What is an unfair advantage in sport?
Read What is an unfair advantage in sport? and check the IELTS Reading answers. What happened to the Australian athlete Ron Clarke in the 10,000 metres at the Mexico City Olympics of 1968 is now virtually forgotten, though at the time it was headline news. Clarke was the greatest distance runner in…
Passage preview
What happened to the Australian athlete Ron Clarke in the 10,000 metres at the Mexico City Olympics of 1968 is now virtually forgotten, though at the time it was headline news. Clarke was the greatest distance runner in history; he’d broken more world records than anybody else. But in front of 55,000 horrified spectators, the event went disastrously wrong. In the third lap, one runner keeled over and, with six laps to go, two more were carried away. Yet the race was being conducted at a relatively leisurely speed: the halfway time was the slowest since the Paris Olympics of 1924. With two laps to go, Clarke was in the leading pack. ‘I’d never felt better in a race,’ he says. But suddenly he too began to struggle, and as the frontrunners moved up a gear, a gap opened up. Clarke remembers nothing of his last lap, which he ran in 90 seconds. ‘Normally I would run it in 64,’ he explains. He stumbled across the line in sixth place and collapsed. He was administered oxygen and stretchered off the track.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- a complex mix of noun phrase
A combination of many different and connected things.
In the passage:
"A complex mix of economic, political, social and cultural explanations" for East African success (paragraph C).
Synonyms: a combination of, a range of
- arbitrary adjective
Based on personal choice or chance, not on a fair reason or system.
In the passage:
Summary Q23-26 and paragraph G: "decisions are not seen as arbitrary"; contrasts with heading iii, a rational approach (Q20).
Synonyms: random, unreasoned
Opposites: rational, systematic
- entrenched adjective
Firmly established and difficult to change.
In the passage:
"The record books confirm how entrenched this pattern has become" supports heading ix (paragraph C, Q16).
Synonyms: well established, deep-rooted
Opposites: temporary
- have good reason to verb phrase
To have a sensible and fair cause for doing or feeling something.
In the passage:
Heading vi, "Well-founded concerns" (Q15); the passage says Clarke "had good reason to do so" (paragraph B).
Synonyms: well-founded, be justified in
- integral to adjective phrase
Forming a necessary and basic part of something.
In the passage:
"Going faster, higher, stronger is integral to the logic of athletics" (paragraph G).
Synonyms: essential to, fundamental to
Opposites: peripheral to
- it is not the case that verb phrase
A phrase used to deny a general statement or a common belief.
In the passage:
"It is not the case that all new technologies gain approval" introduces the contrast with the altitude tent (paragraph F).
Synonyms: it is untrue that, it is wrong to say that
- physiological alterations noun phrase
Changes in the way a living body works.
In the passage:
Heading iv, "Changes in the body" (Q17); the passage says "a number of physiological alterations occur" (paragraph D).
Synonyms: bodily changes, changes in the body
- sanction verb
To give official permission or approval for something.
In the passage:
Not punish: "initially sanctioned by FINA" means approved. It leads to heading viii, a reversal of a decision (paragraph F, Q19).
Synonyms: authorise, approve
Opposites: ban, prohibit
- violate verb
To break a rule, law or agreement.
In the passage:
Q23 says "was not contrary to the ..."; the passage says tents "did not violate the spirit of distance running" (paragraph E).
Synonyms: break, go against
Opposites: obey, comply with
Answers with explanations
- 14. vii
Paragraph A tells the story of one race: the greatest runner of all time was in the leading pack, then **suddenly began to struggle** and collapsed. The heading **The surprising outcome of a race** matches this. The paragraph has no research or rule-breaking, so the other headings do not fit.
- 15. vi
Clarke worried about the altitude and was told to keep quiet, but **he had good reason to do so**. That is **Well-founded concerns**. The last sentence says the link with altitude **needed further investigation**, which tempts you towards the heading about early research, but no research is described here.
- 16. ix
The paragraph lists the fastest men over 5,000 metres, then shows that **they are all from either Kenya or Ethiopia** and that records are always broken by them. Its main idea is who keeps winning, so **The runners who dominate** fits. The reason (thin air) comes only in the last sentence.
- 17. iv
Look for the paragraph about what altitude does inside the body. **Physiological alterations** is a more formal way of saying **Changes in the body**, and the paragraph explains more red blood cells and better oxygen capacity. The problems of living in the mountains are only a detail at the end.
- 18. ii
The altitude tent gives the effects of high altitude without **travelling to higher ground**, so it saves **time and expense**. That is **A convenient method of acclimatization**. The paragraph also mentions that tents were investigated by WADA, but only as a detail, not the main idea.
- 19. viii
The suit was first **sanctioned** and then banned when **FINA changed its mind**: that is **The reversal of a decision**. Do not choose the heading about athletes who break the rules. The swimmers followed the rules; it was the rule that changed.
- 20. iii
The paragraph begins with athletes wanting records, but its main point is how authorities should deal with new technology: **arguments have to be examined and weighed** and **the rules of logic** applied. That matches **The need for a rational approach**.
- 21-22: BD
Clarke warned about the altitude but was told complaining was regarded as bad sportsmanship, so his worries were **not taken into account**. With two laps to go he was **in the leading pack**, which is **near the front**. He had **never felt better**, so he was not in poor form. His story is **virtually forgotten**, not widely talked about, and other runners also collapsed.
- 23. spirit
Look for **WADA** in the paragraph about the altitude tent. **Was not contrary to** matches **did not violate**, so the gap needs the thing the tents did not break: **the spirit of distance running**. The answer is **spirit**.
- 24. drag
Find the **LZR** suit in the paragraph about swimming. The summary says the fabric aids buoyancy and **cuts down** something. **Cuts down** matches **reduces**, and the thing reduced is **drag**. Buoyancy is improved, not reduced.
- 25. records
The summary sentence about athletes comes from the last paragraph. **Think they have to continually set fresh** matches **believe they need ... all the time**, and what they need is **records**.
- 26. technology
The summary continues with the same paragraph: after records, it mentions improved clothing and equipment and new **performance-enhancing technology**. The passage's last paragraph moves straight from records to **a new technology is invented**, so the gap before "and training" is the passage's own word: **technology**.