Using the tabs above (Extracts A – D), read the four extracts on the theme of heroes. Then answer the questions opposite.
Extract A
It took less than 50 seconds; 49.11 seconds to be exact, for Cathy Freeman to run into immortality. 49.11 seconds and 200 years. I was there in the Sydney Olympic Stadium on that cool evening, September 25, 2000. Me and 112,000 others, watching this one slight girl carry the hopes of an entire nation. I so wanted to feel what others were feeling, but something inside felt so empty. I knew for a fact that there was the same aching in Cathy’s own soul. The same feeling of being Australian yet knowing the full cost of that allegiance. We had never talked about it – we had no need. It is something we share, Aboriginal people: an unspoken bond; the memories of lives on the outside looking in. This moment was bigger than sport. This was about history; about healing; about reconciliation. But no, I wanted Cathy to run for all of our people who had never had a chance, for all of those who were still outside looking in. As she took her victory lap, Cathy ran with two flags: the Australian flag with its debt to Britain and the red, black and yellow Aboriginal flag that honours the earth and the sun and the people. And there in that moment I could let go; I could be Australian and stand with other Australians. But you cannot erase two centuries in 49.11 seconds. When Cathy Freeman stood smiling on the medal dais, an Aboriginal expo outside the stadium told the story of the ongoing battle for justice.
Using the tabs above (Extracts A – D), read the four extracts on the theme of heroes. Then answer the questions opposite.
Extract B
Just look at the plethora of heroes in movies these days and you can see how much we all love heroes. What makes certain people take heroic actions in the face of great danger? ‘I don't feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right,’ Wesley Autrey told U.S. journalists after an incident in which he rescued a man who had fallen onto a train track. ‘True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost,’ said Arthur Ashe, a professional tennis player. According to the Heroic Imagination Project, a non-profit organization that focuses on teaching people to become heroes in their everyday lives, heroism involves a behavior or action on behalf of another person or for a moral cause.
Using the tabs above (Extracts A – D), read the four extracts on the theme of heroes. Then answer the questions opposite.
Extract C
These days many people look up to celebrities like actors, sports stars or musicians as their heroes and role models. We now have the means to follow their lives and thoughts on social media – and this is serious. In fact, to my mind, one of the most horrific developments of our century has been the widespread acceptance of the notion that if someone is good at acting / sports / pop music this means the rest of us should listen to their opinions on climate change or politics. If I hear an actor critiquing a film or a play or telling me why a certain script is a work of genius, of course I’m interested. I might learn something. As it happens, I care about animal rights. But I’m not sure why I am supposed to find the plight of animals any more or less poignant just because a movie star has given them a voice. Of course, many of these stars would say this is terribly mean-spirited. That they’re just getting ‘the message’ out to a public who lack awareness. That they’re using their platforms to do some good. I sort of get this, but I don’t really buy it.
Using the tabs above (Extracts A – D), read the four extracts on the theme of heroes. Then answer the questions opposite.
Extract D
I loved the ‘Thundercats’ superheroes cartoon as a child, watching cat-like humanoids fighting the forces of evil. Whenever their leader was in trouble, he’d unleash the Sword of Omens to gain ‘sight beyond sight,’ the ability to see events happening at faraway places, or bellow ‘Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats, Hooo!’ to instantaneously summon his allies to his location. What kid didn’t want those superpowers? A few months ago, my childhood dreams were at once destroyed and fulfilled. Standing in a line, I noticed that everyone was focused on their smartphones’ screens. Suddenly it hit me: I already had Sword of Omens superpowers. With my smartphone, I can see video of faraway events and text my friends to meet up. Billions of people now have what used to be considered superpowers. The physical superpowers may not be too far behind: I’m working on them in The Center for Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology at Vanderbilt University. Humanity has begun to enter the age of wearable exoskeletons and exosuits that offer support and strength to the bodies of those who have been weakened.