Sports Stars

Te a c h e r s
Material
 C O N T E N T S

To the Teacher ..................................................................................................................... 3

Before Reading ..................................................................................................................... 5

After Reading: Extra Challenges ......................................................................................... 6

Worksheet 1: Miguel Indurin ............................................................................................. 7

Answers to Worksheet 1 ...................................................................................................... 8

Worksheet 2: Monica Seles ................................................................................................ 9

Answers to Worksheet 2 ................................................................................................... 10

Worksheet 3: Michael Jordan ............................................................................................ 11

Answers to Worksheet 3 .................................................................................................... 12

Final Test .............................................................................................................................. 13

Answers to Final Test ......................................................................................................... 14

Answers to Questions in the Reader ................................................................................. 15

Before using the following teachers material, we recommend that

you read the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet.

Copyright 1998 Burlington Books

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 Sports Stars

TO THE TEACHER

SUMMARIES

Miguel Indurin
Miguel Indurin became the best cyclist in the world. He was born in 1964 in the town of Villava in
Navarre, northern Spain. He started to cycle when he was ten years old. In 1984, after taking part in and
winning many amateur races, amongst them the amateur Tour de France, Indurin decided to become a
professional cyclist.
Between 1985 and 1991 Indurin continued to improve steadily. Finally, in 1991, he won the Tour de
France. He was the fourth Spaniard to do so and he became a national hero overnight.
Miguel Indurin, sometimes called Big Mig, is one of the most popular sports stars in Spain. He was
always considerate to his team-mates and they in turn respected him. He continued to win race after race
and, by 1995, he had won the Tour de France five times, an achievement that only three other cyclists had
ever equalled, although Indurin was the first to win the race five times in a row.
In 1996, Indurin felt tired and ill, and finished in 11th place in the Tour de France. Nevertheless, he
continued to show that he was a champion by winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta later
that year. In 1997, however, at the age of 32, Indurin decided to retire from cycling. He is still considered a
phenomenal cyclist and a great sportsman. People also know him as a family man that everyone respects.

Monica Seles
Monica Seles was born in 1973 in Yugoslavia. Encouraged by her father, she started to play tennis at an
early age. She was only 11 years old when she became a junior world champion. She then moved to
America to continue her training. In 1989, at the age of 15, she became a professional tennis player and in
only her second professional tournament, she beat the number one seed, Chris Evert.
In 1990, Monica became the youngest person in the 20th century to win a Grand Slam title when she won
the French Open. She was only 16 years old. The following year in Australia, she won her second Grand
Slam event. In 1991, Monica Seles became the world number one player, the youngest in tennis history, at
the age of 17.
Monica went from success to success until, in April 1993, a man called Guenter Parche stabbed her in the
back with a kitchen knife while she was on court in Hamburg. Parche was a fan of Steffi Graf and stabbed
Monica to make Steffi number one again. Monica suffered both mentally and physically from the attack and
did not know if she wanted to play tennis again. Martina Navratilova, another famous tennis player, visited
Monica and encouraged her to return to the tennis court. In August 1995, after not playing tennis for over
two years, Monica returned to professional tennis and won the Canadian Open. Her back improved, but she
had other injuries, causing her to miss several tournaments. She also had disappointments in her personal
life. Guenter Parche pleaded guilty in court, but he was not sent to prison. In addition, Monicas father
became ill with cancer.
Today, Monica Seles is no longer the world number one tennis player, and nobody knows if she can ever be
again. But everyone agrees that she is one of the greatest players in tennis history.

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 Sports Stars

Michael Jordan
When Michael Jordan was a child, he was too small to be a good basketball player. Fortunately, he grew to
1.98 metres tall and became a basketball legend.
Jordan was born in 1963 in North Carolina and learnt to play basketball on a court that his father built for
him at home. In 1982, he played for the University of North Carolina. Two years later, he was the captain
of the American basketball team at the Los Angeles Olympics which won a gold medal. Michael Jordan
then decided to become a professional basketball player.
In 1984, Jordan joined the Chicago Bulls as defensive guard. In 1987, he became the defensive guard who
scored the most baskets in professional basketball history. In 1988, he got a contract for a further eight
years and became the best paid team athlete in the world. In 1992, Michael Jordan joined his rival from the
LA Lakers, Magic Johnson, as part of the American team at the Barcelona Olympics and received his
second Olympic gold medal.
Between 1987 and 1993, Michael Jordan was considered the best player in basketball history. But, in 1993,
soon after his fathers death, he decided to stop playing. He did not stop being a sportsman; he decided to
try baseball instead. He wasnt successful, though, and in 1995 he was back with the Chicago Bulls. In the
19951996 season they won more games than any other team in NBA history. Michael Jordan continues to
break records and entertain his many fans. In 1997, he starred in the film Space Jam.

