Why read this: This is a simple sports story about a runner who broke a big world record. Sabastian Sawe ran a marathon, which is 42 kilometres long, in less than two hours. He wore new shoes from Adidas. The shoes are very light, only 99 grams. That is lighter than a bar of soap! Students will enjoy this short news story. It is a good way to talk about sports, brands, and how new things can help athletes go faster.
What to notice: Notice the small numbers in the story: 99 grams, 42 kilometres, two hours, three years, and £450. These numbers help students see why the shoes are special. Also notice the question in the story: 'Is the runner really faster, or is it just the shoe?' This is the main question of the article. Students should look for the simple words 'but' and 'now' in the story. These words show changes from the past to today.
Skills practised: Students practise reading short, simple sentences about sports and shoes. They learn four useful sports words from the side notes: 'super shoe', 'carbon plate', 'marginal gains', and 'anti-doping testing'. The questions ask students to find facts in the text. The open questions ask them to describe a thing and to list facts about a person. This is good practice for finding details and for talking about people and things in English.
The Shoes That Helped Break a Marathon Record
A runner from Kenya ran a marathon in less than two hours, wearing new shoes that are lighter than a bar of soap.
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
On Sunday in London, a runnerrunner: A person who runs, especially in a race. — 跑步者；赛跑选手 from Kenya broke the world marathonmarathon: A long-distance running race of 42.195 km; a long and difficult task. — 马拉松 recordrecord: The best result ever, or a written account of something. — 记录；唱片. His name is Sabastian Sawe. He ran 42 kilometres in less than two hours, and people are now talking about his shoes.
Sawe wore a new shoe from Adidas, called a super shoe: a high-tech running shoe with carbon plates and a thick foam sole, designed to make runners faster — 碳板跑鞋；超级跑鞋. It is very lightlight: Having light; bright; clear; not dark or obscure — 明亮的 and weighsweigh: to measure how heavy something or someone is — 称重；重达 only 99 gramsgram: A metric unit of mass equal to one thousandth of a kilogram — 克. That is lighter than a barbar: A place where people can buy and drink alcoholic drinks, or a long thin piece of something solid. — 酒吧；条；棒 of soapsoap: A substance used with water for washing. — 肥皂! Inside the shoe, there is a thinthin: Having a small distance between two sides; not thick. — 薄的；细的；瘦的, hard piece of carboncarbon: A chemical element found in all living things and in fuels such as coal and oil. — 碳 called a carbon plate: a stiff piece of carbon material inside a running shoe — 碳板. This carbon plate helps runners use less energyenergy: The ability or power to be active and do things, or the power that makes machines work — 能量；精力；能源 and run faster.
For many years, Nike was the most famous shoe brandbrand: A type of product made by a particular company, identified by a name or symbol. — 品牌；牌子 for runners. Nike is an American company, and many top athletesathlete: A person who is very good at sports or physical exercise. — 运动员 wear Nike shoes. But now Adidas wants to be the best brand for runners too. Adidas worked with Sawe for three years to make this special shoe. In a sport of marginal gains: very small improvements that add up to a large advantage — 边际收益；微增量, every small change can help a runner win.
When a runner breaks a big record, some people ask a hard question. Is the runner really faster, or is it just the shoe? Other people ask another hard question: does the runner use drugsdrug: A substance used as medicine or taken illegally to affect the mind or body. — 药物；毒品? Sawe wants to show that he is a clean runner. He and Adidas asked for more anti-doping testing: drug testing on athletes to check whether they have used banned substances — 反兴奋剂检测. They paid extra money for more drug tests on Sawe. This way, people can trusttrust: To place confidence in; to rely on, to confide, or have faith, in — 信任；信赖 his amazing new record.
The new shoe will not be cheap when it goes on salesale: The activity of selling something, or a time when prices are lower. — 出售；销售；打折. It will cost about £450, which is a lot of money for one pair of shoes. But for now, the world is talking about Sawe and his light, fast shoes.
On Sunday in London, a runnerrunner: A person who runs, especially in a race. — 跑步者；赛跑选手 from Kenya broke the world marathonmarathon: A long-distance running race of 42.195 km; a long and difficult task. — 马拉松 recordrecord: The best result ever, or a written account of something. — 记录；唱片. His name is Sabastian Sawe. He ran 42 kilometres in less than two hours, and people are now talking about his shoes.
Sawe wore a new shoe from Adidas, called a super shoe: a high-tech running shoe with carbon plates and a thick foam sole, designed to make runners faster — 碳板跑鞋；超级跑鞋. It is very lightlight: Having light; bright; clear; not dark or obscure — 明亮的 and weighsweigh: to measure how heavy something or someone is — 称重；重达 only 99 gramsgram: A metric unit of mass equal to one thousandth of a kilogram — 克. That is lighter than a barbar: A place where people can buy and drink alcoholic drinks, or a long thin piece of something solid. — 酒吧；条；棒 of soapsoap: A substance used with water for washing. — 肥皂! Inside the shoe, there is a thinthin: Having a small distance between two sides; not thick. — 薄的；细的；瘦的, hard piece of carboncarbon: A chemical element found in all living things and in fuels such as coal and oil. — 碳 called a carbon plate: a stiff piece of carbon material inside a running shoe — 碳板. This carbon plate helps runners use less energyenergy: The ability or power to be active and do things, or the power that makes machines work — 能量；精力；能源 and run faster.
For many years, Nike was the most famous shoe brandbrand: A type of product made by a particular company, identified by a name or symbol. — 品牌；牌子 for runners. Nike is an American company, and many top athletesathlete: A person who is very good at sports or physical exercise. — 运动员 wear Nike shoes. But now Adidas wants to be the best brand for runners too. Adidas worked with Sawe for three years to make this special shoe. In a sport of marginal gains: very small improvements that add up to a large advantage — 边际收益；微增量, every small change can help a runner win.
When a runner breaks a big record, some people ask a hard question. Is the runner really faster, or is it just the shoe? Other people ask another hard question: does the runner use drugsdrug: A substance used as medicine or taken illegally to affect the mind or body. — 药物；毒品? Sawe wants to show that he is a clean runner. He and Adidas asked for more anti-doping testing: drug testing on athletes to check whether they have used banned substances — 反兴奋剂检测. They paid extra money for more drug tests on Sawe. This way, people can trusttrust: To place confidence in; to rely on, to confide, or have faith, in — 信任；信赖 his amazing new record.
The new shoe will not be cheap when it goes on salesale: The activity of selling something, or a time when prices are lower. — 出售；销售；打折. It will cost about £450, which is a lot of money for one pair of shoes. But for now, the world is talking about Sawe and his light, fast shoes.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
How heavy is the new Adidas shoe?
- 02
What is inside the new shoe to help runners go faster?
- 03
Why did Sawe and Adidas ask for more drug tests?
- 04
Describe the new Adidas shoe. Use three details from the article.
Suggested length: ~50 words
- 05
List three things that we learn about Sabastian Sawe from the article.
Suggested length: ~50 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
How heavy is the new Adidas shoe?
- 02
What is inside the new shoe to help runners go faster?
- 03
Why did Sawe and Adidas ask for more drug tests?
- 04
Describe the new Adidas shoe. Use three details from the article.
Suggested length: ~50 words
- 05
List three things that we learn about Sabastian Sawe from the article.
Suggested length: ~50 words