It was that time of year again. Ito, the strawberry sharecropper, did not smile. It was natural. The peak of the strawberry season was over and the last few days the workers, most of them braceros, were not picking as many boxes as they had during the months of June and July.
Trang 1Reading 1 Content
Health
scrawny very thin
stride long steps
trace very small amount
pleading asking for help
nape of … neck back of neck
sauntered walked without hurrying
probing searching or exploring with questions
Make Personal
Connections How does Brian react to the coach’s question? How would you have
reacted if you were Brian?
Reading Strategy
Getting Ready to Race
1 Gusts of wind whipped across the high
school football field that chilly spring
afternoon But Charlie Kane buttoned his
old military topcoat higher and kept his
eyes fixed on the scrawny kid in red shorts
running the track His stride was too long
for his size
2 “Brian loves to run,” the woman
standing next to him said There was just a
trace of pleading in Sue Boyett’s voice She
was looking for a strong man to coach her
11-year-old son A friend had introduced
her to Kane
3 The stocky man in his late 50’s with sandy gray hair tied at
the nape of his neck didn’t look like a coach any more than Brian
looked like a natural runner In fact, he was now a proofreader at
a printing plant and hadn’t trained a runner in years
4 After finishing his laps, Brian sauntered over to his mom,
glancing at Kane out of the corner of his eye
5 “Your mom says you like running But do you really want
to be coached?” Kane asked
6 “Yeah, I guess,” Brian said, avoiding his eyes
7 But Kane wasn’t settling for a halfhearted commitment
He kept probing until Brian met his gaze and said, “Yes!”
8 “Then I’ll train you,” Kane said Reading Check ✓
Coaching Brian
Peter Michelmore
1 Recall facts
What does Sue Boyett want for Brian?
2 Infer What did
Charlie Kane do before working as
a proofreader?
Trang 29 Charlie Kane was 58 years old that spring afternoon in
1994, and he had lost a sense of purpose His two older
children were out of the house, and his youngest, also named Brian, was about to leave to join the Marines
10 Kane had served a hitch himself in the late ’50s His
ambition, however, was to be a high school teacher and
track coach Eventually he earned a master’s, and he put in
13 years at schools in New Jersey doing what he loved best—teaching young people how to read and how to run
11 But in the ‘70s, Kane moved to California to make a fresh start For two years, he was a coach at a junior college Needing a higher salary, however, he then signed on as
an editor of technical manuals Homesick for the East, Kane eventually returned to New Jersey in 1994 and took
a proofreading job It paid the bills but didn’t give him any
deep satisfaction Coaching was what both he and Brian
needed
12 Yet, Brian resisted his new coach Soon after they started working together, Brian entered two distance races at a
recreational meet in his hometown of Parsippany Hills.
sense general feeling or awareness hitch length of service
ambition desire to succeed master’s academic degree satisfaction pleasure; contentment meet athletic competition
Make Personal
Connections Charlie
left coaching and
realized how much
he missed it What is
something you enjoy
that you would miss if
you stopped doing it?
Reading
Strategy
Trang 313 “I want you to go out easy,” Kane told him, “slowly pick up
speed, then hammer home on the final lap.”
14 When the gun went off in the 800 meters, Brian tore out
like it was a sprint In the last 100 meters he ran out of power
and was beaten Kane was furious “Are you going to do it
my way or yours?” he demanded Brian didn’t answer
15 In his next race, the 1,600 meters, Brian again charged to
the front, but then, either tiring or relenting, he dropped to
the rear of the pack On the last lap, with power in reserve,
he overtook the field—and won
16 Panting, he trotted over to Kane and announced with a
smile on his face, “Your way!”
17 They met at the track every day after work Days became
months, and then years When he was 13, Brian won junior
cross-country events with fast, finishing kicks “Hammering
it home” is what Kane called it “Someday,” he told the boy,
“you’ll be a contender for the U.S Olympic team.” To show
his pride, Kane gave him a running shirt with bold letters
reading “The Hammer.”
18 Brian’s self-confidence grew, but Sue still worried that
she wasn’t doing all she should for her son and daughter,
Jennifer, a year older
hammer drive with force
in reserve kept for later use
contender someone who takes part in a contest
Reading Check ✓
1 Recall details What
kind of work does Charlie love to do?
2 Draw conclusions
What can you conclude about Charlie’s way of running a race?
3 Calculate About
how long was Charlie away from coaching?
Make Personal
Connections Charlie shows that he is proud of Brian How
do people close to you show that they are proud of you?
Reading Strategy
Trang 419 In 1997, Brian shot up seven inches and entered high school Now he looked like a runner—lean, long-muscled,
with a smooth, disciplined stride He was a less proficient
student, however
20 Freshmen had to read The Iliad, but Brian didn’t see why
Kane did One night he was waiting at the kitchen table with
a translation of Homer’s epic about the Trojan War
21 “What’s this all about, Coach?” Brian asked
22 “It’s about life!” said Kane, motioning Brian to sit down
23 While Sue and Jennifer made meatloaf, Kane read the ancient verse in his best dramatic voice Brian listened with amazement, until Kane insisted he try it Embarrassed, Brian finally began to read and soon got wrapped up in the story
describing heroism, cowardice, loyalty and deceit.
