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Karina Moore – teenage high diver!

Several times a week, teenager Karina Moore trains at her local pool to jump from the high-diving board into the water – in an attempt to become a national diving champion.

Karina first learned about diving during a family break in Spain, where the resort’s pool had a high-diving board. Young people were diving off it, and it looked fun, but Karina didn’t join in, even though she was a strong swimmer. Then after returning home, she discovered a long-distance runner she’d always admired had started diving for relaxation – so she became more interested.

QUESTION:

1. What made Karina keen to take up diving?

Karina joined a beginners’ diving class at her local pool. They had several sessions jumping onto soft materials before trying the high board. ‘The water looked a long way down,’ says Karina, ‘but after our training, I felt I’d handle it – without injuring myself. They’d warned me I’d land in the water fast – at around 60 kph – but I was prepared. I couldn’t wait to get started – although the others weren’t so keen! Anyway, I wasn’t disappointed by the experience.’

QUESTION:

2. How did Karina feel the first time she used the high board?

In Karina’s area, there’s now lots of interest in high diving, but it’s sometimes difficult for swimmers to find suitable practice facilities. Although the pools are deep enough, they’re in use so often by diving clubs that other people don’t get opportunities to practise. Fortunately, though, Karina’s coach noticed her talent and helped her develop her techniques. After two years of practising, she’s winning competitions in her area.

QUESTION:

3. What does the writer suggest about diving facilities in Karina’s area?

But what’s it like to concentrate so much on diving? ‘I train 20 hours a week’ says Karina, ‘and I won’t pretend it’s easy – you have to enjoy it to spend so much time doing it! It’s not easy for my parents either, though – they drive me to training sessions early in the morning, and that costs money. But they’re had financial help from sports organisations, luckily. And my schoolwork and social life are good. I still meet my mates – and there’s always the phone! The only thing I hadn’t realised was that the pool water would damage my hair – I used to love my long hair, but I’ve had to cut it short because it looked awful! But I’ll definitely keep on diving!’

QUESTION:

4. How does Karina feel about spending so much time diving?

QUESTION:

5. What would the writer say about Karina?

Our school newspaper

by Michael Williams

Some years ago, our head teacher, Mrs Waters, decided to start a school newspaper, and get as many students as possible to take on the job of producing it – and parents, too. She felt the newspaper would help them learn more about school life, through articles on things like sports achievements and arts projects, which not all students know about if they’re not taking part. Students took the whole thing very seriously – and we now have a prize-winning newspaper!

QUESTION:

6. Michael’s head teacher wanted to start a student newspaper to

Some of my friends joined the newspaper team immediately and enjoyed it. I’d always loved creative writing and drawing cartoons, which I thought would be perfect in the newspaper, so I signed up. My dad, who’s a journalist, was pleased – he thought that even though I wasn’t keen on a job like his, the newspaper would be a great opportunity for me. And he was right – I loved it! Dad often came along to give advice, which was popular with the students. It was difficult sometimes, if he was busy, but he learned a lot about the school that way.

QUESTION:

7. Michael decided to join the newspaper because

My first job was writing a report about a sports event – a writing style I’d never attempted before. But Dad reminded me it was similar in some ways to writing a story – getting information in the right order. Once I’d understood that, there was no stopping me – and after my first efforts, I developed quite a professional style, which was brilliant. Sometimes the team couldn’t use what I’d written, or my cartoons, for whatever reason, but I didn’t mind. And sometimes it was hard to finish stuff on time, but I usually got there.

QUESTION:

8. When Michael first started working on the newspaper, he was

I’m now one of the editors – we decide what goes into the newspaper, so our names no longer appear in print. And it’s stressful sometimes as we don’t have much time, but we try to manage that properly. We also correct mistakes in people’s articles, which we all had to get used to, but we were soon doing it without thinking – and in our own schoolwork, too. I still put off calling people outside school for comments on stuff, but I guess it’s all good experience – at least, that’s what Dad says!

QUESTION:

9. What does Michael say about his role on the newspaper now?

Sarah Forbes talks about how she gets a good night’s sleep

I can’t remember when I started to have problems sleeping. As a student I seemed to spend half of my life sleeping. But after my graduation I found myself spending hours lying awake until the early hours of the morning. After a few weeks of this I decided to do something about it. I often went to bed at different times; perhaps there was a programme on TV I wanted to watch, or I’d be watching videos on my phone. So I tried going to bed at the same time each night. This took a while to get used to but slowly I found myself getting into a regular routine.

QUESTION:

10. When did Sarah’s sleeping problems begin?

I also took the advice of a friend and made sure I did things to help me relax before I went to bed. I’d start by writing a list of things I needed to do the next day so I wouldn’t end up thinking about them during the night. I got into the habit of having a nice warm bath before bedtime and then did some relaxation exercises like meditation. Reading also seemed to work, but not in the way I expected. I would sometimes just fall asleep in the middle of a chapter!

QUESTION:

11. Writing a list of things to be done the next day

I also found some suggestions online about how to make your bedroom sleep-friendly. I used to have very thin curtains that let the light from outside shine through, so I changed these for thicker ones. I also removed all technology from the room like the TV and the laptop as these are not supposed to help you sleep, even if they are switched off. And of course I left the mobile phone downstairs!

QUESTION:

12. What does Sarah say was the problem with her bedroom?