Name _________________________________________________ Class ________________________
Skills Test 2A Units 3-4
READING SKILLS
1 Read the text and complete gaps 1–5 with sentences A–G. There are two extra sentences that
you do not need.
A Now, however, the level of competition is intense.
B The rules are detailed and precise.
C To put this in perspective, the next-best Olympic or Paralympic athlete has less than half of
this.
D In actual fact, this was not the first such event.
E At the moment there are 21 different Paralympic Games disciplines.
F This has continued ever since.
G After the first official Paralympics the movement grew rapidly.
/5
VERY SPECIAL OLYMPICS
A brief history of the Paralympic Games
The very beginning
The first official Paralympic Games were organised in Rome in 1960, in the week before the Olympic
Games in the Italian capital. The Paralympic Games were much smaller than the Olympics but were
still quite a large event, involving 400 athletes from 23 countries competing in almost 60 different
events. 1_____ After the Second World War, in 1948, a sports competition for injured veterans had
been organised in England. Initially this was only organised for wheelchair bound British veterans, but
other countries joined four years later and these events are generally seen as leading to the first official
Paralympic Games.
The early years
2
_____ Other forms of disability were included from 1976 and the number of athletes and disciplines
grew quickly. In recent decades the Paralympics have become more closely linked to the Olympics
and from 1988 onwards both games have been organised in the same city, something that had not
© Pearson Central Europe Sp. z o.o. 2012 PHOTOCOPIABLE
happened since Rome 1960. Since 1976 the Paralympic Winter Games have also been organised, and
from 1992 the Winter Paralympics have been held in the same city as the Winter Olympics. Today the
Paralympic movement is a worldwide movement which, apart from organising the games, is involved
in education and science in the field of disabled sport and in publicising the achievements of disabled
athletes.
A serious business
In the first Paralympic Games there were no more than three athletes in each event, meaning every
athlete stood on the podium. 3_____ Indeed, so serious is the fight for medals in the Paralympic Games
that competitors have been caught cheating in various ways, including doping and even able-bodied
athletes pretending to have disabilities. The Paralympic Games is without question an elite sporting
competition and the Paralympic champion at three different distances, Oscar Pistorius of South Africa,
a double amputee who runs with special ‘blades’ in place of his lower legs, qualified for the individual
400m at the able-bodied World Championships in 2011, reaching the second round of the competition.
More remarkably still, he won a silver medal at the same games as part of his country’s sprint relay
team, also breaking the national record. Several other athletes have competed in both the Paralympics
and the Olympics. Probably the most famous Paralympian is Trischa Zorn of the United States, a blind
swimmer. Over a period of 24 years she won an incredible 55 Paralympic medals, including 41 gold
medals. 4_____
The games today
The Paralympic Games have grown to an impressive size. The numbers speak for themselves: in
Beijing in 2008 there were almost ten times as many athletes as there had been at the first official
games in 1960. A wide range of disabilities are today included in the games and a complex
classification system is used to ensure fairness. 5_____ These include some variations of Olympic
sports, such as wheelchair basketball, and some exclusively Paralympic sports, such as boccia (a sport
similar to French boules) and goalball (similar to handball but played lying on the ground). The 2012
Paralympic Games is expected to be the largest and most extensively-broadcast in history, continuing
the trend of increasing interest in the games each time they are held.
© Pearson Central Europe Sp. z o.o. 2012 PHOTOCOPIABLE
2 Read the text again. Are the statements true (T) or false (F)?
1 Until 1964 only athletes in wheelchairs competed in the Paralympic Games.
2 1988 was the first time the Paralympics and the Olympics were organised in the same city.
3 At the beginning, every athlete in the Paralympics won a medal.
4 Oscar Pistorius won an individual medal at the 2011 World Championships.
5 The Paralympics use the same sports as the Olympics.
/5
© Pearson Central Europe Sp. z o.o. 2012 PHOTOCOPIABLE
LISTENING SKILLS
1 CD Track 3 Listen to a conversation about role models. Match role models 1-5 to statements
A-G. There are two extra statements that you do not need.
1 sportsmen or sportswomen
2 film characters
3 singers
4 historical figures
5 people that you know
A the things you see don’t look so good when you copy them
B they give us an example we can identify with
C they are always negative models
D this role model won’t disappoint you later
E there is often aggression in what they do
F they are very political choices
G using them as models is sometimes a way to try and make yourself more popular
/5
2 CD Track 3 Listen again. Are the statements true (T) or false (F)?
1 The article says that it is good for young people to have role models.
2 Ruth thinks sports stars are not good role models.
3 Both speakers talk about their own role models.
4 Luke thinks that it is obvious why people choose historical figures as role models.
5 Luke disagrees with Ruth about the best role models.
/5
© Pearson Central Europe Sp. z o.o. 2012 PHOTOCOPIABLE
COMMUNICATION
1 Complete the sentences with the words from the box. There is one extra word that you do
not need.
familiar such real does aware even what
It got so bad I even considered going straight home.
1 It was really nice to meet your brother. I had no idea he was _____________ a nice chap.
2 _____________ really helped me was knowing I had somebody to talk to if I needed it.
3 Thanks for the help. It _____________ make a difference, honestly.
4 I’m certain that we’re all _____________ with John’s suggestion.
5 I expect you’re _____________ that we’ve had some problems this month.
/5
TOTAL / 25
© Pearson Central Europe Sp. z o.o. 2012 PHOTOCOPIABLE
