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interpret the text Using Close reading
Learning Target
• Express inferences and conclusions drawn based on close reading of grade-level texts using some frequently used verbs.
Read and Annotate
Read “Most Dangerous ‘Sport’ of All May Be Cheerleading” by Lisa Ling and Arash Ghadishah. Annotate the text as you read.
■ Use the My Notes area to write questions or ideas you have about the story. ■ Underline words and phrases that identify the argument.
■ Put “A” next to evidence that supports one side of the argument
■ Put “B” next to evidence that supports the opposite side of the argument. ■ Circle unknown words.
Most Dangerous “Sport” of AllMayBe Cheerleading
by Lisa Ling and Arash Ghadishah
1 Two years ago, Patty Phommanyvong was a healthy 17 year old. Now she will never walk or talk again. She was injured while cheerleading—an athletic activity some say is now among the most dangerous for young girls.
2 Phommanyvong had never done any gymnastics before she started cheering. After just two months, her parents say, Patty’s cheering partners were throwing her as high as 16 feet in the air.
3 Then she suffered an accident that stopped her breathing. Her parents claim that her school’s defibrillator failed and the 45 minutes she went without oxygen left her with a brain injury that caused permanent paralysis. Today, Phommanyvong can only communicate by blinking.
4 One blink means yes. Twice means no. Maybe is multiple blinks.
5 Cheerleading has long been an iconic American pastime, and it is now more
popular than ever. By one estimate, 3 million young people cheer, more than 400,000 at the high school level. And cheerleaders are no longer only on the sidelines—many cheer competitively.
6 The degree of difficulty of cheer stunts has exploded. So, too, has the number of accidents.
7 Cheerleading emergency room visits have increased almost sixfold over the past three decades. There were nearly 30,000 in 2008, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
8 The numbers are all the more disturbing because some states don’t even recognize cheerleading as a sport. That means there are no uniform safety measures and training methods.
aCtivitY 2.3
My notes
news article
Unit 3 • Changing Perspectives • Part 2: Most Dangerous “Sport” of All May Be Cheerleading 105
defibrillator: a device used to apply an electric current to the heart paralysis: inability to move
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