Examination Specification Level B2 (Grade 11)

Sport

Read the text and choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best.

I have bittersweet memories of school sports. Overall, however, I think they are pleasant enough to silence those who say there is no place for sport in school.
Lessons are fine, but sport makes it a complete education.
Some of my best memories are from the carefree time before secondary education, when sport was fun and the competition element was less important. There wasn’t much pressure, as I recall, and defeat was never a problem.
My passion then was football and, like many boys, I think I just found it wonderful that there was a lesson dedicated to what was basically just fun. Sadly, I don’t remember any formal training at all, although we must have had a referee for matches. Maybe the training existed, but it was just for members of the school team, which was for boys with more skills than I had.
I’m sure we did some athletics events like long jump, and I can certainly remember doing quite well in races, though I seem to have forgotten the details about the distances we ran. What I do remember is Sports Day and they definitely gave prizes, if not medals. I’m sure I must have won something, although the details are again lost in time.
It was at secondary school that sport turned into a disappointment. We no longer played football, but rugby and hockey – and cricket in the summer. You could see the hockey pitch from some of the classrooms and I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to try it. But I quickly gave it up, as I did with cricket, because I wasn’t good enough. Rugby was a different story. I must have been quite good at it because I was picked for the team several times and I can even remember scoring. My rugby teacher spoiled it for me though. I loved playing, but training was like a punishment.
The teachers clearly took sport very seriously and it was important for the school’s reputation. We didn’t know it at the time, but the teachers’ jobs were probably on the line if the teams didn’t win enough matches. The main thing we students felt was that if you weren’t naturally talented, they made your life difficult. I wish I loved sport now – teachers should encourage students to love their subject. I think they should have succeeded in doing that at least.

1. 
   In paragraph 1, the writer refers to people who have suggested that
   

1. 
   sport is bad for young people.
   
2. 
   students make too much noise when they do sport.
   
3. 
   people should not do sport in school.
   
4. 
   sport is a valuable lesson which should be taught in schools.
   

2. 
   At primary school, sport was fun because
   

1. 
   they could choose what to do.
   
2. 
   they only played team sports.
   
3. 
   it didn’t matter whether they won or lost.
   
4. 
   they entered a number of different competitions.
   

3. 
   What does the writer say about football?
   

1. 
   There can’t have been any training at all.
   
2. 
   He had to miss a lesson to play it.
   
3. 
   They should have had a referee.
   
4. 
   He wasn’t good enough for the school team.
   

4. 
   In athletics, the writer
   

1. 
   was disappointed not to win any medals.
   
2. 
   thinks he won a prize.
   
3. 
   preferred running to long jump.
   
4. 
   won a prize but has since lost it.
   

5. 
   At secondary school, the writer
   

1. 
   wasn’t allowed to play hockey.
   
2. 
   played football mostly.
   
3. 
   enjoyed playing rugby.
   
4. 
   was too young to play cricket.
   

ANSWERS FOR THE READING