World News for Students of English

27-04-2016 07:00

Stacking at a furious speed. These athletes from the Taiwan branch of the World Sport Stacking Association are back at training after winning 11 gold medals at the World Championship.

Yang Chu-chun claiming four herself. The 15-year-old’s new personal best, an astonishing 5.615 seconds. She says this is the high point in her career and although there’s a lot of pressure, she’s trying to keep calm and continue to beat her opponents’ times and hers.

Sport Stacking was first played in the early 1980s. The aim of the game? To stack a set of 12 plastic cups into a pyramid or other sequences in as little time as possible.

The young athletes practise together here once a month, but for the rest of the time, self-discipline is essential. And they definitely have that. Seven-year-old Chang Yu-ting says she spends an hour a day working on her speed and skill.

The sport also includes relay and doubles competitions. But whatever your discipline, there’s no doubt for these athletes, their focus is on keeping a hold of their gold, especially when their country hosts the next World Championship in Cowshung City.

Difficult words: stack (to put things on one another), furious (extreme), branch (a part), claim (to have), astonishing (amazing), essential (very important), relay (when people in a group take turns), focus (the centre of interest).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com