Reading - Amazing or Crazy - Fauja Singh

 

Reading Amazing… or Crazy? 1. Write the verbs in parenthe parenthesis sis iin n the their ir si simple mple past form. form. Fauja Singh wasn’t a young man when he did the Toronto Marathon in October 2011. He was a 100 years old – the rst centenaria centenarian n ever to run in a marathon. marathon. He ran 42 kilometers in 8 th

hours, 25 minutes and 16 seconds. He didn’t come last, he came 3,850 !. People somemes call Singh the “Turbaned Tornado”! He was born in India on April 1, 1911. Aer his wife died in 1992, he moved to the UK to live with his son. He was in his eighes, but he didn’t want to sit at home all day. He wanted to do something – so he took up jogging. He became famous in 20 2000 00 whe he he fnished the London Marathon in 6 hours and 54 minutes. He was 89!, The sportswear company, Adidas, used Fauja for their “ Impossible is nothing ” publicity campaign. David Dav id Beckham Beckham and Lionel Lionel Mes Messi si were  also also part part of the same same campai campaign. gn. When he runs runs marathons, Singh raises money for a lot of children’s charies. “It’s the oldest running for the youngest!” he says. 2. Write a summar summary y about Fa Fauja uja Sing Singh’s h’s sto story ry (50 word words) s) either either from the the reading reading or from from the blog.

Young Fauja was scrawny and sick as a child, often bullied by other children who called him “danda”,  Punjabi for “as thin as a stick. ” Fauja did not develop the ability to walk  until he was five years old. His legs were thin and weak, and he could hardly walk long distances. He never went to school.

3. Talk about about one photo photo in tthe he blog an and d answ answer er the queso quesons. ns. (in (include clude the the picture picture in this this exercise) 1. What’s unusual about this photo?  ___ Fauja wears a cap on his head. ____ 2. What’s the man doing?  ____ He is jogging with his coach. ____ 3. What’s he wearing?  ___

He

wears

yellow

shirt

and

black

sweatpants. ____ 4. How old do you think he is?  ____He is 89 years old. old. _____

4. Read the the arcle arcle provided provided in in this le. le. The Then n match the words words in bold bold in the the arcle arcle with the correct meaning.

 

1. start doing something regularly –  take up  2. a person age 100 - centenarian

4. go to live in a new place - move

5. a strong fast wind that goes round in

3. collects (money for a parcular purpose) - raises

  a circle - tornado

5. Corr Correc ectt the the se sent nten ence ces. s.

1. Fauja Singh was born on april 2 nd.  __ Fauja Singh was born on april april 1 st. _____ 2. He moved to the US.  ___ He moved to the UK. UK. ____

3. He lived with his daughter in the UK.  ___He lived with his son in the UK. _____ _____

4. He took up.  ___ He took up jogging _____

5. He became famous in 2011.  __ He became amous in 2000___

6. He was part of a publicity campaign for Nike.  __ He was part o a publicity campaign campaign or Adidas. ___

6. Circle Circle the correct correct words. words. Then Then answer answer tthree hree of the quesons. quesons. 1. Where was / did  Fauja  Fauja Singh from originally?  ___ Fauja Singh, Indian born, born, Brish cizen___________ cizen___________ 2. Why was / did  he  he take up jogging in the rst place?  ____ This woke Fauja up from his slumber. slumber. __________ __________ 3. Which marathon does / did  he  he do in under seven hours? How old is / was he was he then?  ___ the London marathon marathon again in 2001, _______ ___________ ____ 4. Was / Did  his  his me in Toronto faster or slower? Why?  ___ he clocked an astonishing 5 hours 40 minutes in the 42.195 km race a stunning record for a 92-year-old runner. ____ 5. What does / do “Impossible do “Impossible is nothing” mean to you?  ___ This means that nothing is impossible, because if you set your mind to it, you can achieve it, since in life there will always be obstacles. ____ 6. Why does / do you do you think Adidas chose Fauja Singh for their campaign?  ___ I think it's because Fauja represents that age is not the reason why a person can stop running. _____

 

Reading

He was swimming when …

Vocabulary – TRANSPORTATION 1. Do you you know know thes these e words? words? Circle Circle tthe he ones ones you expect expect to re read ad about. about.

camper van car ferry cruise ship hot air balloon mountain bike rescue helicopter roller blades school bus 2. Use these these headi headings ngs to make a list of it items ems yo you u remembe remember. r.

Terms o  transportaon

Countries

Cies

Oceans

Health problems

 

3. Answ Answer er thes these e ques queso ons ns

1. How old was Jason when he got back to the UK?  _____________________________  ___________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________ 2. Which direcon did he travel in: east to west or west to east?  ___________________  _________ ____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________ 3. Which two countries didn’t he cross? c ross?  ___________________  _________ ____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________ 4. How do you think he got malaria?  ___________________  _________ ____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________ 4. Write a summar summary y ab about out Jason Lewis’s Lewis’s sstory. tory. (50 w words) ords)  ___________________  _________ ____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________  ___________________  _________ ____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________  _____________________________  ___________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________  ___________________  _________ ____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________  ___________________  _________ ____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________  ___________________  _________ ____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ __________