B4

Heart-stopping activities such as mountain biking, snowboarding and skydiving are known as ‘extreme sports’. And they are attracting more and more people.

KNOW

B5

Rock-climbing, for example, is enjoyed now by more than half a million Americans. Only 50,000 were doing it in 1989.

ENJOY

B6

One of the most extreme of all these sports is BASE jumping. First done in 1980, BASE jumping is jumping off tall buildings, towers and bridges, using a parachute.

EXTREME

B7

It is dangerous, but of course, that’s why BASE jumpers love it. Like other extreme sports, it’s the risk of disaster that makes BASE jumping so exciting.

BE

B8

As one BASE jumper has put it, ‘There aren’t many injuries in BASE jumping; you either live or die’.

PUT

B9

Some experts predict that extreme sports will become the major sports of the 21st century.

BECOME

B10

They may become more popular than traditional favourites like soccer and baseball.

POPULAR

B11

One of the reasons is that parents start taking their little kids to extreme sports shows.

REASON

B12

And teenagers, also attending them, would like to do these dangerous sports in the near future. What’s more, they are almost sure that they will be able to repeat their ‘deadly’ jump once again, like they always do in a computer game.

TEENAGER