BACKGROUND

The Tour de France, held every summer, is the most famous bicycle road race in the world. Participants
race through the French countryside and through mountain passes for 23 days, covering more than 4,000
kilometres before the end of the race in Paris. The race leader wears a yellow vest. The cyclist with the
shortest total riding time is the winner. The winner is generally acknowledged as the worlds best cyclist.
The Grand Slam tennis competitions are four tournaments that take place each year. They are the
Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon (in England) and the US Open.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) league was formed in 1949.
The Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordans team, are considered one of the best teams in the National
Basketball Association league.

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 Sports Stars

BEFORE READING

SUGGESTIONS FOR LEAD-IN ACTIVITIES

In pairs, students ask and answer the following questions. Alternatively, you can ask the questions and elicit
the answers from the whole class. (Some suggested answers are provided in italics.)
1. What are your favourite sports? (basketball, cycling, football, swimming, tennis, etc.) What sports do
you like playing?
2. What do you know about basketball, cycling and tennis? Do you know the names of any famous people
who take part in these sports? (Miguel Indurin, Monica Seles, Michael Jordan, etc.) What do you
know about any of these sportspeople?
3. What do you think are the qualities that make a sports star? (part of the team, dedicated, hard working,
strong, popular, excellent player, wins prizes, trains hard, brave)
4. What are the difficulties that a sports star might encounter? (injury, losing a tournament or race, pain,
personal problems, media and public attention, etc.)

K E Y V O C A B U L A RY

1. Pre-teach the following key vocabulary on the theme of sport.

train achieve coach performance career speed beat win
success earn score break records awards rank injury

2. Ask students to make a diagram like the one below and to add a sport of their own. Ask them to write
as many different words and expressions about the sports as they can think of.

skiing
cycling
tennis
Sport

basketball ...........
football

BEFORE READING ACTIVITIES

The Before Reading activities in the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet, pages 8-11,
can be applied to Sports Stars.
In addition to the activities in the general leaflet, students can then do the following activities.
1. Look at the first page of each section. Find the following information and fill in the chart.

Name of sportsperson Sport Date of birth Place of birth

2. Look at the pictures on pages 15, 21 and 34 of the reader. Each picture shows the sportsperson away
from their sport. Write at least two sentences about the situation shown in each picture. You can
describe what the sportsperson is doing, feeling, looks like, etc. Compare your answers with a partner.
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 Sports Stars

AFTER READING: EXTRA CHALLENGES

MAKE YOUR STUDENTS THINK

Here are some points that more advanced students can be asked to consider after reading the book.
1. Miguel Indurin, Monica Seles and Michael Jordan are all sports stars. Write down one or two
difficulties that each of them had during their career. Also, write down ways that you think each of
them overcame their difficulties.
2. Write down something about each of the stars, that makes him / her an outstanding person. Compare
your answers in pairs or in groups.
3. Describe three major events that influenced the lives of each of the stars.

DRAMA ACTIVITIES AND PROJECT SUGGESTIONS

You may want to present some of these activities in the students own language.
1. Choose one of the stars and invent an advertisement in which he / she appears, for example an
advertisement for shoes or food.
2. Write a letter to one of the stars asking for specific information about them. Also ask for a photo and
an autograph.
3. Do some research on a sports star in a sport other than cycling, tennis or basketball. Write a summary
of their life.
4. Pretend that you are a sports star. Write about one day in your life.
5. Invent a humorous meeting between Miguel Indurin, Monica Seles and Michael Jordan. Write their
conversation, deciding on the tone, for example: complaining, boastful or after a victory. Act out or
tape the conversation with two friends.
6. Make a game. Make pairs of cards, one with the name of a sports star and the other with a descriptive
phrase or word about that person. Find ideas in the text. Mix the cards and place them in rows face
down. In turn, each player turns over two cards. When a matching pair is found, the player keeps that
pair, scores a point and has another turn. The winner is the one with the most matching pairs.
7. Illustrate the cover of a new book on sport which includes Miguel Indurin, Monica Seles and Michael
Jordan.
8. In pairs, write a newspaper headline for one of the events in the texts. Present your headline to the
class. The class has to match it to the correct event. Alternatively, write a short newspaper article about
one of the events in the texts.
9. Pretend that you are a reporter for a newspaper. Interview one of the sports stars; your partner role-
plays the sports star. Ask him / her for information that is not in the text. Act out or tape the interview.
10. Write a few paragraphs about one of the sports mentioned. Include some details about the history of
the sport, rules, other famous players, etc. Use an encyclopedia if you need to.

