Read the following article and then answer questions 1–20.

Write your answers in the

spaces provided. For multiple-choice questions, choose the best answer and blacken
ONE circle only. (20 marks)

Bungee jumping reaches new heights

1 A J Hackett is an extreme sports enthusiast from New Zealand. He is also the man
who brought bungee jumping to the world, and he recently announced his plans to
break the record for the world’s highest bungee jump.

2 Bungee jumping is an adventure sport in which people jump from a great height
5 (like a high bridge or tall tower) with a strong elastic ‘bungee’ cord attached to their
body. As the person falls, the cord stretches and bounces the jumper upwards just
before he or she hits the ground. The sport has been around since the late 1970s and
was inspired by a custom known as ‘land-diving’.

3 Land-diving is a traditional ceremony held at the annual yam harvest on Pentecost

10 Island in Vanuatu. During the ceremony, men and boys leap from the top of a high
wooden tower with vines attached to their ankles. It is a risky jump because the vines
must be strong enough to hold the weight of the divers, and must be exactly the right
length. If not, the diver could crash into the tower or the ground, which could result in
physical injury or even death. However, the islanders believe that their gods will be so
15 pleased by the courage of the land-divers that they will bless the harvest and ensure a
good crop of yams.

4 The custom began hundreds of years ago, and is thought to have been inspired by
a local legend. The legend tells of a woman who often tried to escape from her abusive
husband, Tamalie. One day, as Tamalie’s wife tried to run away, he chased her up a
20 tall banyan tree. She leapt off the tree and Tamalie quickly followed. However, he had
not noticed that his wife had tied some vines to her legs. While she bounced back to
safety, Tamalie fell to his death. Now, every year, the islanders re-enact the wife’s dive
to freedom. Over time, the custom has become linked with the yam harvest, and land-
diving is now considered one of the island’s most important harvest ceremonies.

25 5 A BBC documentary on the land-diving ceremony caught the eye of the thrill-
seeking members of the Dangerous Sports Club, a group of adventurers and extreme
sports enthusiasts based in the UK. They decided to try it for themselves, using thick
rubber cords instead of vines. In 1979, four members of the Dangerous Sports Club
made the first modern bungee jump, leaping from the 76-metre-high Clifton
30 Suspension Bridge in Bristol, UK. The men were arrested soon afterwards. However,
they did not let that stop them, and continued jumping from bridges, cranes and even
hot-air balloons.

6 The members of the Dangerous Sports Club invented modern bungee jumping.
However, after setting up a company to bring bungee jumping to any willing
35 customers, A J Hackett became recognised as the founder of the sport. In 1986,
Hackett made a name for himself with a highly-publicised bungee jump off Paris’s
Eiffel Tower. Two years later, he established his company, which over the years has
seen tens of thousands of people jump head-first off high structures all around the
world. Yet, despite the terrifying nature of the sport, today’s bungee jumping is

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2008 PHOTOCOPIABLE

40 actually very safe. Commercial operators, like Hackett, take the safety of their clients
very seriously. They follow strict safety guidelines and carefully calculate the exact
length of the bungee cord required for each jumper.

7 In December 2006, Hackett opened his latest commercial bungee jump at the
Macau Tower. When Hackett jumped from the 233-metre-high platform on the tower,
45 he set a new world record for the highest bungee jump from a building. However, not
being one to let the restrictions of building heights hold him back, Hackett is now
planning to attempt the highest bungee jump ever — from a helicopter. The world-
record attempt will take place above Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, at a height
of 1,500 metres. That is twice the height of the existing record, and more than three
50 and a half times higher than Two IFC, Hong Kong’s tallest building. It sounds scary,
but as Hackett says, ‘Why live life on the edge when you can jump off it?’

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2008 PHOTOCOPIABLE

1. According to paragraph 1, A J Hackett ……
A. enjoys extreme sports.
B. invented bungee jumping. A B C D
C. travelled around the world.
D. holds the world record for the highest bungee jump.    
2. According to paragraph 2, bungee jumping ……
A. is a relaxing pastime.
B. began around thirty years ago. A B C D
C. always takes place from a tall building.
D. was invented before land-diving.    
3. In paragraph 2, which word means ‘something that can stretch and then go back to
its usual length or size’?
elastic

Decide whether the statements below are True, False or the information is Not Given.
Blacken ONE circle only for each statement. (5 marks)
True False Not
Given
4. Land-diving is a popular sport in Vanuatu.   
5. The land-diving ceremony is held once a year.   
6. The most important things about the vines are that they   
are the right strength and thickness.
7. Many people have died in land-diving ceremonies.   
8. The islanders think the land-diving ceremony will help   
to produce lots of yams.

9. In line 15, ‘they’ refers to ……

A. the gods.
B. the islanders. A B C D
C. the land-divers.
D. the yams.    
10. According to paragraph 4, Tamalie ......
A. lived a long time ago.
B. is a character from an old story. A B C D
C. was the first person in history to land-dive.
D. is the name of a legend about a man and his wife.    
11. Why did the wife try to run away from her husband?
because he was abusive

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2008 PHOTOCOPIABLE

12. How did the wife survive the fall from the top of the tree?
she had tied some vines to her legs

13. In line 22, the word ‘re-enact’ could best be replaced with ……
A. celebrate.
B. pretend. A B C D
C. recreate.
D. remember.    
14. In paragraph 5, which phrase means ‘captured the attention’?
caught the eye

15. According to paragraph 5, members of the Dangerous Sports Club ……

A. were the subject of a BBC documentary.
B. got the idea for bungee jumping from land-diving. A B C D
C. jumped off a UK bridge with vines tied to their ankles.
D. were arrested for jumping from bridges, cranes and    
hot-air balloons.

16. When did A J Hackett set up his bungee jumping company?

1988

The sentences below are possible summaries for paragraphs 6 and 7 of the article.
From the four sentences (A–D) below, choose the most suitable sentence for each
paragraph (6 and 7) and write the letter in the space provided. (2 marks)

17. Paragraph 6 _ D

18. Paragraph 7 _ B

A. Bungee jumping was invented by members of the Dangerous Sports Club,

and is now enjoyed by many people around the world.
B. A J Hackett set a world record in bungee jumping in 2006, and he now plans
to do an even higher jump.
C. The jump off the Macau Tower is the world’s highest bungee jump from a
building.
D. Bungee jumping became popular around the world, thanks to A J Hackett,
and despite appearances, it is a safe sport.

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2008 PHOTOCOPIABLE

19. According to paragraph 7, A J Hackett’s world-record attempt ……
A. took place in December 2006.
B. will be the first ever bungee jump from a helicopter. A B C D
C. will take place off the Two IFC building in Hong Kong.
D. will be double the height of the current world record.    
20. An alternative title for the article could be ......
A. Adventure sport inspires a harvest ceremony.
B. A new adventure for the Dangerous Sports Club. A B C D
C. Taking an old custom to new extremes.
D. A history of bungee jumping world-record attempts.    

© Pearson Education Asia Limited 2008 PHOTOCOPIABLE