COLEGIO SAN PEDRO DE QUILICURA

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT 2017

Guía de ausencia 7° básico

SURFING

Surfing has been a way of life for thousands of years among Pacific Islanders. In
ancient times, surfing prowess earned you actual political power. In the early 1900s,
surfing began to be recognized by international sporting agencies as a legitimate
sport. Surfing's mainstream popularity peaked in the United States in the early
1960s, with music, movies, and television programs dedicated to the surfing lifestyle.

Surfing is still a popular sport at any beach where there are plenty of waves, and
surfers are now pushing the boundaries, being towed into huge waves . The boards
have gotten smaller and lighter and the surfing culture is more conservative than in
the early days, but modern surfers still appreciate the ebb and flow of waiting for
the perfect wave and riding it all the way to the sand.

The Ancient Polynesians

The first European encounter with surfing happened in 1767 off the coast of Tahiti.
European sailors were intrigued by the Polynesians who could walk on water using long,
heavy boards. For the Polynesians, surfing was a way to establish social rank and
political power. The man who was the best surfer became chief of the tribe, and he
was awarded a surfboard made from the best tree in the village. The social structure
was established through surfing, with the best beaches and the best boards reserved
for the upper class. Surfing skill was well respected throughout the community,
however, and commoners could elevate their social status by proving their skills on
the heavy inferior boards that they surfed with.

In the early 1800s the Hawaiian islands were visited by European missionaries who
discouraged all forms of native culture, including surfing. The culture of Polynesian
surfing dwindled until there were very few natives who still knew how to surf by the
1900s. The ancient art of building surfboards was also in danger of becoming obsolete
by the turn of the century. Only a small handful of native Hawaiians continued to
create boards and surf regularly.

1. Underline all cognates from the text

2. Write your known words (English and Spanish)

3. Write a vocabulary (15 new words)

4. Make a summary of each paragraph in Spanish.