Eindexamen engels vmbo gl/tl 2004, tijdvak 1

Start Rites What makes a sports player successful? Is it rigorous training and iron self-discipline, or that lucky pair of dirty socks? SAM MURPHY digs into winning superstitions ‘ I FITNESS 1 always use a special pair of thin leather gloves and I have a lucky T-shirt that I wear even if it’s dirty. I don’t speak to anyone in the morning. I get myself totally 5 focused from the minute I get out of bed. Just before we start, I tape the helmets of the rest of the crew.’ Is this the leader of some bizarre cult? Is he suffering from some form of obsession, perhaps? 6 50 How well such a ritual works can depend on how No – it’s Sean Olsson, driver of the British bronze 10 medal-winning bobsleigh team talking about his pre-race preparations at the last Winter Olympics. 2 And this behaviour is not unusual. In fact, the sporting world is well-known for its rituals and superstitions. It is not surprising – weeks and 15 months of preparation and training, yet everything hangs on that single fleeting performance. Athletes will do anything and everything they can to get a leading edge. 3 ‘If a player eats a particular food, or prepares in a 20 certain way, and he is successful, he’ll ask himself: “What did I do to run such a great race or score such a great goal?” The behaviour is associated with winning in his mind, so he repeats it and it becomes 7 65 Rituals and talismans may help to increase self- a ritual,’ says Chris Humpage, a performance 25 consultant who works with athletes of all levels. It is said that Newcastle striker Alan Shearer once raised his right arm after scoring a goal, and it turned out to be the start of a great goal-scoring run for him. Now he does it every time he scores. 4 30 But do such rituals work? Sports scientists have 8 been researching this for years and there’s no right answer. Of course, sporting success comes down to more than the order in which you put on your boots – but training isn’t just about reaching your physical 35 peak, or perfecting your technique, it’s also about 9 your mental state. Sports psychologists talk of getting into the ‘zone’ – when mind and body are optimally prepared. 5 Dr Christopher Shambrook, sports psychologist 40 and co-author of The Mental Game Plan says: ‘Sports people have to go through change every day. Their environment is constantly changing – different ‘The Sunday Times’

An Icon From Our Sponsor Free computers with a catch – that little ad in the corner of the screen T WAS A TEMPTING DEAL I need for a of school money: in constant 15 new computers, a powerful server, on-location teacher training and a speedy satellite connection to the Internet, all free. But Tom Wilson, the technology coordinator at Clayton Valley High School Screening room: Students using computers from ZapMe at a high outside Oakland, knew there school in California had to be a catch. There was! In return for all the valuable blue-bordered Web browser their resources. We are trying equipment, services and tech- with tempting 13 that to provide a practical solu- nical support offered by the rotate in a two-by-four-inch tion.” He also points out that ZapMe Corporation of San “dynamic billboard” in the students are going to find ads Ramon, in California, the lower left-hand corner of the all over the Web anyway. 11 agreed to accept ads in screen. ZapMe requires that a corner of the screen. the service be used by students company putting ads in Once upon a time, the four hours a day in order to classrooms, though it is the classroom was a 12 . But reach its goal. 14 , on a most ambitious. Boston school that high principle may soon recent Monday morning at administrators considered it disappear as more and more Clayton Valley High School, and recently announced co- schools rush to get wired. students didn’t even seem to operation with other compa- Computers are big-ticket notice the ads from GTE and nies. Steve Gagg, technology items, and many districts are Compaq. They were too busy adviser to Boston’s mayor, struggling just to provide the e-mailing pen pals in Berlin. basics: books and desks. Still, Gary Ruskin, director still 16 him. “We need to That’s where new businesses of the watchdog group take a step back and ask, is like ZapMe come in. Commercial Alert, says: “I this what we want for our ZapMe, which was official- think it’s outrageous that students? Is there any way ly launched last month, has parents should have this around it?” Without an easy put new PCs into about 70 shoved down their kids’ answer to that question, look schools and plans to be in 200 throats.” But ZapMe president for more billboards among the by the end of the year. But the Frank Vigil is not 15 : blackboards. computers can be used only “There is a large gap between with the ZapMe Netspace, a what the schools need and

Blondes Do they really have more fun? THEY’RE RENOWNED FOR BEING THE LIFE AND SOUL OF THE PARTY. BUT IF A BRUNETTE TURNS BLONDE CAN IT CHANGE HER LIFE? A WOMAN TELLS HER STORY. 1 FLIC EVERETT, 28, a journalist from Sale, in Manchester, says: “I dyed my hair blonde 10 years ago to attract the man I fancied. I decided I was going to go for it and make 5 myself impossible to ignore. So I paid ₤ 40 to have my dark brown hair lightened to golden yellow, and I bought a red dress. I need hardly say, it worked a treat. 2 Blonde hair really did seem to have an effect on men. I loved it. Complete strangers would wink and 10 grin for no reason. For a couple of months, I adored the attention. The bloke in question was now keen. Whenever I went out I got chatted up, and people referred to me as “a blonde”. I felt like a girl in an advert, all light-hearted and carefree. My friends said 15 it suited me, too. But that was before the roots started showing. 3 After a few weeks, I looked like a tragic heroin addict. Another ₤ 40 later, my hair was back to its 6 Liz Baker, a Colour Me Beautiful consultant, golden hue, but my love for blonde was fading. I also 20 began to notice that all these newly-keen men paid far more attention to my breast size than my IQ size. They assumed that a blonde was as dim as a one-watt bulb, and were accordingly amazed when I said anything even half-interesting. I began to look longingly at 25 pictures of Isabella Rossellini, the way I’d once looked at pictures of Michelle Pfeiffer. And one day, I bought a packet of dark brown dye, and went back to normal. It was such a relief. 4 No-one looked at me in the street, no-one talked to 30 my chest. People sometimes even listened when I spoke. I missed the attention for a while, but it hadn’t 7 Hal Beloff, a psychologist at Edinburgh really been me anyway. As a brunette, I had a lot more fun, I didn’t feel like I had to prove myself. And as for the bloke I’d dyed it for – he went off with another 35 brunette in the end.” hair colour. Usually, women who dye their hair blonde The Verdicts men, who smile and laugh at men’s jokes. Men may be attracted to the childlike quality of blonde hair, 5 Christian Gardiner, UK head of colour at Vidal Sassoon, says: “Blonde hair is younger-looking, it reflects light across the face, and makes hair look thicker. Going blonde is 40 as good as having a holiday. It’s a complete change –