24 They kept at it night after night for weeks Track in the
early morning and afternoon, The Iliad after dinner Subtly
Kane was coaching Brian about something else—being a man
25 The two read the passages
in which the Trojan hero Hector meets the stronger Greek warrior Achilles in hand-to-hand combat At first, knowing that powerful gods favor Achilles, Hector panics and runs But courage, Kane told Brian, is not being
impervious to fear It’s being
afraid, yet confronting fear—
as Hector does He stops his flight, and though sensing he
is doomed, turns to face his
enemy to uphold his honor
disciplined controlled proficient capable deceit dishonesty, trickery impervious unaffected by something doomed headed to an unhappy ending
Make Personal
Connections What
is something you
once had to do even
though you didn’t
understand why?
Did you learn the
reason later?
Reading
Strategy
Trang 526 The daily track practice and the nightly readings went
on, and gradually both exercises began to pay off Brian’s
bedroom shelves started filling with books and with trophies
from state and county races
27 But then came the fall of 1998 Brian developed a stress
fracture of his thighbone that put him out of competition
And Kane had been suffering from muscular weakness, for
which he’d been hospitalized a year earlier Doctors were
puzzled, but suspected he’d had a minor stroke First he had
to use a cane and then a walker
28 In time, Brian gained strength in his legs again, but
Kane did not He had trouble walking, even standing Brian
emptied his savings account to buy him a three-wheeled
scooter so Kane could still go to the track.
29 In March 2000 Brian entered a two-mile event at a
national scholastic indoor track meet at the 168th Street
Armory in New York City The best distance runners in the
country were there Sue brought Kane in a wheelchair
30 At the starting gun, Brian burst into the lead, but then
strategically dropped back Halfway through the race, he
moved up to the middle of the pack There was still a big
gap between him and the leader, but as he turned into the
final lap, cheers, stamping feet, and the word “hammer”
ringing in his brain drove him on
31 From his seat near the finish line, Kane watched Brian
surge to the lead with the greatest finishing kick he’d ever
seen him make—and win
scooter motor vehicle
surge push forward
Make Personal
Connections What drives Brian toward the finish line? What kind of encouragement helps you accomplish
a goal?
Reading Strategy
Reading Check ✓
1 Recall details
What is Charlie’s definition of courage?
2 Infer Why does
Charlie want Brian
to read The Iliad?
Build Your Knowledge
The word fracture is derived from the Latin word frangere meaning to break Words in English that come from frangere have the Latin root fract / frag Use the meaning of the root to figure out the meaning of fracture in this passage What do you think the words fraction, fragile, and fragment mean?
Trang 632 A month later, Kane began losing his voice and choking on his food Finally, doctors made a new
diagnosis: amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), Lou Gehrig’s
disease Kane, a strong man who’d molded athletes, was losing all
muscle function His spinal cord
was degenerating He would soon
learn he had only months to live
33 “Don’t feel bad,” Kane told
Brian in a faltering voice “I’ve had
a good life, and I’ll be coaching you for a while yet.”
34 Sue took over all of his care She drove him to the track,
shaved him, cut his hair, diced his food, helped him with
personal hygiene But his big battle each day was with the stairs
35 There were nine blue-carpeted steps from his basement room to the kitchen Every day he struggled to make it on his own Soon he could not Even with Sue’s help, they took ten painful minutes to climb, and each day it was harder
36 Then Sue had to leave In August, Jennifer was heading off
to Arizona State University, and Sue needed to help her settle in
37 “Go ahead, Mom,” Brian told her “I can look after Charlie.”
On the first day after she left, Brian put in two early hours at his summer job as a recreational camp counselor, and then raced home He found Kane, still in pajamas, sitting in a chair
in his small dark room, crying
38 Brian tried to get him up, telling him he had to get dressed
so they could go to the track Kane refused
diagnosis finding or conclusion Lou Gehrig’s disease common name for ALS, named after a famous baseball player molded formed
degenerating getting into a worse condition faltering speaking in a weak way
diced cut into small pieces
Make Personal
Connections Why
does Brian want to
help Charlie? What
would you say to
Charlie if you were
Brian?
Reading
Strategy
Trang 739 Late that afternoon Kane’s son arrived
from his Marine base in Virginia Together
the two Brians urged, cajoled, prodded,
and finally got him dressed and out of his
room
40 Now he faced the stairs Brian could
see that he was daunted Just nine steps—
which this once strong man could have
taken effortlessly—had become a mountain
for him And Kane let out a cry of protest
when they lifted him under his arms to help
him climb He pleaded to go back to bed; he
wanted to quit
41 You can do it, Brian kept urging him, and finally he saw a
firm resolve gather in his coach’s eyes.
42 Leaning upon their arms—feet stumbling, legs throbbing—
Charlie Kane hammered away One step at a time—all nine
Until he stood breathless on the kitchen floor, held up by the
two sons he loved
43 That evening when they returned from the track, all three
men sat down together at the kitchen table where Kane and
Brian had read the Greek epic aloud And then Brian reached
out and took his coach’s hand “Everything I am, Charlie, is
because of you,” he said
44 On June 6, Brian won the 3,200-meter run at the New
Jersey State Meet of Champions Kane watched from his
wheelchair, stopwatch clutched loosely in his hand The
next morning he was totally paralyzed Sue and Brian cared
for him at their home until the end Charles Kane died on
June 23, 2001.
cajoled persuaded gently
prodded urged strongly
paralyzed unable to move
Make Personal
Connections How does Brian feel about Charlie? How do you feel about Charlie?
Reading Strategy
Reading Check ✓
1 Recall details What
does Charlie say to Brian when Charlie realizes he is not going to get well?
2 Infer How does
Charlie follow the same advice he gave to Brian?