Exercises

Slam dunk

Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post

Last year he couldn�t get off the ground in the opening round, but Dwight Howard flew away with the 2008 Slam Dunk title at the NBA All-Star Saturday Night event last month. Read this story from the Bangkok Post about Dwight�s amazing feat.

Taking creativity to another level, Dwight Howard dazzled the New Orleans Arena crowd and left the celebrity judges impressed by beating out defending champion Gerald Green of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The highlight of Howard�s performance saw him remove his jersey to unveil a Superman shirt and then add a cape, which he bought in a New Orleans shop. He then flew through the air and threw the basketball through the hoop.

BELIEVING IN HIMSELF

Howard appeared to be the clear-cut winner, and it was confirmed minutes later by fans, who gave the Orlando Magic player 78 percent of their text-messaged votes.

�I really wanted to win it because everybody said that I couldn�t do it, but I believed that I could,� Howard said. �I was saying in my head that I was going to win, and I just came out with some exciting dunks that my team helped me with.�

NO COMPETITION

Besides beating Green, Howard took down high-flyers Jamario Moon of the Toronto Raptors and the Memphis Grizzlies� Rudy Gay in an extraordinary display of power and originality. �Dwight Howard was exciting. He had imagination, and he brought drama to it,� said LA Lakers legend Magic Johnson, who served as one of five judges. �He took it back to the old- school dunkers of Michael Jordan, Dr. J [Julius Erving] and Vince Carter.�

For the second year in a row, Green was creative enough to defend his title, but Howard was better.

�I completed all my dunks, but what I saw from Dwight was stuff I�d never seen before,� Green said.

Exercise

Read the story. Then, without looking at the story, rearrange the following sentences in the correct order that they happened.

1.Fans voted by sending in their text-messaged votes.

2. Dwight Howard couldn�t get off the ground in the opening round.

3. Dwight Howard beat out many of the NBA players at the tournament.

4. Dwight Howard removed his jersey to unveil a Superman shirt and then added a cape.

	feat (n): an action or piece of work that needs skill, strength or courage dazzle (v): to impress somebody a lot with your skill, knowledge, etc. unveil (v): to show or introduce a new plan, product, etc. to the public for the first time cape (n): a loose outer piece of clothing that has no sleeves, fastens at the neck and hangs from the shoulders extraordinary (adj): unexpected, surprising or strange originality (n): the quality of being new and interesting in a way that is different from anything that has existed before