1This extract has been taken from “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins.

In the novel, the Hunger

2Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl, each
3between the ages of 12 and 18 from each of the twelve districts, pitting them against each other in
4a game of survival where they are forced to fight one another to the death. In this section of the novel, the
574th Hunger Games is about to begin. The story is told from the point of view of Katniss, the female
6contestant from District 12.

1Sixty seconds. That's how long we're required to stand on our metal circles before the sound
2of a gong releases us. Step off before the minute is up, and land mines blow your legs off.
3Sixty seconds to take in the ring of tributes all equidistant from the Cornucopia, a giant
4golden horn shaped like a cone with a curved tail, the mouth of which is at least twenty feet
5high, spilling over with the things that will give us life here in the arena. Food, containers of
6water, weapons, medicine, garments, fire starters. Strewn around the Cornucopia are other
7supplies, their value decreasing the farther they are from the horn. For instance, only a few
8steps from my feet lies a three-foot square of plastic. Certainly it could be of some use in a
9downpour. But there in the mouth, I can see a tent pack that would protect from almost any
10sort of weather. If I had the guts to go in and fight for it against the other twenty-three
11tributes. Which I have been instructed not to do.

12We're on a flat, open stretch of ground. A plain of hard-packed dirt. Behind the tributes
13across from me, I can see nothing, indicating either a steep downward slope or even a cliff.
14To my right lies a lake. To my left and back, sparse piney woods. This is where Haymitch
15would want me to go. Immediately.

16I hear his instructions in my head. "Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between
17yourselves and the others, and find a source of water."

18But it's tempting, so tempting, when I see the bounty waiting there before me. And I know
19that if I don't get it, someone else will. That the Career Tributes who survive the bloodbath
20will divide up most of these life-sustaining spoils. Something catches my eye. There, resting
21on a mound of blanket rolls, is a silver sheath of arrows and a bow, already strung, just
22waiting to be engaged. That's mine, I think. It's meant for me.

23I'm fast. I can sprint faster than any of the girls in our school, although a couple can beat me
24in distance races. But this forty-yard length, this is what I am built for. I know I can get it, I
25know I can reach it first, but then the question is how quickly can I get out of there? By the
26time I've scrambled up the packs and grabbed the weapons, others will have reached the horn,
27and one or two I might be able to pick off, but say there's a dozen, at that close range, they
28could take me down with the spears and the clubs. Or their own powerful fists. Still, I won't
29be the only target. I'm betting many of the other tributes would pass up a smaller girl, even
30one who scored an eleven in training, to take out their more fierce adversaries.

31Haymitch has never seen me run. Maybe if he had he'd tell me to go for it. Get the weapon.
32Since that's the very weapon that might be my salvation. And I only see one bow in that
33whole pile. I know the minute must be almost up and will have to decide what my strategy
34will be and I find myself positioning my feet to run, not away into the surrounding forests but
35toward the pile, toward the bow. When suddenly I notice Peeta, he's about five tributes to my
36right, quite a fair distance, still I can tell he's looking at me and I think he might be shaking
37his head. But the sun's in my eyes, and while I'm puzzling over it the gong rings out.

38And I've missed it! I've missed my chance! Because those extra couple of seconds I've lost by
39not being ready are enough to change my mind about going in. My feet shuffle for a moment,
40confused at the direction my brain wants to take and then I lunge forward, scoop up the sheet
 7This extract has been taken from “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. In the novel, the Hunger
8Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl, each
9between the ages of 12 and 18 from each of the twelve districts, pitting them against each other in
10a game of survival where they are forced to fight one another to the death. In this section of the novel, the
1174th Hunger Games is about to begin. The story is told from the point of view of Katniss, the female
12contestant from District 12.

41of plastic and a loaf of bread. The pickings are so small and I'm so angry with Peeta for
42distracting me that I sprint in twenty yards to retrieve a bright orange backpack that could
43hold anything because I can't stand leaving with virtually nothing.

44A boy, I think from District 9, reaches the pack at the same time I do and for a brief time we
45grapple for it and then he coughs, splattering my face with blood. I stagger back, repulsed by
46the warm, sticky spray. Then the boy slips to the ground. That's when I see the knife in his
47back. Already other tributes have reached the Cornucopia and are spreading out to attack.
48Yes, the girl from District 2, ten yards away, running toward me, one hand clutching a half-
49dozen knives. I've seen her throw in training. She never misses. And I'm her next target.

50All the general fear I've been feeling condenses into an immediate fear of this girl, this
51predator who might kill me in seconds. Adrenaline shoots through me and I sling the pack
52over one shoulder and run full-speed for the woods. I can hear the blade whistling toward me
53and reflexively hike the pack up to protect my head. The blade lodges in the pack. Both straps
54on my shoulders now, I make for the trees. Somehow I know the girl will not pursue me. That
55she'll be drawn back into the Cornucopia before all the good stuff is gone. A grin crosses my
56face. Thanks for the knife, I think.