4) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
The first time I saw Boris, he was playing tennis. He did not look the kind of kid who played tennis: he had a round face, which his hair- a kind of ponytail-made even rounder. He was overweight; baby fat of course, with legs like a piano, by which I mean shapeless legs, with a lot of fat and no muscle.
Boris was nine years old.
He played a strange kind of tennis-he did not use his feet. He threw himself towards the ball like a goalkeeper and raged when he did not get it. A remarkable kid! I stopped and watched him. His knees were grazed, his arms sore.
'What's that kid's name?' I asked.
'Becker,' they said, 'Boris Becker.'
That was in Biberach (name of a town in Germany). More than fifty youngsters were playing in front of trainers of the German Tennis Association, to see who
should be given further individual training, paid courses, and invitations to
international tournaments. The Association holds trials like this every year for young talented German tennis players.
Boris failed.
At that time, I was only deputy national trainer; I had not been in Germany for long, and I was only along as an observer. I could say what I thought, but it would not count for much. I seem to remember talking about Boris' eyes. The trainers
were going by a checklist: running, technique, many individual tests. There was
nothing on the list about 'eyes' or 'concentration'
When I think back today to that clumsy kid (in the 30-metre sprint, he was one of
the last to waddle past the post), all I can see is his eyes. He did not look like the
other kids. He stared at each incoming ball so hard that I thought: "That's impossible in a kidl". How could a kid look so hard at the ball? Most kids' attention wanders all over the place, to whatever catches their attention, a car horn, a fly,
laughter on the next court,
Off the tennis court, Boris was like any other kid, but as soon as he had the racquet in his hand and the ball was coming over the net, he changed. His way of looking, the way his eyes worked, this over-concentration was not something that he had learnt from me.
I have been living with Boris for three years. His parents entrusted me with their
son when he was fifteen; later at my suggestion, Ion Tiriac took over as his manager. Boris progressed to become the number one in tennis, a kind of world phenomenon. People cheer him everywhere - in America, Japan, Great Britain. At seventeen, he won at Wimbledon; and while I am finishing this book about him, I
can hear his car starting below. We live next door to one another in Monte Carlo. I
get out to the balcony and look down, and there is Boris, eighteen years old, threading his new black car into the traffic. It's the middle of July; last week he won Wimbledon for the second time.
"Don't drive too fast!” I yell down.
He grins up at me, knows I am on the balcony
a) Four words / phrases from the passage are underlined and in bold. Write the
meaning of each as used in the passage. One-word answers or short phrases will be accepted
i) raged
ii)count for much
III)threading
iv)balcony
b) Answer the following questions in your own words:
i) What was the impression the narrator formed of Boris Becker the first time
he saw him?
ii) What distinguished Becker from all other boys of his age?
iii) How did Becker behave when he was not on the tennis court?
iv) What do you think was the role of the writer in Boris' life?
v) On the basis of the above passage, describe (in NOT MORE than 60
words and NOT LESS than 55 words) how Becker became a famous tennis
player.
Answers
Answered by
5
Answer:
the first time I saw Boris, he is playing tennis
Explanation:
He did not look the kind of kid who played tennis: he had a round face, which his hair- a kind of ponytail-made even rounder. He was overweight; baby fat of course, with legs like a piano, by which I mean shapeless legs, with a lot of fat and no muscle.
Answered by
0
Answer:
8)saw, was playing, did not looked, played, had , made , was, played, did not use , threw, raged, did not get it, stopped, watched, were groosed.
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