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from the farmers son 1 i started running a year ago. sometimes when i a…

Question

from the farmers son
1 i started running a year ago. sometimes when i am running hard i forget where i am and what distance i have covered. i forget the pain in my legs and ankles. i simply am. exercise has become a big part of my life, and most days i head to the local forest or the gym and spend an hour or two working out. it lifts my mood and gives me a break from the farm. to spend too much time on a farm surrounded only by animals makes an oddity of a man.
2 ive been a serious runner for the last nine months. by serious, i mean in my own terms - that twenty - one kilometers isnt hard or out of the ordinary anymore. it started as a thought, a small want for change, in what the writer yukio mishima called the cultivation of the garden of the self. i was in australia, my old home, promoting my first novel; i had emerged from a serious illness and the idea of fitness came to me suddenly.
3 at the beginning, i was slow and soon run out of breath, but as the weeks moved by, my time on the treadmill increased, my heart grew stronger, and when i moved back to ireland i graduated to the great outdoors.
4 i remember my first five - kilometer race here last august. it was a simple course through the local forest and my only goal then was to finish. i had never before run so far, and slow as i was, i made it to the end. as i neared the finish, i found i had more fuel in the tank and sprinted to the line....
5 long - distance running is like farming, for it requires discipline, patience and preparation. you cant just decide you will run a marathon on a wednesday, just as you cant produce a herd in a day or make a cow calve before her time.
6 come rain or shine or tiredness, i have been running here for twenty minutes every day (the twenties, i call them), to keep me fit, with a longer run thrown in once a week, to build my distance. there are days when i do not want to run, as there are days i do not want to farm. i think then of the finnish long - distance runner paavo nurmi, who said, mind is everything, muscle mere pieces of rubber. all that i am, i am because of my mind.
7 i think about a lot of things when im out running. i think of the cows and their upcoming births. i think of their calves and the small ailments they have. i think of the fields, which are still hopelessly wet, and of the remaining silage, and i wonder if we will have enough. i see them there in my mind, all these creatures dependent on me, on the seasons, on time. as i break my jog and enter a run, i push through the pain and pass the boy i was a year ago, who was struggling with so many things. i do not feel pity for him, just love, for i feel that i am in control now - my life has a sense of stability and order - and that i, like the animals, am safe.
8 i discovered a philosopher of running, dr. george sheehan, an american
this question has two parts. answer part a, and then answer part b.
part a
which pair of words best expresses how the act of running causes the author to feel?

  1. calm and peaceful
  2. cheerful and friendly
  3. brave and adventurous
  4. competitive and ambitious

part b
select two excerpts from the passage that best support the correct answer to part a.

  1. \i forget the pain in my legs and ankles. i simply am.\ (paragraph 1)
  2. \that twenty - one kilometers isnt hard or out of the ordinary anymore\ (paragraph 2)
  3. \as i neared the finish, i found i had more fuel in the tank and sprinted to the line....\ (paragraph 4)
  4. \i feel that i am in control now - my life has a sense of stability and order - and that i, like the animals, am safe\ (paragraph 7)

Explanation:

Brief Explanations

For Part A, the passage describes how running makes the author forget pain, lose track of location and distance, and gives a break from the farm - all of which suggest a calm and peaceful state. For Part B, "I forget the pain in my legs and ankles. I simply am." shows a state of being present and calm, and "I feel that I am in control now—my life has a sense of stability and order—and that I, like the animals, am safe" implies a peaceful and stable feeling.

Answer:

Part A: 1. calm and peaceful
Part B: 1. "I forget the pain in my legs and ankles. I simply am." (Paragraph 1)

  1. "I feel that I am in control now—my life has a sense of stability and order—and that I, like the animals, am safe" (Paragraph 7)