E n g L i s h jenni Currie Santamaria

then
is between the subject and verb.
I
 then 
read
 the rules from the bulletin board and proceeded to organize 
the game.

---

140
|
Better Reading English
 
B.
Identify forms
Complete the sentences with 
then
 or 
and then
. (In some cases, both are 
possible.)
1.
The player stole the ball ______________ ran down the court.
2.
We arrived at 4:00. ______________ we stood in line for two hours.
3.
He stormed into the room ______________ proceeded to shout at the 
employees.
4.
Marcia looked everywhere for her keys. She ______________ realized that 
she had left them in the car the night before.
5.
He grew a beard ______________ changed his hair style. I hardly recognize 
him anymore.
VI. READ IT AGAIN
Read the passage again. Answer the question.
Why was the basketball game the end of the trouble with the class?
TOWARD THE FINISHING LINE
I. PRE-READING
A.
Background information
Dick Francis was a jockey (a racehorse rider) until he was 37 years old. He
retired because of multiple injuries, and as soon as he quit racing, he wrote his 
irst book, an autobiography. Then he began writing mystery novels set in the 
horse-racing world. He went on to write 40 international bestsellers. His books 
are full of detailed descriptions of the horse-racing world. The following 
passage is from 
Break In
, which was published in 1986. Dick Francis died
in 2010.
B.
Words to know before you read
Match the words to their definitions.
____ 1.
roar 
a. a group
____ 2.
willfully 
b. long, loud sound
____ 3.
stride 
c. go quickly past
____ 4.
sweep past 
d. with determination
____ 5.
bunch 
e. pace or step

---

Playing the Game
|
141
Horse-racing words:
____
1.
gallop a. 
a long, narrow strap used to control a 
horse
____ 2.
reins 
b. the person who rides a horse in a race
____ 3.
jockey 
c. the fastest pace of a horse
C.
Reading strategy
Quickly read the paragraph. Then answer the questions.
1.
What is the name of the horse?
2.
Did he win the race?
II. READ
Read the text. Mark the words you don’t know, but don’t stop reading to look 
them up.
I could dimly hear the crowd roaring, which one usually couldn’t. North Face 
put his ears back and galloped wit
h a lat, intense, bloody-minded stride, 
accelerating toward the place he knew was his, that he’d so willfully rejected, 
that he wanted in his heart.
I lattened myself forward to the line of his neck to cut the wind resistance: 
kept the reins tight, my body still, my weight steady over his shoulders, all the 
urging a matter of mind and hands, a matter of giving that fantastic racing 
creature his maximum chance.
The others were tiring, the incline slowing them drastically as it did always 
to so many. North Face swept past a bunch of them as they wavered and there 
was suddenly only one in front, one jockey who thought he was surely winning 
and had half dropped his hands.
One could feel sorry for him, but he was a gift from heaven. North Face 
caught him at a rush a bare stride from the winning post, and I knew for a 
certainty at once that we had won.
Source: 
Break In
, by Dick Francis, New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1986, p. 6
III. COMPREHENSION CHECK
Mark the sentences T (True) or F (False).
____
1.
There were a lot of people watching the race.
____ 2.
North Face was a good racehorse.
____ 3.
North Face was in front from the beginning of the race.

---

142
|
Better Reading English
IV. VOCABULARY BUILDING
A.
Understanding from context
Read the sentences. Before you look up words in the dictionary, use the
context of the sentence to help you match the boldface words with the 
following definitions.
_____ 1.
I was 
dimly
aware of the noise in the kitchen while I was sleeping.
_____ 2.
The car should have stopped. Instead, it 
accelerated
through the 
intersection.
_____ 3.
Mark 
rejected
the job offer. He t
hinks he can ind something better.
_____ 4.
The new boss wanted to make changes, but she met a lot of 
resistance
from employees who liked things the way they were.
_____ 5.
After the hurricane damage, the government 
urged
residents to 
prepare for the next emergency.
_____ 6.
I’m okay walking on lat ground, but when we get to an 
incline
, I start 
having trouble.
_____ 7.
The department needs to 
drastically
cut spending or the company 
will go out of business.
_____ 8.
The soldiers stayed in their line and they did not 
waver
. There was no 
way for the enemy to get through.
a.
a road or surface with an upward slope
b.
to try to persuade or convince
c.
to speed up
d.
vaguely; not clearly
e.
to an extreme
f.
to become unreliable
g.
to refuse or say “no” to something
h.
refusal to do something or accept something
B.
Use the new words
Complete the sentences with words from Exercise A. Use correct verb tenses.
1.
I asked him to lend me some money, but he _____________________.
2.
Her family _____________________ her to go to college, and she inally 
agreed.
3.
My mother gets frightened every time the car _____________________.
4.
I _____________________ remember that house, but I think I was only there 
once.
5.
The doctor said she needed to _____________________ change her eating 
habits.
6.
He won’t change his mind. Once he makes a decision, he never 
_____________________.

---

Playing the Game
|
143
7.
There was a lot of _____________________ to the schedule change. No one 
liked the new hours.
8.
Look for a lat place to put your tent. If it’s on an _____________________, 
you’ll have trouble sleeping.
V. UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR: ADJECTIVES
AFTER DIRECT OBJECTS
A.
Read about adjectives after direct objects
We normally think of adjectives as coming before a noun, as in 
the 
tall
 man
, or 
after a linking verb like 
be
, as in 
She is
tired
. But sometimes we place adjectives 
after direct objects. In this position, the adjective is called “an object 
complement.”
Notice the adjectives in this excerpt from the reading. Each one is directly 
after the noun it describes.
[I]. . .kept the reins 
tight
, my body 
still
, my weight 
steady
 over his 
shoulders. . .
 
B.
Identify meanings
Read the sentences. Underline the adjectives. Circle the nouns they describe.
1.
I like my coffee black.
2.
We painted the house green.
3.
His gift made her happy.
4.
They considered the new machine useless.
5.
Thomas found the work dificult.
6.
The tea kept me awake for studying.
C.
Use adjectives as object complements
Use the adjectives in the box to complete the following sentences.
interested
inished
angry
exciting
cold
yellow

---

144
|
Better Reading English
1.
This bag will keep your food _________________.
2.
I want to paint my bedroom _________________.
3.
The teacher tells jokes and shows videos to keep the students 
_________________.
4.
I hope you like this book. I bought it for you because I found it very 
_________________.
5.
Her brother made her _________________ when he yelled at her.
6.
He submitted the project because he considered it _________________.
VI. READ IT AGAIN
Read the passage again. Answer the question.
What mistake did the jockey in front of him make?

---

145
8