 | ||||||||
 | LOGIN | |  |  | | |||
 | ||||||||
 |
| 1/7/2009 |  | |||||
| ||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reading: Why So Extreme?
So, what's the matter with golf, anyway? It's good enough for Tiger Woods. Why aren't some people satisfied with traditional sports such as boxing, basketball, and skiing? Why do they feel the need to push the envelope by pursuing high-risk sports like skyboarding and white water rafting?
In just the first half of this year there have been several reports of deaths resulting from participation in extreme sports activities, the most striking of which was perhaps that of 13 Australians who perished while canyoning in the mountains of Switzerland. Canyoning (also called canyoneering in the US) combines mountaineering skills such as climbing and rappelling, with other activities such as sliding down water chutes and swimming, to enable its practitioners to explore canyons on foot.
Some experts question whether such activities as canyoning are truly sports at all. They wonder if it would not be more fitting to call them adventures since extreme sports enthusiasts are often in search of the kind of adrenaline high that comes from exploring new territories and breaking through old boundaries. Traditional sports emphasize playing by the rules and competing against an opponent, whereas extreme sports are all about making your own rules and competing against old techniques by surpassing them.
And so we return to the original question: why are more and more people becoming involved in extreme sports? One answer may be that life today is much easier than it was in the past. Day-to-day survival used to be, if not an adventure, at least much more physical than it is nowadays. Our ancestors hunted and farmed in order to put food on the table, aggressively chasing down animals (encountering danger) and laboring to raise crops. Nowadays, the food-gathering workout for the average person consists of pushing a cart down a supermarket aisle and lifting cans off the shelves.
Let's look at the influence of technology: many people today work at jobs that require them to use their brains, but not their bodies. With the Internet, it's true that there is a whole world of information at our fingertips, but much of it is second-hand. How many things that you "know" have you experienced directly? Here is another reason extreme sports are gaining in popularity: in this age of second-hand knowledge, people long to once again experience life for themselves and not just watch it on a screen. After sitting in front of a computer for school or work, people want to stretch their legs as well as their horizons and see just what their bodies can do. With extreme sports being as dangerous as they are, athletes have to push their minds and bodies to new levels in order to succeed. Sports now are not just about enjoying yourself, but proving yourself.
Do extreme sports take the adrenaline rush too seriously and too far? The answer might depend on who you are: different people seek excitement in different ways. For some, it's a thrill to try out a new restaurant, while others aren't satisfied until they're dropping through the air, wondering if their parachutes will open.
Comprehension Questions
1. How is canyoning different from mountaineering?
2. What country were the 13 people who died from?
a. Austria
b. Switzerland
c. Australia
3. Why do some experts feel that extreme sports should be called adventures?
4. Give two reasons for the increase in popularity of extreme sports.
Follow-up Question
Do you think you're a thrill-seeker? Why or why not?
Back to Lesson Plan