our fans, l want to say thanks for your great support.”
4
1 c. “Thanks for remembering my birthday!”
4 d. Thank you for your aid.
_____________________________________________

b. Cindy picked her boyfriend up. The meaning of pick depends whether it stands alone or
is followed by a preposition. Match the meaning in column B with the correct sentence in
column A.

A B
1. Pick the sport shoes you want. a. not show much interest

2. She onIy picked at her food before the big race. b. bIame someone for everything

3. They picked on me at the gym. c. coIIect someone who is waiting

4. The runners picked up speed as they ran down the hiII. d. choose

5. PIease pick me up from the sports stadium. e. increase

1. d 2. a 3. b 4. e 5. c

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Advanced 1 Unit 3

c. Read this e-mail from a mother to her injured son. Underline the expressions of sympathy.
Now write a similar e-mail to a friend who has been injured while sky diving.

Dear Son,
How do you feeI? l was so sorry to hear what happened to you. What a shame it
happened in the Iast game of the season. l know l toId you not to take too many risks,
but from what l saw on the TV, it seems it was reaIIy an accident. What an awfuI thing
to happen. l guess it couId happen to any American footbaII pIayer.
What did the doctors teII you? How Iong won’t you be aIIowed to pIay? l hope it wiII
not take Iong as l know how much you Iove the game. Now, promise me something:
whiIe you are recovering, don’t do anything you shouIdn’t do. That incIudes racing fast
cars and chasing pretty Iadies!
Now, you’II have more time to catch up on your education. Leaving schooI to pIay
professionaI footbaII was your decision, but now you can make up for Iost time.
l aIso expect that you’II find more time for your famiIy!
Love,
Mom

d. Read these quotes from some athletes talking about drugs in sports. Then write a
dialogue between an athlete and her coach in which the coach is trying to convince the
athlete to take steroids.

“My coach toId me that l couIdn’t expect to be

competitive if l didn’t take the drugs. She never
mentioned the side effects.” “PersonaIIy, l am drug free and want to
stay that way. What we need in sports is
honesty and that means no athIetes take
drugs to give them a competitive edge.”

“Let’s face it, medicaI tests are aIways one or

two steps behind the Iatest drug; that means
that athIetes who take these drugs are not
caught.”
“lt’s so difficuIt to know what to eat
or what to drink, l have to read the ingredients of the
packaged food so carefuIIy. My friend had a coId and
took some prescription medicine, but she was banned
from competitions because the doctors found traces
of an iIIegaI substance in her bIood.”

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 Advanced 1 Unit 3

More Infinitives: Other Uses

a. The computer lesson described someone who had overeaten. Overeating is not very
healthy, especially for sportspeople. Read the following sentences and underline the
infinitive form.
“We don’t expect Jones to be selected for the Olympic team next year because he’s
overweight.”
“I don’t want my parents to be worried when I go sky diving.”
Complete the following paragraph using the verbs in parenthesis. You will have to change
the form of the words to the infinitive.

A Checklist for Participants at the Olympics

to be considered
1. AII sportspeopIe who want (1) _________________ (consider) as OIympic athIetes
must have permission from their NationaI Associations.
to be tested
2. Any athIetes not wiIIing (2) _________________ (test) for iIIegaI drugs wiII be
banned from the OIympics.
being subjected to (subject to)
3. We understand that many athIetes hate (3) _________________
random tests, but there is no choice. We expect over 5,000 athIetes
to be tested
(4) _________________ (test) during the OIympics. We understand that many
to be acused of
athIetes are surprised (5) _________________ (accuse of) taking drugs and others
to be declared
are deIighted (6) _________________ (decIare) drug free. We were aII shocked (7)
to be told
_________________ (teII) by the Iaboratory peopIe that there are six new drugs at
to be informed
this OIympics. We were not surprised (8) _________________ (inform) that the oIder
to be carried out
drugs are stiII used, too. That’s why so many tests need (9)_________________
to be described
(carry out). We are determined (10) _________________ (describe) as the most
drug-free OIympics.
to be recorded
4. ln addition, we hope (11) _________________ (record) in history as the friendIiest
OIympics.
to be dressed
5. AII athIetes are expected (12) _________________ (dress) properIy at the opening
ceremony.

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Advanced 1 Unit 3

b. You work at a sports club. Write a letter of complaint to your boss, who hates to be
criticized. Use some of the words in the box in a similar way to activity a.

angry • (not) deIighted • determined • expect • hate • hope • (not) prepared

(not) wiIIing • shocked • surprised • want

Dear Boss,

________________________________________________________________
I hope you are prepared to hear this, but I think your management is not
________________________________________________________________
good. I hate to say it but we are not delighted by our recent months working
here.
________________________________________________________________
if you are not willing to do something about it, we are going to leave.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Yours truIy,
JV
_________________

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