English Reading Exercises for A1 – Fit and healthy

Exercise 1

JONNIE PEACOCK

CHAMPION RUNNER

When Jonnie Peacock was ­five, he was like most small boys from his hometown of Cambridge – he loved to play sports. Then suddenly his life changed when he became very sick with meningitis. Jonnie’s parents took him to hospital and he nearly died. The doctors saved his life, but they couldn’t save his right leg. He couldn’t run around with the other children any more and he couldn’t play football, his favourite sport. In fact, he couldn’t do any sports at all.

But the doctors gave him a new, artifi­cial leg. He could walk again, but he wanted to do more than that, so he started dancing and doing other sports. His doctors, his friends and his parents were all surprised that he could do so much. Only 18 months after he lost his leg, he could run, swim and play football again, but running was his best sport.

In 2010, Jonnie started to practise a lot. He wanted to go to the London 2012 Paralympics, the Olympic Games for disabled athletes. Some of the athletes in the Paralympics can’t walk, some can’t see at all or can’t see very well. But in their sports, they can do things that most people can’t. Jonnie Peacock won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games when he was only 19 years old. He ran the 100 metres in a time of 10.90 seconds!

CAN YOU RUN THAT FAST?

A. Read the text. Answer the questions.

1   What was his life like until he was five?

2   How did his life change when he was five?

3   Why were his doctors, friends and parents surprised?

4   What does the text say about some of the Paralympic athletes?

5   Why is Jonnie famous?

Exercise 2

ONLY 5 MINUTES EXERCISE A WEEK …

… and you can get fit!

HOW EASY IS IT TO GET FIT? Do you think it’s difficult to do enough exercise? Is having enough time to exercise a problem? Think you know the answers to these questions? Well, think again because a new type of exercise is here and it could change your life.

WHAT IS IT? This new, popular form of exercise is called High Intensity Training (HIT) and it means you don’t have to spend hours and hours in the gym. A few minutes a day doing hard exercise is all you need. You can choose to do floor exercises, run or cycle.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO? Let’s take the example of cycling: you begin with a short warm up then you have to cycle really hard for 20 to 30 seconds and then rest. You repeat the routine twice and that’s all you have to do!

SO, HOW DOES HIT WORK? No one is sure of the answer to this question. However, some sports scientists in Canada, Norway and the UK think that when we exercise hard, we use a lot more muscles than we do with normal exercise. This helps us get fit, which could also mean we don’t get sick so easily from things like diabetes and heart disease.

“So if you think you haven’t got time to get fit, it’s not true. You only need a few minutes a day with HIT. So why not try it?”

A. Read the text. What is the new type of exercise?

B. Complete the HIT Fact sheet.

Exercise 3

Our staff: working hard, playing hard.

Walking my way to love   by Dylan Jones

Three years ago, I came to work for this company. I didn’t know anyone in the area so I decided to do some exercise to meet new people. However, I felt really un­fit. I tried doing different kinds of sports, but I did them all badly. I found an answer to all my problems by going for a walk.

A colleague of mine invited me to go on a walk in the mountains. I didn’t say yes immediately because it didn’t sound very interesting. However, I decided it could be good exercise for me so I went along. This was the beginning of my love of hiking.

At ­first, I had to walk slowly because I wasn’t very ­fit. However, I improved quickly and now I can walk quite fast for hours. I began to feel so much better. While I was on a hike with a group of people one weekend, I met Marina. She’s now my wife. We go hiking once or twice a month and we love it.

You don’t have to do anything special to start hiking. You only have to know how to walk and most people can do that. However, you have to buy special boots so you don’t hurt your feet. Hiking is a great way to enjoy our beautiful country. And you never know – perhaps you can ­find true love too!

A. Read Dylan’s article for the company blog. Tick (✓) what’s the same about Dylan’s and Andy’s activities.

1   they do their free-time activities outdoors

2   they do their free-time activities every day

3   they get fi t doing their free-time activities

4   they hurt their foot recently

B. Read the text again. Are the sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences.

1   Three years ago, Dylan was lonely.

2   He liked the idea of hiking immediately.

3   Hiking was a bit difficult at first.

4   He met his wife on a hike.

5   It’s very difficult to learn how to go hiking.

Exercise 4

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A TRIATHLON

So, you can swim, you can ride a bike, and you go running twice a week. But all three things together – are you crazy?

Many people like the idea of a triathlon, but they’re worried that it’s just too difficult for them. If that’s you, remember, you don’t have to start with the Olympics – there are lots of triathlons for beginners.

So read our advice and start preparing for your first triathlon – you can do it!

SWIMMING

For many people, it’s the first part, swimming, that they’re most worried about. It’s often in the sea, so even if you get tired, you can’t put your feet down for a rest. Also, you have to lift your arms up high because the water moves up and down. It’s a good idea to practise this, even when you’re in the swimming pool.

CYCLING

This is the second part of the triathlon. Riding a bike with lots of other people can be strange at first, so practise with friends. Remember that in the race, you have to stay away from the other bikes because it’s dangerous to get too close.

RUNNING

The running is often very hard because you have to do it when you’re already tired. When you get off the bike, you may think you can’t even stand up! So make sure you practise riding your bike and then running at least once a week.

GOOD LUCK!

A. Read the magazine article. Tick (✓) the best description of what it says.

1   It is very difficult to do a triathlon and you can only do it if you are very fit. You have to prepare for each part of the race.

2   There are triathlons at different levels, so you can find one that is right for you. It will help you if you prepare well.

3   It is easy to swim, bike or run, but it is difficult to do all three with no rest in between. It is best not to try to do these things together.

B. Read the magazine article again and complete the sentences.

1   In the first part of the triathlon you have to ……swim……, often in the sea.

2   When you swim in the sea, you can’t usually put your ………………. down.

3   When you practise swimming, lift you’re ………………. a long way out of the water.

4   In the second part of the triathlon, you have to ………………. a bike.

5   It’s dangerous to get too ………………. to the other bikes.

6   When you start to run, you usually feel ………………. .

C. Write an email to a friend who never does any sport. Give him or her some ideas about one or two sports to try and some advice about how to prepare. Include at least one sentence with have to and one with don’t have to.