Maria Mutola, Former 800 metres Olympic champion

In 1988, Maria Mutola was playing football as the only girl in an all-boys team in a
local competition in Mozambique. 'We won,' she said. 'At first no one thought it
was a problem that I was a girl. But then the team we beat complained.'

The story appeared in a local newspaper and Jose Craveirinha, who had
encouraged other African athletes, learnt about Maria. He went to meet
her and found her kicking a ball around outside the football club. He
realized immediately that she was fast. 'He talked to me about athletics. I
had no idea what he meant. The only sport I knew about was football.
Then he bought me running shoes and took me training. It was such
hard work and my legs really ached.' But Jose visited her parents
and persuaded them she could be successful and this would help end their poverty.
They agreed to let him take her away to train.

In 1991, she finally accepted an invitation to train in the United States. She had
refused previously because she knew she would miss her family. Her background
was unlike those of the girls she met in the US. She explains, 'They were good
athletes but, while I worried about my parents having enough to eat, they worried
about dresses and make-up. They knew very little about me and even less about my
problems. But I knew I was lucky to be there. The trainers were brilliant and I learnt
a lot.'

Today, Maria still runs and for most of the year she lives happily in South Africa with
her mother.
Questions:
1. What is the writer trying to do in the text?

A Persuade more Africans to take up athletics.

B Describe how Maria became a
top athlete.
C Give information about moving to
America.

2 Jose Craveirinha found out about Maria when

A He went to watch a local football competition.

B People complained about another member of her
football team.
C He saw an article about her role in a football
match.

3 When Jose first introduced Maria to athletics, she

A didn't know what was involved.

B was worried about being injured.
C was keen to learn everything he knew.

4 What does Maria say about the girls she met in the United States?

A They used too much make-up.

B They did not show enough respect for the trainers.
C Their experiences of life were very different from hers.
 VERB TENSES
Change the words in brackets to the correct tense so that the sentence makes sense grammatically.
For example:

1. When the train (1)..arrived…(arrive) in the station yesterday morning , only 3 passengers
..got off..(get off)
2. If she ……………………(not win) the race tomorrow, she …………………….(be) very disappointed.

3. So, today is the big day! How long ……………………………………( wait) for this moment?
4. ……………………..…………….(see) the swimming event on Sky Sports last night?
5. I ……………………………..(go) to bed now. I ……………………….(see) you tomorrow.
6. It was really nice to see him again last Summer . I ……………………………….(not see) since our high
school days.

WORD FORMATION
Change the formation of the word so that it fits perfectly in with the sentence.

Athletics is a collection of events that involve 1. competitive sports. The most common 1. compete
types of athletics competitions are in track and field. The 2. simplicity of the competitions, 2.simple
and the lack of a need for expensive 3…………… makes athletics one of the most commonly 3. equip
competed sports in the world. Athletics is 4. ……….. an individual sport, with the 5. …….. of 4. most
competitions in which athletes combine their scores to achieve a team score. 5. except
The modern Olympic Games are the leading international sporting event in which
thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a 6……………of competitions.
These games are 7……….. popular and people are willing to pay huge sums of money to 6. vary
procure tickets in order to see the best athletes achieving their best 8………………….. 7. high
8. perform
Tickets to the Olympic Games opening ceremony can be difficult to find and expensive.
However, spectators usually enjoy a very 9……………… spectacle, with displays from the
participating countries.
9. impress
Athletes with a physical 10…………… compete at the Paralympics, which takes place
immediately after the main Olympic Games. 10. able

1 …………………………………………………………….. 6……………………………………………………………….
2…………………………………………………………… 7……………………………………………………………
3……………………………………………………………. 8……………………………………………………………
4……………………………………………………………… 9……………………………………………………………
5……………………………………………………………….. 10…………………………………………………………