Tennis

Instructions

You are going to read an article about 16-year-old Harry Moore who writes about his hobby, tennis. Choose the most suitable alternative in the boxes (A, B, C, or D).

My parents have always loved tennis and they’re members of a tennis club. My older brother was really good at it and they supported him – taking him to lessons all the time. So I guess when I announced that I wanted to be a tennis champion when I grew up I just intended for them to notice me. My mother laughed. She knew I couldn’t possibly be serious, I was just a 4-year-old kid!

Later, I joined the club’s junior coaching group and eventually took part in my first proper contest, confident that my team would do well. We won, which was fantastic, but I wasn’t so successful. I didn’t even want to be in the team photo because I didn’t feel I deserved to be. When my coach asked what happened in my final match, I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t believe I’d lost – I knew I was the better player. But every time I attacked, the other player defended brilliantly. I couldn’t explain the result.

After that, I decided to listen more carefully to my coach because he had lots of tips. I realised that you need the right attitude to be a winner. On court I have a plan but sometimes the other guy will do something unexpected so I’ll change it. If I lose a point, I do my best to forget it and find a way to win the next one.

At tournaments, it’s impossible to avoid players who explode in anger. Lots of players can be negative – including myself sometimes. Once I got so angry that I nearly broke my racket! But my coach has helped me develop ways to control those feelings. After all, the judges have a hard job and you just have to accept their decisions.

My coach demands that I train in the gym to make sure I’m strong right to the end of a tournament. I’m getting good results: my shots are more accurate and I’m beginning to realise that with hard work there’s a chance that I could be a champion one day.

QUIZ
READING TIPS: MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
  • Read the text first before you attempt to answer any questions.
  • Find the part of the text which answers the question. The answers to the questions will generally follow in the same order in the text.
  • Make sure there is evidence for your answer in the text and that it is not just an answer you think is right.
  • Don’t choose an answer simply because a word in the question appears in the text. Sometimes specific words are used to trick you.
  • Check that your chosen option is correct by trying to find out why the other options are incorrect.
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