1. Look at the picture. What do you think the text is about? Listen/Watch and read to check.

(Nhìn vào bức tranh. Bạn nghĩ bài đọc nói về điều gì? Lắng nghe/ Xem video và đọc để kiểm tra.)

Hi readers. I want to tell you about a person that I really admire and had a chance to meet last month. It was Gary Hall Jr, a great Olympic swimmer.

Gary Hall Jr. was born and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and he was an excellent swimmer from a young age. People were amazed at his incredible speed, and he competed at a very high level. However, life didn't make things easy for him and he had to overcome major challenges to achieve his success.

By the age of 22, Gary had already competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where he won four medals - two silvers and two golds - and set an Olympic record. Gary was so happy and excited about his career. Then, when he was 24 years old, his doctor told him that he had a health condition called type 1 diabetes, and that he might not be able to continue swimming. Gary was devastated, but after a short break, he decided he wouldn't give up and continued to train with all his strength. It was difficult and he often felt frustrated, but he made great progress.

A year later, at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Gary gave an amazing performance and won four more medals: two golds, a silver and a bronze. He continued his career and competed at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, where he won another gold and a bronze medal.

According to Gary, people doubted his chances of success in 1996 because he was too young, and in 2000 because he had a health condition. In 2004, people doubted him because they thought he was too old. However, he proved that they were wrong.

Gary Hall Jr. is a special person in regard to all of the obstacles he overcame on his path to glory. I admire him because he didn't give up, even when he was exhausted struggling to train and compete. With his determination, he achieved great success. From his story, we can all learn an important life lesson: "To be successful, you must try your best and believe in what you can do”.

2. Read the text. For questions (1-4), choose the best answers (A, B, C or D).

(Đọc bài khóa. Với các câu hỏi (1-4), chọn đáp án đúng (A, B, C hoặc D).

1. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A. An Impossible Task

B. Chasing Glory

C. Close to Gold

D. One Last Chance

2. What had Gary done by the time he was twenty-two years old?

A. He had won four gold medals.

B. He had set several records.

C. He had competed in the Olympics.

D. He had learned about his diabetes.

3. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the word devastated in paragraph 2?

A. shocked

B. furious

C. confused

D. doubtful

4. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 4?

A. Gary never thought that he could succeed.

B. Gary stopped swimming in the year 2000.

C. Gary's friends and family doubted Gary's success.

D. Gary never paid attention to what people said about him.

3. Read the text again and decide if each of the statements (1-4) is T (true) or F (false).

(Đọc lại văn bản và quyết định xem mỗi câu (1-4) là T (đúng) hay F (sai).)

1. Gary had natural swimming talent to begin with.

2. A year before the 2000 Olympics, Gary's health condition made it easy for him to train.

3. Gary didn't have much success at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.  

4. Gary competed in three different Olympic events.

4. Do you admire Gary Hall? Why?

(Bạn có ngưỡng mộ Gary Hall? Tại sao?)

Vocabulary – Feeling

(Từ vựng - Cảm xúc)

5. Fill in each gap with pleased, depressed, ashamed, shocked, frightened, exhausted, or furious. Then listen and check.

(Điền vào mỗi chỗ trống với pleased, depressed, ashamed, shocked, frightened, exhauseted hoặc furious. Sau đó nghe và kiểm tra lại.)

6. Choose the best adjective (A, B, C or D) to describe each person's feeling.

(Chọn tính từ đúng nhất (A, B, C or D) để mô tả cảm xúc của mỗi người.)

1. Jane worked hard all day and wanted to lie down to rest.

A. exhausted  

B. bored         

C. depressed   

D. confused

2. Martin's face turned bright red when everyone looked at him and laughed.

A. tired           

B. excited       

C. scared        

D. embarrassed

3. Shelly was upset after trying so many times to solve the maths problem.

A. surprised    

B. frustrated   

C. shocked     

D. sad

4. Justin's mum's face turned white when she heard he had a car accident.

A. confused    

B. depressed   

C. ashamed    

D. terrified

5. Jordan couldn't believe he won the prize to go on a safari.

A. annoyed     

B. tired                       

C. amazed      

D. terrified

7. Complete the sentences with the correct forms of the words in brackets.

(Hoàn thành các câu sau với dạng đúng của từ trong ngoặc.)

1. We were all _____ (shock) when Jim didn't win any medals in the competition.

2. Jill experienced _____ (exhaust) because she was studying so much.

3. Look! The students are singing in public with obvious _____ (pleased).

4. We had a _____ (fright) experience when we saw a lion on our safari.

5. Sam is _____ (shame) of himself because he forgot the lyrics when singing in public yesterday.

6. Kevin had _____ (depress) when he found out that he had type 1 diabetes.

8. When was the last time you achieved something important in your life? What challenges did you face, and how did you feel before and after your achievement?

(Lần cuối bạn gặt hái được một điều gì đó quan trọng trong cuộc đời là khi nào? Bạn đã đối mặt với những thách thức gì và bạn cảm thấy như thế nào trước và sau khi đạt được thành tựu đó?)

VALUE OUR LIFE EXPERIENCES

(Trân trọng trải nghiệm cuộc sống)

Which of these do you agree with? Can you think of more reasons?

(Bạn đồng ý với điều nào dưới đây? Bạn có nghĩ được những lí do khác không?)

I value my life experiences because they ...

(Tôi trân trọng những trải nghiệm cuộc sống của mình vì chúng …)

1. teach me new things about the world.

(dạy tôi nhiều thứ mới về thế giới.)

2. make my life interesting and challenging.

(làm cho cuộc sống của tôi thú vị và đầy thách thức.)

3. have positive effects on me.

(có những hiệu ứng tích cực với tôi.)