Nine gold Medals

Nine gold Medals

David Roth

ASSIGNMENTS

I. (i) The athletes had "come from all over the country" to participate in a running competition in the Special Olympics. They had come to achieve their dreams of winning gold, silver and bronze medals.

(ii) The words 'gold', 'silver' and 'bronze' stand for medals made of these metals which participants would get based on their performance in the competition. Yes the participants were well prepared for the event. The following lines tell us so: Many the weeks...to these games.

(iii) (a) The hard work and strenuous training the participants had endured for this final event.

(b) The final event of the day, that was the hundred yard race, was about to begin.

(iv) The spectators gathered around the field because they were too excited and wanted to cheer the participants. These participants are referred to as "young women and men."

(v) The final event being talked about in the extract is the hundred yard race in which nine young athletes were participating. The spectators were very excited. They were aware of the hard work that the participants had put in training for this event. Their excitement is evident from the fact that they had gathered "all round the field".

II. (i) "Poised" means ready. The athletes as well as the spectators were ready for the race to begin. This word builds the tension in the poem.

(ii) The runners take their position and wait for the sound of the gun; the signal is given through the explosion of the pistol and the runners charge ahead immediately. This builds up the suspense about who will be the winner.

(iii) Exploding of the pistol is a signal for the athletes to start the race. Thus, the contestants began to run as soon as the starting pistol was fired. Examples of rhyming pattern:

0 run, gun

0 sound, ground 

(iv) The smallest of the nine athletes had bad luck as he stumbled, lost his balance and fell on the track. He was then overtaken by negative feelings. He felt disappointed and felt as if all his dreams and efforts of winning the medal had been shattered.

(v) Refer to True Spirit of Sportsmanship, under Themes, Page 147.

III (i) The athlete, who had lost his balance and fell on the track as soon as the race started, gave out a cry. He cried because he felt as if all his dreams and hopes of winning the gold were shattered.

(ii) He dreamt of winning the gold medal by winning the hundred-yard race in Special Olympics. His -act of losing his balance, stumbling, staggering and finally falling down comprises his frustration as he believed he would no longer win.

(iii) The remaining eight runners on seeing him fall, instead of continuing the race, stopped and turned back to help him. All the athletes had trained forlso long to compete and win, but each of them stopped, to help bring the young boy to his feet. Their action reflects that they were true sportsmen. They were kind, cooperative and empathetic to the athlete who had fallen down.

(iv) Refer to Themes, Page 147.

(v) The narrator calls the story 'a strange one' because it would be expected that the other athletes would continue running but they turned back one by one help the fallen one'. After the young boy was brought to his feet, all the nine athletes joined hands and walked to the finishing line together. The race that was meant for running was then reduced to a walk. The banner above read "Special Olympics", was appropriate, as the contestants' behaviour added to the uniqueness of the event.

IV. (i) The nine athletes joined hands when the young boy was brought to his feet to display togetherness. Their purpose was to help the boy, who had hurt himself by falling down. Their action of joining hands shows that there was no animosity between the participants. They were true sports-persons and this particular action revealed that they were empathetic to the boy. Since the young boy could no longer run, the other participants decided to reduce the race to a walk.

(ii) Refer to Special Olympics under Critical Remarks Page 148.

(iii) The race ended with each of the nine athletes winning a gold medal. The ending was appropriate as all of them displayed the true spirit of sportsmanship. Their behaviour was exemplary as they walked hand-in-hand to the finishing line.

(iv) The contestants were happy when they crossed the finishing line together. The spectators must have reacted by giving them standing ovation.

(v) The poem brings out a situation, where the contestants set aside their desire to win, to help another contestant who had fallen down. They empathised with him. The contestants came together as a group. They stood by each other, and walked together to the finishing line, and each of them won a gold medal. By awarding gold medals to each one of them, the authorities honoured their display of the true spirit of sportmanship and human values. Thus, the "Special Olympics" really turned out to be special.