Additional Exercises

Quickly skim the two articles. Circle the answers

Which article…

1. gives someone’s opinion?

1. ding 1

2. Reading 2

3. Reading 1&2

2. describes a sport?

1. Reading 1

2. Reading 2

3. Reading 1&2

3. begins with an event in the past?

1. Reading 1

2. Reading 2

3. Reading 1&2

4. mostly talks about events in the present tense?

1. Reading 1

2. Reading 2

3. Reading 1&2

Reading 1

Extreme ironing

What activities are sports? Running and football? Sure. Synchronized swimming? Probably. Ballroom dancing? Maybe. Playing cards? Probably not. Gardening? Definitely not. Most people believe that sports must combine physical activity and competition. If we use this definition, then extreme ironing is a sport.

What is extreme ironing? Extreme ironing is pressing clothes in very difficult places. Ironists must carry their irons, ironing boards, and wrinkled laundry with them to the competition site. Some ironists take electric generators. Others heat their irons on gas stoves. The competitors get more points for the difficulty of the location. However, the quality of the ironing is important, too. Each item must be well pressed.

Extreme ironists compete in some amazing places. Contestants iron while they are climbing rocks, climbing mountains, and climbing trees. They iron in canoes, on the backs of cows, and even underwater. One team ironed while on a kayak in the Atlantic Ocean.

This sport is not a joke. Teams from 30 countries competed in the first world championships in Germany in 2002. Phil Shaw is the inventor of extreme ironing. He says that there are about 1,500 ironists worldwide. Some teams have corporate sponsors. The German corporation Rowenta, an iron maker, pays for Shaw's team. The goal of extreme ironists is to have then sport included m the Olympics. Maybe then they can start using their real names. At the moment, contestants use names such as Steam, Cool Silk, and Iron Man. Why? Shaw admits. "Most competitors don't want people to know that they are ironists."

Reading 2

Eating to Live

KENNEBUNK. MAINE—Sonya Thomas of Alexandria, Virginia, finished 38 lobsters in 12 minutes and won the World Lobster-Eating Contest en Saturday. She ate a total of 4.39 kilograms of lobster meat. Sonya won $500 and a trophy.

Sonya has a lot of trophies. She is a professional gurgitator – she eats for a living. The International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) says that Thomas is the best gurgitator in the United States. In fact, a few days before the lobster competition, she won a bean-eating competition. She ate 4 kilos of beans in 2 minutes and 47 seconds. She also holds the record for hard-boiled eggs (65 in 6 minutes) and tacos (43 in 11 minutes). Sonya is the only American who could possibly- beat Japanese gurgitator Takeru Kobayashi. He is ranked number one in the world. He is the champion in eating hot dogs, rice balls, and cow brains.

You might think that professional eaters must look like sumo wrestlers. They don't. In fact, most of them are not fat at ail. Kobayashi weighs only 50 kilograms and Sonya Thomas just 45. What is their secret? Metal buckets, perhaps.

Professional eating is serious business. Gurgiiators travel from one championship to another just like golfers and tennis players. First, there is the chicken-wing competition, then the matzo-ball competition, followed by the pickle-eating championship, and so on. The most important competition is Nathan’s Hot-Dog Eating Contest. It is held in New York every July. It is the Olympics of a sport that will never be in the Olympics.

Check the Facts

Reading 1