Page 158 – Page 160
Nine Gold Medals — Check Your Understanding
I. Match Column 1 with Column 2:
1. dashed in the
dirt — (ii) destroyed
2. stumbled — (iv) step
awkwardly, lose balance and almost fall
3. staggered — (i) walk or
move with difficulty
4. anguish — (v) extreme
pain or suffering
5. asphalt — (iii) a
hard black substance used to make roads and paths
II. Identify the Gist of Each Stanza:
- Stanza 2
Spectators cheered participants... - Stanza 4 All runners dashed ahead...
- Stanza 8 The race finished with nine athletes
holding hands...
- Stanza 3 Participants got ready at the starting
line...
- Stanza 1 Athletes from various parts of the
country...
- Stanza 6 The eight athletes stopped to help...
- Stanza 7 Nine athletes held the banner...
- Stanza 5 The young athlete felt his dreams were
shattered...
III. Appreciating the Poem:
1. Alliteration:
(i) "stumbled and
staggered"
(ii) "dashed in the
dirt"
2. Visual
Imagery:
(i) "blocks were all
lined up"
(ii) "fell to the
asphalt"
(iii) "nine beaming
faces"
3. Auditory
Imagery:
(i) "pistol
exploded" (or "sound of the gun")
4. Imagery
effect: It creates vivid mental pictures and sounds, making the reader feel as
if they are watching the event live in the stadium.
5. Tone change: It changes
from intense competition and excitement to shock, and finally to empathy,
warmth, and joy.
6. Overall mood: Heartwarming,
inspirational, and full of compassion.
7. Message: Compassion,
sportsmanship, and helping others are far more important than winning an
individual race.
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Page 162
Critical Reflection
I. Extract Questions:
Extract 1:
- (i) Answer: B.
stopped running
- (ii) Trait: Empathy
(or true sportsmanship).
- (iii) Tone: Admiring
and deeply moved.
- (iv) Feelings:
Relieved, grateful, and comforted.
- (v) Turning Point: Yes,
because the competitive race transformed into a collective act of empathy
and kindness.
Extract 2:
- (i) Feelings: Happy,
proud, and united.
- (ii) Reason: Every
single one of them displayed the true spirit of human kindness and
sportsmanship, making them all winners.
- (iii) Sentence Completion:
...unity, solidarity, and mutual respect.
- (iv) Answer: A.
amazed
- (v) Explanation: The joy
and satisfaction on the athletes' faces communicated an inspirational
message that words alone could never fully express.
II. Answer the Following Questions:
1. Setting in
Stanzas 1 & 2:
It describes months of hard work
and enthusiasm from spectators, building up excitement and tension before the
dramatic event occurs.
2. Youngest
athlete's feelings upon falling:
Devastated, helpless, and
heartbroken as his hard work seemed wasted.
3. Why athletes
were eager:
They had trained for months and
wanted to win a medal for their hard work.
4. Symbolism of
walk:
It symbolises that cooperation
and empathy outweigh competitive ambition.
5. Focus on
individual achievement:
It would have been a standard
story of victory and defeat, lacking the heartwarming lesson on human kindness.
6. Language and
tone enhancement:
Simple narrative language
combined with emotional turns engages the reader's heart and moral sense.
7. Poet's
purpose:
To remind society that
compassion, unity, and kindness are greater victories than individual
competition.
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Page 163
Vocabulary in Context
I. Collocation Examples from Poem:
1. youngest
athlete (or hundred-yard dash)
2. standing
ovation
II. Complete Collocations Table:
- Heavy: rain,
traffic, fine, heart
- Strong: belief,
wind, coffee, opinion
- Large: amount,
crowd, sum, number
- Great: success,
honor, pleasure, detail
III. Choose Correct Adjectives:
1. The youngest
athlete was moving at a steady pace.
2. The eight
athletes had a positive attitude.
3. When the
athlete fell, he gave a loud cry of pain.
4. The spectators
saw a significant difference in the athletes who had only come to
compete.
5. The noisy
crowd cheered the runners enthusiastically.
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Page 164
Listen and Respond
Part I:
1. False
2. True
3. False
Part II:
1. (i) challenge
themselves
2. (ii) coach of
special athletes
3. (ii) turning
point
4. (i) track
events
5. (i) a positive
outlook
