Exercise 1: Reading Comprehension
Read the questions first (1-5). Then read the text and choose the correct option for each of the questions and write your answer in the boxes provided. Only one answer is possible. Question 0 is given as an example. (10 Points: 2 points for each correct answer.)
AROUND THE WORLD IN 94 DAYS
In February 2001, at the age of 24, Ellen MacArthur became the youngest and fastest ever woman to sail round the world. After 94 days alone on board her yacht Kingfisher, she finished second to Michel Desjoyaux of France in the single-handed Vende Globe event. In sport, like life, the winner is usually fted, and runners-up quickly forgotten. This time the roles were reversed, and it was Ellen, weighing just 50 kilos and barely 1m 60 tall, that really captured peoples imaginations and emotions. One newspaper in France, where she was and is a real heroine, summed up the national mood there with the headline Well done, Michel, bravo Ellen. As with many spectacular achievers, the signs were there from an early age, even in the unpromising nautical terrain of landlocked Derbyshire. Her great-grandparents were sailing people and a great-uncle was a merchant seaman, but any real link with the sea is tenuous. There was, however, an Auntie Thea who lived on the east coast of England and had a 26-foot sailing boat called Cabaret. It took just one trip on the open sea with her aunt to spark off Ellens lifelong passion. She was eight years old. After that she began saving her pocket money and spent all her spare time reading sailing books in the library, absorbing information like a sponge. With her savings and the help of her grandmother she bought an 8-foot fibreglass dinghy, and from that moment on there was no keeping her away from the water. Sailing round Britain single- handed at the age of 18 was just the start; Ellen had long since set her sights on the Vende. But finding the money to undertake round-the-world voyages is no easy feat. She wrote 2,000 letters requesting sponsorship and received just two replies, one, happily, from the Kingfisher company who were looking to expand into France. And in terms of race preparation, if thoroughness was the key to success, Ellen could certainly be considered one of the favourites. In the eight months leading up to the start of the race, she sailed no fewer than 60,000 miles at the helm of her 60-foot Kingfisher, far more than the rest of the fleet put together in the same period. During her three months at sea MacArthur negotiated deadly icebergs, gigantic waves and gale-force winds. She endured the freezing cold of the Antarctic and suffered the blistering heat of the windless doldrums. Racing conditions meant sleeping in 10-minute bursts, a survival suit that stayed on for weeks at a time and hands and wrists covered in sores and cuts. Food was dried or frozen. Water came from a desalinator, which passes sea water through a membrane. You dont really wash in the icy waters of the southern ocean, she laughs. Anyway, theres no one to tell you that you smell. As Kingfisher crossed the finishing line Ellen was surrounded by hundreds of spectator boats and a cheering crowd of 200,000 lined the shore. Stepping off her yacht she looked remarkably composed and seemed to take the change from solitude to public adulation very much in her stride. Her thoughts, she later confessed, were on the realization that she had fulfilled the ambition that had dominated her life for the previous four or five years. Throughout that time my sole focus had been crossing the finishing line, and in the fastest possible time. Now she could savour that moment. But despite MacArthurs belief that everyone who finishes the Vende is a winner, she still feels a sense of disappointment that, having taken the lead from the eventual winner Michel Desjoyaux 10 days from the finish, she did not quite have the energy or good fortune to turn her advantage into victory. You have to believe you can win from the start, she asserts. Deep down youre a competitor; you dont climb the mast and come back black and blue just for a cruise. You do it because its a race. The public will now be hoping to see a suitable encore, some new feat of endurance to justify her celebrity status. For Ellen can no longer claim, as she did in her post-race press conference, to be the simple Derbyshire girl with no mobile, no credit cards, no money, no nothing; she is a heroine and an inspiration to others of her generation. As if to reinforce this, and despite her reluctance to take on this role, she later commented: If theres one thing Ive learned in this past year, its that deep down in your heart, if you have a dream, then you can and must make it happen.
Exercise 1: Reading Comprehension MARK
EXAMPLE: 0 At the time of her achievement we learn that Ellen A attracted more attention than Michel Desjoyaux. B became popular because of her size. C was more famous in France than anywhere else. QUESTIONS 1 Where did EIlens initial interest in sailing come from? A She carne from a family of sailing enthusiasts. B She read widely on the subject. C She went to see one of her relatives. 2 What do we learn about Ellen at the start of the race? A She had been waiting for this moment since she was 18. B She had gone to great lengths to achieve her ambition. C People thought she had a very good chance of winning. 3 The writer suggests that one cause of discomfort for Ellen at sea was A extremes of temperature. B her failure to sleep.
C the shortage of water. 4 According to the writer, when Ellen finished the race, she was A able to reflect on her achievement. B overwhelmed by her new-found fame. C surprised by the number of people who came to greet her. 5 According to the writer, Ellen A has mixed feelings about the outcome of the race. B knew she would win the race. C thinks she deserved to win the race.