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 Sports Stars

T OO R
W T HK ES HT EE EA TC H1 :E RM I G U E L I N D U R I N

A. Fill in the blanks with words from the list. There are more words than you need.

train won performance earn races career

support team breathe lose coach success
1. Indurin began to train for a professional ...................... in cycling.
2. He gave a very good ...................... and won the race.
3. He proved to the world that he is a great sportsman and his ...................... was not an accident.
4. Sometimes you win a race and sometimes you ...................... .
5. If you want to be a sports star, you must ...................... every day.
6. Indurin began to train seriously and win ...................... .
7. When athletes appear in advertisements for big companies they can ...................... a lot of money.
8. Indurin was the leader of the cycling ...................... .

B. Match A to B to form sentences.

A B
1. Miguel Indurin ...... a. his lungs.
2. In 1984, he won ...... b. Spain.
3. He had to race very fast and against ...... c. a record.
4. Unfortunately, he wasnt strong enough ...... d. a family man that everyone respects.
5. The secret of his success was the size of ...... e. was one of the best cyclists in the world.
6. That year, he broke ...... f. ill.
7. Miguel Indurin is very popular in ...... g. the amateur Tour de France.
8. People also see him as ...... h. his team-mates.
9. He gave part of his money to ...... i. the clock.
10. He was tired and he felt ...... j. to finish the race.

C. Choose the correct form of the verb in each sentence.

1. People (call / calls) him Big Mig.
2. He (supported / support) Pedro Delgado in the 1988 Tour de France.
3. He (become / became) a hero overnight.
4. People (know / knows) him as a phenomenal cyclist.
5. In 1997, he (decide / decided) to retire.
6. Millions of people (watches / watched) his victory.
7. He (win / won) the race again.
8. He (trained / train) on the roads around Pamplona.

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 Worksheet 1: Miguel Indurin

ANSWERS

A. 1. career
2. performance
3. success
4. lose
5. train
6. races
7. earn
8. team

B. 1. e
2. g
3. i
4. j
5. a
6. c
7. b
8. d
9. h
10. f

C. 1. call
2. supported
3. became
4. know
5. decided
6. watched
7. won
8. trained

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 Sports Stars

T OO R
W T HK ES HT EE EA TC H2 E: RM O N I C A S E L E S

A. Fill in the blanks with words from the list. There are more words than you need.

safest fine number one seed blamed grunts dreams

trust sharp hurts collapsed unable bravest

1. I injured my ankle and now it ...................... .

2. She always thought that the tennis court was the ...................... place in the world.
3. Every young sportswoman has ...................... about getting to the top.
4. Monica Seles ...................... the newspapers when she lost her concentration.
5. Monica Seles is not the best player now, but she is one of the ...................... .
6. She was the ...................... . She was the best player in the tennis world.
7. A man stabbed Monica with a ...................... knife.
8. Monica Seles found it hard to ...................... the people watching after she was stabbed.

B. Write True or False next to each sentence.

1. Monica Seles father taught her how to play tennis. ......................
2. Her jumps are a natural way to release air and energy. ......................
3. When she lost in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, she blamed the newspapers. ......................
4. Monica Seles was the junior world champion when she was only four years old. ......................
5. Monica moved to France to continue her training. ......................
6. Guenter Parche said that he was guilty in court, but he did not go to prison. ......................
7. Monica Seles was stabbed in the leg. ......................
8. Monica Seles sued the German Tennis Federation, but she lost the case. ......................

C. There are four false sentences in exercise B above. Correct them.

........................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................

