96 UniT 07 | Move it! Look at the article by Gina Prince-Bythewood, an American film director and screenplay writer, but only read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. What do you think the article is about? Now read the entire article. First decide whether the statements (1–7) are true (T) or false (F) and put a cross ( ) in the correct box. Then identify the sentence in the text which supports your decision. Write the first four words of this sentence in the space provided. There may be more than one correct answer; write down only one. The first one (0) has been done for you. READING 8a b How sports gave me swagger I am shy. I also have a big ego. Practically speaking, that means everyone is looking at me, and it makes me uncomfortable. Sadly, women aren’t supposed to have an ego. It’s arrogant. It’s not ladylike. Serena Williams was called ‘cocky’ when she said she wanted to be the best in the world. Well, what the hell is she training so relentlessly for, to be the 37th best in the world? A poster of Serena should be required on every little girl’s bedroom wall so they can be reminded daily how beautiful it is to be a badass. But back to me. When I was little, I was pathologically shy. I was so shy I couldn’t even trick-ortreat. My siblings would stand at a neighbor’s door and point to the sad little Raggedy Ann at the curb to get candy for me. In my one and only attempt at acting, I played the sun in an elementary-school play. So now I’m grown. I’m still shy. I’m the woman at a party standing alone in the corner, who after “Hey, how are you?” doesn’t know what else to say. So how do I control my film sets? How do I stand in front of hundreds of people and give speeches? How do I walk into meetings with the heads of studios to persuade them to give me millions? How did I make it out of adolescence and my high-school years intact? Where does my ego come from? Sports. As long as I can remember, my parents had me in organized sports. It started with soccer. Back then, there weren’t enough girls to field a girls’ league, so I played with boys. Not all of them were happy about that. I used to get kicked and pushed. And sometimes I would cry. But my parents sent me back out there to keep playing. When I was on the field, I was never told to “slow down.” No one ever said, “Don’t be so aggressive.” I was told to “run faster,” “be more aggressive,” “play harder,” “go after it.” So I did. And it was the most natural thing in the world. When I got to high school and played basketball, volleyball, tennis, and softball, and later, when I ran track at UCLA, I was told to “go get her.” Sports instilled in me the desire to be the best. I worked my butt off every practice so I could beat the girl next to me. And I usually did. Sports gave me the belief that I was the baddest chick on the court, on the track, on the field. Sports gave me swagger. On the court, I didn’t have to be cute, or funny, or extroverted. I just had to be good. Being good got me applause. And I needed the applause. I was not cute in high school. But sports gave me something good to see in myself. It’s why girls who play sports in high school are less likely to do drugs, engage in unhealthy relationships, or get pregnant. I have been asked how one gets swagger if they never played sports. My answer is this: Work out. Some of the language in this article is informal and colloquial (= not standard) American English: badass: someone or something you find frightening or impressive Raggedy Ann: a sad-looking doll from old US children’s books to go after sth.: to try to get something to work your butt off: to work very hard baddest: best, toughest swagger: a very confident way of walking or behaving Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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