Vstep Reading Practice Test 6
Vstep Reading Practice Test 6
Vstep Reading Practice Test 6
The Olympic Games have changed a lot since their origins in Ancient Greece. Today, athletes
from countries all over the world take part and the Olympics are big business, watched by
millions on television. Some things, though, have stayed the same. The athletes then could
make a lot of money from winning, just like today's competitors. In the ancient Games, a
great champion might have received as much as a year’s pay for winning a race.
Another thing that hasn't changed is the search for an all-round champion, somebody who can
defeat their opponents at a number of different sporting events. In the ancient Olympics,
athletes competed in the pentathlon. This consisted of the long jump, the discus, the javelin, a
running race and wrestling. The first winner, in 708 BC, was Lampis of Sparta, who must
have been a great athlete to beat so many others from all over the Hellenic world. The
pentathlon was an important part of the Olympics until Emperor Theodosius of Rome banned
the Games in 393 AD.
The Stockholm Olympics of 1912 brought back this tradition of the search for all-around
greatness. The modern pentathlon was included (shooting, swimming, fencing, riding and
running) and so was the modern decathlon (ten events), with the heptathlon (seven events) for
women being introduced later. So what drives someone to take on this running, throwing,
jumping challenge and push their body to its limits? I met American decathlete Bruce Thorpe
in New York and told him he must have been crazy to take up the decathlon. He laughed.
“Yes, I think I probably was. I could have done lots of different sports, but I chose the
decathlon. It’s very tough and it demands a lot of different skills. You have to train just as
hard as other athletes, only you have to do it in ten different events! I think we’re probably all
a little crazy, but it’s very satisfying in the end,” he said. I asked him to explain what happens
in the decathlon.
“The way it works is you complete each event and you get points, depending on how well you
do in that event. At the end of two days, the person with the most points is the champion and
takes the gold medal, the second person gets the silver and the third the bronze medal. We
start with the 100 metres, the long jump, the shot put, the high jump and the 400 metres. The
second day, it’s the 110 metre hurdles, the discus, the javelin, the pole vault and the one that
we all dread, the 1500 metres.” I asked him what made the 1500 metres such a struggle. 'All
the other events demand speed or strength. With the long race, it’s stamina. Really,
decathletes aren’t built for that event.'
So, what tips does Bruce have for those of you thinking of taking up the decathlon? “Start as
early as you can and join a good club,” he said. “It takes a long time to master ten different
events, or seven for the heptathlon, and you need expert help. And don’t expect to have much
free time!”
Ten events, one champion. Think you might be the one? If you’re interested in finding out
more about the decathlon, contact your local athletics club.
11. In the first paragraph, the writer says that athletes today
A. are more popular than in ancient times.
B. are much better than in ancient times.
C. treat the Olympics like a business.
D. can become wealthy through sport.
12. What does the word “This” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A. the champion
B. the running race
C. Greece
D. the pentathlon
13. The ancient pentathlon didn't test athletes' abilities to
A. throw things.
B. jump high.
C. run fast.
D. jump far.
14. Lampis of Sparta was
A. the organizer of the first ancient Olympics
B. Emperor Theodosius of Rome
C. the first winner of the ancient Olympics
D. the greatest athlete in history
COAST TO COAST
A27-year-old graphic designer from Oxfordshire in England completed a record-
breaking journey across Australia yesterday. It was a 5,800 kilometre odyssey - and he
travelled the whole distance on a skateboard. David Cornthwaite, who started skateboarding
less than two years ago, decided on his epic journey after waking up one morning and
realising he hated his job. “I thought, the only thing keeping me going is the skate to and from
work. I was a bit disillusioned and I was looking for something new,” he said. “I saw a
Lonely Planet guide to Australia. There was a map on the back. Perth was on one side and
Brisbane on the other and I thought, that'll do.”
He decided to prepare by skateboarding from John O'Groats to Lands End: the two
points furthest apart on the British mainland. That 1.442 kilometre trek, which he finished in
June, took just over a month, during which an infected blister swelled to the 'size of a tennis
ball'.
Crossing Australia on a skateboard brought unique challenges. The wind caused by
huge road trains, the articulated lorries that thunder across the Outback, was so powerful that
he was sometimes blown off his board. Multiple blisters and aching ankles, toes and feet,
have kept him in almost constant pain for the last six weeks. “I feel like an old man. I'm not
sure that anyone has ever had this many blisters,' he said. Temperatures of 40°C and above
mean that he has used more than a dozen tubes of factor 30 sunscreen. 'There have been
moments where I thought “this is ridiculous, I have to rest", but I never contemplated giving
up.' He has worn through 13 pair of shoes and has an over-developed right calf muscle which
he compares to ‘a giant chicken fillet’.
Skating an average of 50 kilometres a day and hitting speeds of up to 50kph on
downhill runs, he left Perth, Western Australia, and skated across the fearsome Nullarbor
Plain into South Australia. After reaching Adelaide he made his way to Melbourne and from
there to Sydney. A support team of seven people trailed him all the way in a four-wheel drive
vehicle, which included camping equipment for night stops. The journey has smashed the
previous record for a long-distance skateboard, set by an American, Jack Smith, who covered
4,800 kilometres across the US in 2003.
David Cornthwaite was less than three kilometres from the end of his epic journey when
he hit a hole and was so thrown off his skateboard, suffering cuts and bruises to his shoulders,
knees, hips and elbows. 'I was only going at 40km at the time, so although it wasn’t pretty, it
could have been a lot worse,' he said. In the short term, he hopes to spend the next few days
surfing on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, to build up some much-needed upper body
strength. I've got huge legs but a skinny body - it’s a bit ridiculous. I need to give my body a
chance to warm down and surfing sounds ideal. For the time being I’m hanging up my
skateboard. In the longer term, he plans to give motivational speeches and write a book.
Another long-distance journey is also on the cards. “I’m certainly not going back to the day
job,” he said.