D. Choose the correct form of the verb in each sentence.

1. Monica Seles (broke / break) the record.
2. Martina Navratilova (want / wanted) to see Monica play tennis again.
3. Steffi Graf (visit / visited) Monica in hospital.
4. The doctors (says / said), She will get better.
5. She (makes / make) noises when she plays.
6. They (plays / play) at Wimbledon.
7. We both (started / starts) to cry.
8. Her fans (hope / hopes) that she will win.

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 Worksheet 2: Monica Seles

ANSWERS

A. 1. hurts
2. safest
3. dreams
4. blamed
5. bravest
6. number one seed
7. sharp
8. trust

B. 1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. False
6. True
7. False
8. True

C. 2. Her grunts are a natural way to release air and energy.

4. Monica Seles was the junior world champion when she was only 11 years old.
5. Monica moved to America to continue her training.
7. Monica Seles was stabbed in the back.

D. 1. broke
2. wanted
3. visited
4. said
5. makes
6. play
7. started
8. hope

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 Sports Stars

TWOO R
T HK ES HT EE EA TC H3 E: RM I C H A E L J O R D A N
A. Circle the word that doesnt belong.
1. injury shocking embarrassing
2. trust awards blame
3. hurt ankle knee
4. shock college thrill
5. basketball court backyard advertisement
6. movie film dream
7. advertisements agreed films
8. rebounds scores grades
B. Group the words under the headings below. Add more words to any group.
school score university embarrassed awards break records
shocked shots rebounds jump college thrilled

Places of learning Words used in basketball Feelings

C. Choose the correct form of the verb in each sentence.

1. The Chicago Bulls (beat / beating) the LA Lakers.
2. He (star / starred) in Space Jam.
3. The Chicago Bulls (won / win) many games in 1991.
4. Michael Jordan knows that young people (thinks / think) he is a hero.
5. The season (ended / end) in the same way.
6. Nothing (remains / remain) for me to do.
7. They (shows / show) that they are happy.
8. They (choosing / chose) Michael Jordan as the Most Valuable Player.

D. Fill in the correct preposition: on, in, from or to.

Michael Jordan was born 1. ...................... February 17, 1963. His family came 2. ...................... North
Carolina. When he was a child, he was often 3. ...................... trouble. He was very close
4. ...................... his father. Michael played for the university 5. ...................... his first season there. He
was quick to attack when he stole the ball 6. ...................... the other team.

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 Worksheet 3: Michael Jordan

ANSWERS

A. 1. injury
2. awards
3. hurt
4. college
5. advertisement
6. dream
7. agreed
8. rebounds

B. Places of learning Words used in basketball Feelings

school score embarrassed
university break records thrilled
college shots shocked
rebounds
jump
awards

C. 1. beat
2. starred
3. won
4. think
5. ended
6. remains
7. show
8. chose
D. 1. on
2. from
3. in
4. to
5. in
6. from

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 Sports Stars

FINAL TEST

A. Choose the correct answer.

1. Professional cyclists must be
a. very tall and fast.
b. very fast and strong.
c. very strong and slow.
2. The most famous cycle race in the world is
a. the Tour of Italy.
b. the Tour of Spain.
c. the Tour de France.
3. There are .......... Grand Slam tennis events.
a. three
b. four
c. five
4. At 16 years old, in 1997, the youngest world number one player in tennis history was
a. Martina Hingis.
b. Monica Seles.
c. Steffi Graf.
5. When Michael Jordan was young, he was
a. too small to be a good college basketball player.
b. too tall to be a good college basketball player.
c. too fat to be a good college basketball player.
6. Michael Jordan advertised for
a. Burger King, Nike and Pepsi.
b. Pizza Hut, Coca-Cola and Puma.
c. McDonalds, Coca-Cola and Nike. 30 points (5 points each)
B. Choose the correct answer.
When Miguel Indurin started to (1. train / coach), he began winning races. He also began a
professional (2. career / grave). In 1985, he was too young to make a big impression and he dropped
(3. in / out) of the Tour de France after four stages of the race. He was very (4. fooled / disappointed).
But later, he became a very successful sportsman, and he (5. won / lost) the Tour de France in 1991.
Monica Seles said that her (6. grunts / earnings) were a natural way to release air and energy. When
she lost in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 1990, she (7. stabbed / blamed) the newspapers for her
losing concentration. In 1992, she broke her own record and (8. earned / collapsed) $2,622,352. Her
matches were everything the (9. judge / media) and her fans hoped for. Now, Monica Seles is not the
best player in the world, but she is very (10. guilty / brave).
When Michael Jordan was a child, he was often (11. in / on) trouble for fighting. He (12. stays /
didnt stay) in his first job for a long time. In 1985, he had a foot (13. injury / award) which stopped
him from playing basketball. When he returned to the game, he continued to (14. have / break) records
in basketball and even starred with (15. trainers / cartoon characters) in the film Space Jam.
45 points (3 points each)

