In Your Own Words

1. In Your Own Words

2. …why do I recall these times with a glow of satisfaction? Perhaps it has something to do with exercise and fitness – the feelgood feeling that comes from muscles that don’t ache when you climb stairs, lungs that don’t wheeze when you run for a bus and endorphins that buzz round your head and keep you feeling high even after you have returned to sea-level. Using your own words as far as possible, summarize the three reasons the writer gives us for returning to the hills. (3) U

3. Answer • He has a sense of achievement and feeling of fulfilment. • It makes him fitter (“muscles that don’t ache/lungs that don’t wheeze”) • He gets pleasure and feels exhilarated by the exercise (“endorphins that buzz round your head” or “keep you feeling high”)

4. Our superb Ethiopian guide, Solomon Berhe, was sitting with me in a friendly, but flyblown village of sticks and stones, cardboard and tin in Hamed Ela, 300ft below sea level, in a hot wind, on a hot night. Explain, in your own words, the contrasting impressions the writer has about the village in Hamed Ela (2) U

5. Answer • “friendly” – welcoming/helpful/hospitable/kindly/nice • “flyblown”- rickety/flimsy/ramshackle/makeshift/uncomfortable/physically inhospitable/unhygenic/poor

6. Or come to that, whose fatal failing was simply to be very, very unfortunate – to round a bend and find a moody male blocking the path, head rocking appraisingly, or wander unwittingly into the territory of a bear too slowed by age or idleness to chase down fleeter prey. In your own words, explain the ways in which human beings might have accidental confrontations with bears. (2) U

7. Answer • Gloss of “round a bend … appraisingly” e.g. by being unlucky enough to bump into one on the trail. • Gloss of “wander unwittingly…prey” e.g. by meandering/walking into the area dominated by / the domain of an old/injured bear

8. Some parts of the world you make a conscious effort to visit and others have to wait until fate delivers you there. The writer gives two explanations for visiting parts of the world. In your own words, say what they are. (2) U

9. Answer • One is deliberate/intentional/planned. • The other happens by chance

10. Whether it is amusement, curiosity or sympathy that attracts attention, companies say that when it comes to promoting a product, the human factor works. Explain, in your own words, two possible reasons for the success of “the human factor” (2) U

11. Answer • Any two of: • “Amusement” – they make people laugh/smile • “Curiosity” - attract interest • “Sympathy” – make people feel sorry for/pity the characters

12. The goal was to swim a mile, bike a dozen more and finish with a 5-kilometre run. It’s called a sprint triathlon, in the jargon of recreational athletics, as compared to the much longer distance triathlon. In your own words, explain what a sprint triathlon is. (2) U

13. Answer • It’s a race with three stages • Which is fairly short • E.g. A relatively short test of stamina, involving swimming, cycling and running.