Енглески језик 7, радна свеска, старо издање, Нови Логос

SKILLS EXTRA 3
A champion’s story
How do people get to the very top of their
sport? Mostly, it is due to their hard work and
talent. However, sometimes luck plays a part
too, especially at the beginning. Take Novak
Đoković, for example. Novak grew up in Kopaonik,
a ski resort in central Serbia. You might expect
a champion skier to come from the town.
However, in the 1980s tennis courts were built
near a restaurant run by Novak’s parents. 1
Then, when he was six, Jelena Genčić, a former
professional tennis player and tennis coach, came
to the town to run a summer camp. Amazingly, she
noticed the young Đoković standing outside the
courts watching people play and asked him if he
knew what the game was and invited him to play.
Jelena Genčić had already trained Monica Seles, a
former number one player, from the age of eight
and she believed that Novak had the talent to be a
great tennis player, too. 2
Jelena worked with Đoković for the next six years.
He quickly improved, and when he was still only
12 she thought he needed more of a challenge,
and so he went to the Pilić tennis academy in
Germany. He didn’t move there permanently but
he spent two or three months there at a time. It
was difficult for the family, but both his parents
believed that he could be a successful professional
player and encouraged him to go. While he
was at the Pilić academy, he started playing in
international tournaments and winning. 3
In 2005, when he was eighteen, he played in
his first Grand Slam tournaments when he got
a place at the Australian, American and French
Opens. He also managed to get to the third round
at Wimbledon. Since then he has won all four of
those Grand Slams. When he won the Wimbledon
title in 2011, in an excellent match against Rafael
Nadal, he became the world’s number one player.
4
He has a reputation for being a joker and
has appeared on many TV chat shows. He
has also had a role playing himself in
Expendables 2, a film with Sylvester
Stallone.
5
His two younger brothers have
followed in his footsteps and are
tennis players, too. They have
a long way to go before they
get into the world’s top ten but
maybe they’ll succeed one day
if they follow their older brother’s
advice, ‘Believe in your dreams’.
1 Work in pairs. Tell your partner which sport
you would like to play professionally and why.
2 Read the text. Complete the text with
sentences a-f. There is one sentence that you
do not need.
a At 14 he was a triple European singles
champion.
b Novak’s performances are not only on the
tennis court.
c Novak often played on these courts.
d But Novak is not the only one in his family
who is a tennis player.
e Instantly, his world and his chances
changed.
f Surprisingly, his family said ‘no’.
3 Read the text again and answer the questions.
1 How old was Novak Đoković when he
started playing tennis?
2 What did his parents do for work?
3 Who helped him when he was very young?
4 Why did he go to Germany when he was 12?
5 When did he win his first Grand Slam title?
6 What is the name of the film he has been in?
4 Match the words 1-6 to the definitions a-f.
1 professional
2 talent
3 title
4 immediately
5 permanently
6 succeed
a to be paid for doing a job
b the position of being a winner in a
competition
c in a way that doesn’t change
d to be successful
e a special skill
f straight away
110 Skills extra 3
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