C. Choose one topic and write a paragraph. Your paragraph should be at least 30 words long.
1. Explain why Miguel Indurin was an ideal member of a team. Give reasons and examples from the
text.
2. Write about Monica Seles relationship with her father.
3. Write about at least two changes in Michael Jordans career, from the time he began playing
basketball until 1997. 25 points

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 Final Test

ANSWERS
A. 1. b
2. c
3. b
4. a
5. a
6. c

B. 1. train
2. career
3. out
4. disappointed
5. won
6. grunts
7. blamed
8. earned
9. media
10. brave
11. in
12. didnt stay
13. injury
14. break
15. cartoon characters

C. Accept all logical and grammatically correct answers.

Possible points for inclusion:
1. When Indurin won the Tour de France in 1992, he gave part of his prize money to his team-mates
to thank them for helping him win. At the dinner table, he sat wherever there was an empty seat and
he always listened to the stories of his team-mates. He was always humble when he won a race and
congratulated other riders when they won stages. Indurin was always part of the team.
2. When Monica Seles asked to start playing tennis, her father drove for ten hours to Italy to get her a
racket. Her father was not a professional tennis player, but he was a tennis fan, and he taught
Monica to play from an old book about tennis. He put a net between two cars and they practised
there. Later, the Seles family decided to move from Yugoslavia to America so that Monica could
continue her training. When Monica returned to tennis and won the Canadian Open after she was
stabbed, her father hugged her and cried. The saddest thing in Monicas life was her fathers illness.
3. In 1982, Jordan helped the University of North Carolina to win the National Championship for the
first time in 26 years. In 1984, after the Los Angeles Olympics, he became a professional basketball
player. He was chosen by the Chicago Bulls and played for them for several seasons. He appeared
in advertisements for Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Nike.
In 1993, Jordans father died, and in October he stopped playing basketball. Instead, he played
baseball for the Birmingham Barons. In March 1995, he returned to the Chicago Bulls. In 1997, he
also starred in the film Space Jam.

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 Sports Stars

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN THE READER

These answers relate to the questions on pages 36-37 of the reader itself.

Miguel Indurin
1. He decided to become a professional cyclist in 1984 after winning the amateur Tour de France.
2. It was important because he won the Tour de France for the first time and had successes in other races.
3. He was called Big Mig because he was very tall for a cyclist (1.88 metres).
4. He has large lungs and he can breathe eight litres of air. He has more energy than other cyclists.
5. He received the Legion of Honour from the French President, Franois Mitterrand.
6. Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx have won five Tours de France.
7. He was tired and he felt ill. He thought it was impossible to win again.
8. He won almost 130 races.

Monica Seles
1. Her father, Karolj, taught her to play tennis and Nick Bollettieri trained her.
2. She moved to America in order to continue her training.
3. The four Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon (in England)
and the US Open.
4. She beat her in May 1990 in the final of the German Open.
5. She became the youngest person this century to win a Grand Slam title.
6. She won the Australian Open in 1991.
7. She earned $2,622,352 in 1992.
8. Her career was stopped on April 30th, when she was stabbed in the back.
9. Her back got better and she began playing tennis again in August 1995. (Later she suffered from other
injuries.)
10. No, she is no longer the youngest number one in tennis.

Michael Jordan
1. He didnt want to work at anything except basketball. He decided to work harder at school to go to
university and become a basketball player.
2. He was the captain of the American basketball team which won the gold medal. He decided to become
a professional basketball player.
3. He played defensive guard.
4. He became the defensive guard who scored the most baskets in professional basketball history.
5. He got the NBAs Most Valuable Player and Best Defensive Player awards.
6. He won it in 1992 in Barcelona.
*7. Jordan wasnt very successful at baseball. He played for the Chicago White Soxs second team, the
Birmingham Barons, and his batting average got worse during the season.
*8. He returned on March 19th, 1995.
*9. They were cartoon characters.

* Note that questions 7, 8 and 9 were incorrectly numbered in the first edition of the reader.

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