English Unlimited HAK/HUM 2, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD und CD-ROM

9 Free time 01 LANGUAGE SKILLS EXPLORE LOOK AGAIN EXTRAS 10 a Read the interview with Ruben and underline three reasons why luge is a difficult sport. Read the interview again and answer the following questions. Are you a person who pushes yourself beyond your limits (at school, in sports, in your free time, …)? Work in pairs and: describe a situation in which you pushed yourself beyond your limits. explain why you enjoy /why you don’t enjoy dangerous situations. speculate about how other people see you. Complete 1–3 in the table with the correct time expression from the box. Now complete 4–9 with are , do , didn’t , don’t , ’m not , did . Interviewer: So, Ruben, how did you get into the luge? Ruben: Well, at school, I couldn’t jump high or run fast. I played football, but I wasn’t very good. It was really sad! But when I was ten, I saw the Olympics on TV for the first time – and I loved it. And later, when I was 21, I saw Scott Hamilton win an Olympic medal in figure skating. Scott’s about 155 cm tall and weighs about 50 kilos, and he gave me hope. I thought: if that little guy can do it, I can do it too. So I decided to be an Olympic champion – but I had to find a sport. It’s true, I’m not a great athlete, but I never give up. I try again and again. So I chose the luge because people get hurt a lot, people often break bones – ninety percent of them give up. And I thought, well, I don’t give up, so I have a chance. Interviewer: Most Olympic luge athletes start training at 12. You started at 21, but you’ve competed in three Olympics. Ruben: Yes, I started in 1984. I went to the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988 and in Albertville in 1992. Then, nearly ten years later, my old coach phoned me up and said, “Argentina needs you!” So at age 39, I competed in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Interviewer: What’s it like to luge down a mountain at 90 miles an hour? Ruben: Well, at that speed, you don’t have time to think. The luge is very sensitive. If you hiccup, you can crash. And when you finish, you have to sit up and stop the luge by putting your feet on the ice. It takes a couple of hundred metres to stop because you finish the run at about 80 miles an hour. I still practise on the luge sometimes, and I’m frightened on every run. Interviewer: And what do you do these days? Ruben: I’m a motivational speaker. I talk about my experiences and how to be successful. I’m making a film about success at the moment. We’re interviewing a lot of business people, philosophers, athletes, Hollywood people. It’s very interesting. 1 Why did Ruben decide to become an Olympic athlete? 2 Why did he choose the luge? 3 How many Winter Olympics was he in? 4 What’s his job now? b SPEakING 11 GRaMMaR 12 a Present simple, past simple, present progressive at the moment sometimes in 1988 Grammar reference and practice, p. 147. Present simple Past simple Present progressive I still practise on the luge (1) . I went to the Olympics (2) . I ’m making a film (3) . How often (4) you practise? When (5) you go to the Olympics? What (6) you doing at the moment? I (7) practise at weekends. I (8) go in 1998. I (9) doing anything. b Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv