第9章 Lesson 9: Extreme Sports

Most people think that extreme sports are a relatively new invention in the sporting world, but many extreme sports are actually not new at all. Let's look at the examples of surfing and bungee-jumping.

Surfing was invented in Hawaii hundreds of years ago. Surfboards were first made from long pieces of wood and came in all shapes and sizes: from about one to four metres in length. Hawaiians used to call surfing "wave sliding."

The first western explorers who came to Hawaii were awed and impressed by the sight of wave sliding. However, it was not until the early 20th century that surfing was introduced to the world by Duke Kahanamoku, the Hawaiian-born swimming medalist at the 1912 and 1920 Olympic Games. Since then, the sport of surfing has developed into an important part of the beach culture.

Bungee-jumping was also developed by a group of people living near the Pacific Ocean, on the island of Pentecost in Vanuatu. Legend has it that the first person to ever jump was a woman named Tamalie. These days, however, the jump is only done by men, who tie vines to their feet and jump from scaffolds. In addition to being a manhood ceremony, the jump is done to ensure a bountiful yam harvest. In 1979, a group of students from the Oxford University Dangerous Sport Club—who had seen a film about the vine jumpers of Pentecost—jumped from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England, and later from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Soon bungee-jumping became the popular extreme sport that it is today.

I. Word List

extreme sport: this is a sport that is exciting, but dangerous

awed: amazed, very surprised

legend: a story that may or may not be true

yam: a kind of sweet potato

vine: a very long, flexible plant

II. Write T (true) or F (false) for the following sentences.

___ 1. Surfing was invented in Hawaii.

___ 2. Surfing was introduced to the world in the early 20th century.

___ 3. Bungee-jumping started on an island in the Pacific Ocean.

___ 4. These days, only men do bungee-jumping in Pentecost.

___ 5. A story says that a woman did the first bungee-jump.

III. What's the word? Find the correct words in the reading.

1. the names of two islands: H _ _ _ _ _, V _ _ _ _ _ _

2. the name of an ocean: P _ _ _ _ _ _

3. a kind of food: y _ _

4. a place where there is usually sand: b _ _ _ _

5. a kind of plant: v _ _ _

6. the name of a city in England: B _ _ _ _ _ _

IV. If you could choose between bungee-jumping and surfing, which would you choose? Why?