Reading Comprehension Course Through a Genre-Oriented

Approach

Read the following text and then answer the questions below.

Kids’ Sports Today

In our wonderful past, kids gathered for pickup baseball games, throwing
the football on the streets or just running into each other to throw the ball at
the basketball court. Anyone could play. Parents watched or didn’t. The point
was to have fun. Some kids went on to play high-school sports, and that was
it.
But now four-year-olds try out for the pee wee baseball league. Gym lessons
begin at the age of three. Two-year-olds take soccer classes. Ridiculously,
tennis camps enroll toddlers. By high-school, kids are so burnt out, lessoned
out, and played out that they either drop out or fizzle out. Sports have
become too competitive, and too many parents see their child as the next
Tiger Woods, forcing their children to play or practice sports they do not like
or are not good at, or simply are not prepared for meeting the level of
demand.
Adapted from: “Elements of Literature” by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston (2009)

Now, give complete responses to the questions:

Section 1: Literal comprehension

1. What kind of games did kids play in the past?

2. What did parents do while the kids played?
3. In the past, what was the purpose of kids practicing sports?
4. What do four-year-olds try out for nowadays?
5. At what age do gym lessons start nowadays?

Section 2: Inferential comprehension

1. Why were sports for kids better in the past?

2. What is the impact of competitiveness in sports for kids?
3. How different is the position of parents now from in the past in relation
to their kids when they practice a sport?
4. What is the author’s opinion about sports for kids at present?

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 5. Why do you think children end up burned out after practicing sports in
competitive settings?

Section 3: Critical Comprehension

1. What is your opinion about children practicing competitive sports at a

very early age?
2. What do you think must be the role of parents when the kids practice
a sport?
3. What do you think is the best age for kids to start practicing a
competitive sport and why?
4. What was your experience about practicing a sport as a kid?
5. Do you agree or disagree with the writer’s point of view regarding the
practice of sports of kids at early ages? Why?

Language and Lexical Aspects

Read the text again and check out the adjectives which describe the main
character. Also check the verbs that express past actions:

Now choose five verbs from the text and construct complete sentences
about yourself:

Example: I attended school last week.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Now choose three adjectives from the text you consider are qualities of a
hero and construct complete sentences:

Example: Peter is a strong man.

1.
2.
3.

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Specific Questions

1. Was there something that caught your attention the most?

2. What would you change? Why?
3. Which activities helped you achieve a better comprehension of the
texts you read?
4. How did you feel about analyzing different types of texts?

Appendix 5: Final Reading Test

A. Read the following text.

Healthy Lifestyle

(1) When I was at school, I played some football and rugby. I hated rugby
because I couldn’t catch the ball, but I enjoyed football. I started out being a
terrible player and nobody wanted me to be on their team. But I started to
improve slowly and, after a few years, the other kids in the school accepted
me as a player, not a fantastic one, but one who wouldn’t do anything stupid.

(2) When I was at university, I stopped playing sports altogether. I was

working too hard, started eating too much, and, worst of all, I started
smoking. By the time I was thirty, I was overweight and unfit.

(3) Then one day, I was sitting in the park, smoking a cigarette. I was
watching these guys running. They looked slim, fit and healthy, and some of
them were much older than me. When I got home, I looked in the bathroom
mirror and, well, I suppose I just didn’t like what I saw. At that moment, I
decided to stop smoking and change my life. I went to a sports shop, bought
myself a pair of running shoes, shorts, and a sweatshirt. That evening I went
running around the park—for ten minutes! Physically, I felt terrible.
Everything was hurting: my legs, my chest. But inside, I felt good about it.

(4) The next evening, I went again. I still only did ten minutes, but I didn’t
feel as bad as I did the day before. Within a week, I was running for fifteen
minutes, then twenty, and after three weeks I ran for thirty minutes without
stopping. Quite soon, I was running longer distances and my speed and
strength were improving all the time. After six months, I was a runner! That
was five years ago. I now run eight kilometres six times a week and love it.
My proudest moment was last year, when I ran my first marathon and
finished in around three hours. I’m fitter now than I’ve ever been, and am so
glad that I went to sit in the park that day five years ago.

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B. Read for main ideas. Read the four sentences below. Four of them
describe the main idea of a paragraph in the reading passage. Write the
paragraph number next to the sentence that best describes the main idea.
You will not use one option.

1. How he got fit again and how he feels about it. __

2. His lifestyle and performance as a sportsman at school. __
3. The reason he liked playing football. __
4. The reason he started getting fit again. __
5. His unhealthy lifestyle when he began university. __

C. Read for details (multiple choice). Read the following statements and
choose the best option to complete them.

1. He hated rugby because...

a. nobody wanted him to play.
b. he was very slow and short.
c. he wasn’t good for catching the ball.
2. He bought a pair of running shoes because...
a. he wanted to start running and get fit again.
b. he liked the other guys’ running shoes.
c. his running shoes were old already.
3. The second time he went running, he did it for...
a. ten minutes.
b. fifteen minutes.
c. twenty minutes.
4. He started running...
a. six months ago.
b. five years ago.
c. one year ago.

D. Read for details. Provide short answers to the following questions:

1. Which sport did he like best at school?

2. Why did nobody want to play with him at first?
3. Where was he when he decided to change his lifestyle?
4. How often does he run now?
5. What did he do last year?

E. Making inferences. Read the following statements. Circle the option of

the inference that can be made from each statement.

1. “Everything was hurting: my legs, my chest. But inside, I felt good

about it.” He felt good about it because...

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 a. he was not tired.
b. it was a good start toward getting fit.
c. he didn’t feel sick anymore.
2. “I looked in the bathroom mirror and, well, I suppose I just didn’t like
what I saw.” He didn’t like what he saw because...
a. he looked very tired.
b. he looked old and unfit.
c. he looked sick.
3. “I am so glad that I went to sit in the park that day five years ago.” He
was glad because...
a. it motivated him to start running.
b. he did not like what he saw.
c. it was the first time he ran a marathon.

Adapted
from http://www.dsw.edu.pl/fileadmin/user_upload/SJO/pliki/English_Langu
age_Exam_-_A2-B1.pdf