Read the passage carefully and then answer the questions that follow:
I wonder why I do this each time I jump out the door. I leave the airplane with the ground 12,000 feet below me. I hover for a brief moment. Then the air rips at my clothes and hair as I fall 200 miles per hour towards the earth. I smile to myself. I do this because I enjoy it.
Only about 20 people in the U. S. do what I am doing. But I was the first. If you want to try this, you need a board three feet long and eleven inches wide, about the size and shape of a skateboard. It should have an aluminum honeycomb core, a graphite-fiber finish and rubber edges. My other equipment includes sports shoes, colourful tights and jacket, gloves, dark sun glasses and, of course, a parachute. I also have lots of training. This includes over 350 solo skydives and many hours of free fall time. With the specially designed board strapped to my feet I jump out of an airplane. The sport is called skysurfing.
During the sixty second free-fall before I open my parachute, I feel the sensation of skiing down a steep mountain or surfing the side of a huge ocean wave. The airplane is far above me as I turn and guide my board down through the clouds. Gravity pulls me through space closer and closer to the earth. I try to stay in control as the blasting wind hits my body. I fall through the sky upright and then maneuver my board across the sky just like a skier on a snow covered slope. This is only one of the tricks I have developed. Others include flips, spins and something I call the helicopter. When I do this, I fall head first with the board spinning above me.
I must not remain like this for long because only half of my free-fall time remains. I do one last flip and enjoy the view and the solitude while soaring through the clouds upside-down.
I look at the altimeter attached to my wrist. I am at the altitude where I must open my parachute. My sixty second ride down through the sky was so fast. As I complete my descent with my parachute open, I still enjoy the freedom that a bird must feel.
I release the board when I am five or six feet above the ground. This is so that I can glide down and land on my two feet.
1a Say whether the following statements are true or false:
- i After the writer leaves the aircraft he stands in the air for a long while.
- ii About twenty people in USA skysurf.
- iii A skysurfer free-falls for only about one minute before opening his parachute.
- iv Very high mountains are needed for skydiving.
- v The author has attempted only 350 skydives with others.
1b Why do you think that such few people in the U.S. have tried skysurfing?
1c What is the sensation of skysurfing like?
1d Pick the correct option:
i A skysurfer ……………
a. is pulled behind a speed boat b. jumps out of an airplane
c. is pulled behind an airplane d. causes his airplane to spin and flip
ii Skysurfing requires……………….
a. no training b. a parachute
c. a little training d. colourful clothing
iii A skysurfer…………….
a. can hover for six minutes b. opens his parachute six feet above the ground
c. can free fall for sixty second d. releases his board sixty feet above the ground
1e Make sentences with the following words/phrases:
hover, free fall, blasting, upside-down, descent
1f Fill in the blanks with appropriate word:
brief, equipment, sensation, maneuver, solitude
i The ………….of skysurfing is like skiing down a deep mountain.
ii A skysurfer’s most important piece of ……………is his parachute.
iii A skysurfer can ………….his board to make turns across the sky as he falls.
iv Skysurfers enjoy the excitement and ………….of skysurfing.
v The fall from the aircraft for over 12,000 feet is ………….and swift
1a Say whether the following statements are true or false:
i After the writer leaves the aircraft he stands in the air for a long while. - false
ii About twenty people in USA skysurf. -True
iii A skysurfer free-falls for only about one minute before opening his parachute.-Ture
iv Very high mountains are needed for skydiving.- False
v The author has attempted only 350 skydives with others.- False
1b. i think that such few people in the U.S. have tried skysurfing because they want to enjoy air , see earth from the top , feel like birds and lastly to become unique.
1c . It has a sensation of skiing down a steep mountain or surfing the side of a huge
_______ ____ _____ _______ _________ ________.
___ _____ ______ _________ ______ __________ ________ ______ ________ ____.
_________ ___ _________ ________ _______ ____ __________ _________.
_______ ________ __________ _______ ____ ______ ___ _____ __________ ______.
____ _________ ________ ________ _____ ________ __________.
_____ ______ ______ ____ ________.
____ ____ ______ _____ ____ ____.
____ _____ ________ ________ ______ ____.
_________ ______ ________ ________ ___ ________ _________ ________.
______ _________ _______ _________ ________ ___ _____ ___ _______ __________ ________.
_______ ________ ______ ___ ________ _________ ______ _________ _________ ______.
__________ ___ ___ ____ ______ __________ ____ __________.
___ _________ ______ ____ ______ _________ _______ ________ _________ ____ ________.
_______ ________ _________ _____ __________ __________.
___ _________ ______ ______ ______ ________ _________ _________ ________ ___ _______.
__________ __________ _______ ____ ____ ____ ________.
______ ________ ______ _____ ___ ____ _______ ____ ______ _________ ________ __________.
___ ________ _________ _____ ______ _______ _________ ___ ___ ___ _____.
_____ _______ ______ _________ _________ ________.
____ ____ ______ ___ ____ ______ ______ _________ ____.
________ ___ ______ ______ ______ _________ ____ _____.
_____ _________ _______ ____ _________.
___ _______ ____ ____ ________ _______ _________ __________ _________ ___ _______ ______.
____ ____ ______ ______ _______ ___ ___ _______ _____ __________ _____.
_________ _______ ___ ____ ______ _______ ______ ___.
_________ ___ _______ _________ ___ _____ ____.
_____ __________ __________ ___ __________ _____ __________ ________ _______.
__________ ______ ________ _______ _____ ______ ________.
____ ___ _______ ___ _____ __________ ________ __________.
- Solved Assignments
- Study Notes
- Guess Papers
- Question Papers
✓ Unlock up to 60% of the answer
✓ No payment required