-By doing this cloze test activity, students will be able to use and practice the verbs in past participles.
Read the following text and and try to put the correct forms of the verbs in the gaps belove.
The Ma Family Army
Until the 1990s Chinese athletes had
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] little mark in international competition. That all
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] with the arrival on the international scene of a series of remarkable female runners trained by the mysterious Ma Junren. Ma
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] several world-class middle and long distance female runners. These included Wang Junxia and Qu Yunxia who
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] the holders of several world records. He and his pupils
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] also called the Ma family army for their excellent performances in domestic and international events.
Ma started as a track trainer in a rural school. He adopted a systematic, scientific training strategy, which included spiritual encouragement, traditional Chinese medicines and balanced track training. His training regimes were extremely tough, involving extremely high mileage at high altitudes.
There have
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] suggestions that he employed performance enhancing drugs as part of his training regime. He has strongly
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] this. However, 6 of his runners were among 27 competitors dropped from China's team for the Sydney Olympic games after failing blood tests. As a result he was dropped as a trainer from the Chinese team. Following this, he and his entire team of runners disappeared for several months. This laid even greater suspicion on him.
Ma was also controversial for his bad temper. He has admitted to physically beating his runners on occasions. His original team
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] up with him for this and other reasons including late allocation of money owed to them.
Perhaps the most famous product of Ma's family army was Wang Junxia. She was born in 1973. Wang’s best years lay between 1992 and 1996. In 1992, she beat Gete Wami to win the world junior 10,000m championship. Her golden year was 1993. In April, she set a world-leading time in the marathon. In May, she broke the Asian record for 3000m. Then, in August, Chinese women distance runners under Ma Junren shocked the world and swept the world titles from 1500m to 10,000m in Germany. Wang claimed the world title in the 10,000m even though she was sick before the race. In less than a month, she went on to win the 3000m and 10,000m in the Chinese National Games with 3 world records in 3 races. On September 8, she won the 10,000m final in a world record of 29:31.78, breaking the former record by 42 seconds. On September 11, She finished second in the 1500m behind Qu Yunxia. Qu ran 3:50.46 (a world record) against Wang's 3:51.92 which still stands third in all-time list. In the 3000m heats on September 12, Wang's teammates broke the 3000m world record in the first heat. This world record was just briefly held until it was beaten by Wang in the second heat. The next day she claimed the 3000m in another record time. She also won the World Cup Marathon Championships later in the year.
In 1994, she was awarded the Jesse Owens prize for her remarkable performances in 1993. She was the first Chinese person to win the prize. Although she
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] the Asian Games in 10,000m later in the year, her world-record breaking form was obviously gone. In 1995, Wang and other members of the Chinese team broke up with Ma. After a short period on her own, Wang started to train under Mao Dezhen for the 1996 Olympics, running quality times in both the 5000m and 10,000m.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics, Wang won the 5000m and
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] a silver in the 10,000m. She
became been broke changed denied made retired took trained were won [?] after the Olympics and got married.
Qu Yunxia was born in 1972. She was another Chinese runner who emerged from Ma’s family army. Qu specialized in the 1500 metres. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona she won a bronze in the 1500m. In 1993 she achieved a new world record in Beijing in the 1500m. She also won the 3000 metres at the 1993 World Championships.
So what accounted for the extraordinary but short-lived success of Ma’s family army? Critics have always claimed that illegal performance enhancing drugs must have been used by the Chinese team. It was also claimed that the team did not submit to the requested random drug testing. Prior to the 2000 games in Sydney, 6 of Ma Junren’s runners tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, resulting in their expulsion from the team. Ma has always denied this. He claimed that a natural and legal fungus helped the physical condition of his runners. Whatever the truth, for a short time at least, these Chinese women shocked the world with their performances. To what extent these successes were achieved legally is however a question that may never be answered.
