INLINE SKATING (READING FCE)

Inline Skating

Tracy Winters is on a mission to change the image of

Inline skating in this country

In her skates there is no stopping Tracy Winters. She spends most of her time teaching, consulting, examining or campaigning on behalf of this country's ever-growing number of inline skaters.

Busy as she is, Tracy did manage to spare an hour early one Saturday morning to give me a lesson in the .local park. The slight unease I felt at never having used inline skates before was not helped, however, by her emphatic disapproval as I pulled a pair of brand-new skates from my bag.

‘Oh dear,' she said with a frown- 'You've been sold what we call 'aggressive' skates, which are no good for the sort of skating that you want to do. They're too heavy for twists and tums and the
wheels are too small. And you've no brake.’

‘But I was told that all I need to do to stop was drag my leg behind me,' I protested.

'No, no, no,' said Tracy. She explained how she was currently helping a girl who has been off work for a year with a damaged leg after following similar advice. Tracy is drawing up a list of guidelines for selling inline skates based on ability, budget and type of use, which she wants to see all retailers use. She has seen the purchase of inappropriate skates all too often before. 'What you should have been sold is recreational skates,' she told me.

Ordinarily, those who tum up with the wrong skates suffer the added annoyance of missing out on a lesson because Tracy will not teach them. I was more fortunate and, after a small ticking off for not having knee pads, my lesson began.

Away from the critical eyes of more experienced skaters, she started me off gently, simple skating up and down a track on the edge of the park. 'Hands out,' Tracy told me repeatedly. This was not just to help break a fall, but to prevent my tumbling altogether. Ice skaters, Tracy pointed out, keep their arms in front not only to look elegant: it actually keeps them balanced.

To help get rid of my fear,' Tracy insisted that a fall would be good for me, but that I would need to relax for this to reduce the chances of injury. I was not so keen, but obeyed each time she reminded me to keep my back straight and chin up. 'You don't look at the ground when you're riding a bike,' she said.

Apart from ice-skating and bicycle riding, inline skating has similarities with ballet and skiing, which makes it attractive to a wide range of people. Au estimated sixty percent of inline skate owners use them every week and more than half are recreational skaters. In this country the sport is regarded as something for the young and as potentially dangerous- Tracy, together with the National Inline Skating Association, is trying to change this impression, in the first instance by emphasising the importance of insurance and the wearing of protective clothing in case of accidents. She would also like to see the sport more widely catered for in sports centres and health clubs, possibly through the building of indoor skating arenas.

Having been on wheels almost every day of her life since the age of five, Tracy is well-versed in the virtues of skating and, she claims, she never tires of the sport. 'It is the feeling of moving, of gliding, I can't quite pin it down, but it makes me feel good,' she says- Like the hundreds who start skating every week, I now know what she means.

You are going to read a newspaper article about the sport of inline skating for Questions 8-15, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D.

1.        How did the writer lee I before her inline skating lesson?

A. a little nervous                         C. very frightened

B. quite confident                         D. extremely excited

2.        What was wrong with the skates which the writer bought?

A. They were of poor quality.

B. They were not suitable.

C. They did not fit her well.

D. They didn’t work properly

3.        Why is Tracy writing a set of guidelines?

A. to help people who have been injured

B. to advise people who are buying skates

C. to provide information to sales stall in shops

D. to tell her students what to bring to lessons

4.        'ticking off' in line 32 means

A. checking something

B. waiting for something

C. giving someone a reward

D. telling someone they're wrong

5.        What does 'this' in line 37 refer to?

A. simple skating                                                  C. use of the hands

B. repeated instructions                                        D. avoiding falls

6.        Tracy compares skating and cycling in terms of

A. the fear people feel at first.

B. the need to learn how to fall

C. the need to relax to keep balanced

D. the correct body position to adopt

7.        How would Tracy like to change the idea people have of inline skating7

A. by encouraging older people to do it

B. by discouraging recreational skating

C. by stressing the need for safety

D. by forming a national association

8.        Alter the lesson, the writer agrees with Tracy that inline skating

A. is easy to learn                                                 C. is hard to teach

B. is rather tiring                                                   D. is very satisfying

ANSWER KEY

1. A

2. B

3. C

4. D

5. C

6. D

7. C

8. D