Reading comprehension. The Dancing Marathon (Level B1+,B2)

Reading Comprehension

Level B1+B2 (Intermediate - Upper-Intermediate)

Dancing Marathon

1_ After forty-five minutes of dancing the bell rang. The dancers left the dance floor and slowly headed for the beds in the next room. Fifteen minutes later, the bell rang again and the weary dancers straggled back to the dance floor. All day and all night, the same dancers continued to dance. Weeks passed and they kept on dancing. They were called dance marathons and people were crazy about them in 1930s. In the longest marathon, the dancing went on for 5,148 hours or nearly 215 days. It was just after the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. The Great Depression that followed affected everyone, and thousands of people were out of jobs. For some young people, entering a dance marathon was simply a way to earn money for food. As long, as they continued to dance, they got food to eat.

2_ The first 500 hours of a dance marathon were the most difficult. Dancers had to get used to leaping while leaning on their partners. Feet got sore and swollen, and tempers flared as dancers got tired. Three times a day, tables were pulled out onto the dance floor and the dancers ate – while dancing.

3_ For many people, watching a dance marathon was a cheap form of entertainment. At any time of day and night they could go and watch the dancers in the marathon. They yelled and threw money at their favourite dancers to encourage them to keep dancing. Some took bets on who would quit or fall down next.

4_ Dancers in a marathon were pushed to their limits. Without proper sleep, many got sick. When several dancers died from overexertion in a 1929 dance marathon, government officials tried unsuccessfully to outlaw marathons. Instead, marathons continued to be popular until the United States entered World War II. The wartime economy brought the country out of the Depression and people finally began to lose interest in dance marathons.

Tasks to the text “Dancing Marathon”

Task I.

Put “True” if the sentence is right and “False” if the sentence is wrong.

1. Nowadays, people are crazy about dance marathons.
2. In the longest marathon, the dancing went on for nearly seven months.
3. Dance marathons appeared during the Great Depression.
4. Entering a dance marathon was a way to become rich.
5. Professional dancers only had the right to participate in a marathon.
6. Watching a dance marathon was an expensive form of entertainment.
7. Bets were made on who would stop competing in a marathon.
8. Lots of dancers died of indigestion in 1929.
9. Government officials outlawed marathons when the US entered World War II.
10. People finally began to lose interest in dance marathons in the 1990s.

                                                                                                         Score: 10 points

Answers to the text “Dancing Marathon”

Task I.

1 False    2 True    3 True    4 False    5 False    6 False    7 True    8 False    9 False     10 False

Task II.

1 C     2 B     3 A     4 B     5 B     6 A     7 C     8 B     9 C     10 A

Task III.

1D     2 E     3 B     4 F           Extra:  A  C  G

Task IV.

1 pulled out    2 to outlaw (marathons)   3 headed for         4 to get used to

5 took bets      6 straggled back               7 to encourage      8 crazy