The craze for competitive eating - Module 7

B2 First · Multiple Choice Reading · First Expert Coursebook, Pearson Education

You are going to read an article about a competitive eater. For questions 1–6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

Crab cakes, hot dogs and chicken wings. We meet Sonya Thomas - the woman who has taken the male world of competitive eating by storm - and watch her in action. When you first see Sonya Thomas, you wonder whether she might be blown away by the breeze. Yet she is a tough nut. Unlikely as it may seem, this tiny woman, who weighs no more than 46 kilos, is a top-ranked competitive eater, holding over 40 eating records, including 162 chicken wings in 12 minutes and 52 eggs in five minutes. Known as 'the Black Widow' (after the female spider which destroys the males of the species), she routinely humiliates hulking men three times her size as she wolfs down her food, leaving them watching her in bewilderment, unable to keep up. There's something about being paid to eat large quantities of (usually fast) food in a short time period that speaks volumes about consumerist values in 21st-century western society. And yet Sonya was born and raised in South Korea. After emigrating to the US, she took a job at Burger King but it wasn't until she saw the World Hot Dog Eating Championship on television that she finally found a channel for the competitiveness that had always been part of her nature. Sonya signed up for the competition straightaway and ended up breaking the record for the fastest-eating female. In the competition I saw, she was trying to break her own record for eating 40 highly calorific crab cakes in 12 minutes and I wondered how anyone, let alone a slightly built woman, can put away that many in one sitting. The competition is, without question, the most disgusting thing I have ever seen and I heard someone in the crowd mutter, 'What the hell are these people doing to themselves?' It's a good question. At that competition, Sonia would consume around 11,000 calories in her quest for the

,500 first prize, and put on around four and a half kilos in the process. But despite this, her policy of undereating - only one meal every day - and regular running or walking enables her to keep very slim. The same cannot be said for the majority of contestants, who tend to be absolutely huge! And while it is true that there has been no conclusive evidence that competitive eating causes health problems, there have been instances in Japan of people choking while speed-eating and ending up in intensive care, which is why paramedics are always on hand during competitions and why competitive eating is no longer shown on television in that country. Watching these competitions, you don't have to be unduly sensitive to find yourself thinking that the amount of food consumed here would represent the difference between life and death for a substantial number of people in the world's poorest countries. I discovered that this so-called sport dates back decades, to events held at country fairs, where the idea was simply to dispose of left-over food. However, unlike Japan, which has been a stronghold of the competition since the 1990s, it has only taken off in a big way in the US fairly recently. The US holds around 150 eating events a year and there are those who are convinced that it will get bigger, even becoming part of the Olympics. The majority of people that I spoke to, though, regarded it as a sign of the decay of society and an example of stupidity rather than sport. Despite that, Sonya still hopes that one day in the future she will be thought of in the same way as an international sports star. She also tells me - completely straight-faced - that she studies video footage of her rivals' performances for clues to improve her technique, and claims that even if there were no money involved, she would still compete, both for the sheer joy of winning and the opportunity to become a celebrity.

her nickname

her appearance

her determination

her attitude to men

What does the writer find surprising about Sonya?

She was keen to take up a challenge.

She wanted to find a way of leaving her job.

She heard about it through her work at a fast food restaurant.

She needed to earn some money to finance her eating habits.

Why did Sonya first get involved in competitive eating contests?

calories.

minutes.

crab cakes.

competitions.

That many in line 19 refers to

has been proved to be harmful for your general health.

can be dangerous if the food is not swallowed properly.

means that there is no point in taking any kind of exercise.

does not appear to have affected the weight of most competitors.

Taking part in eating competitions

It has always been very popular in the US.

It is widely accepted as a sport these days.

It does not have a following in other countries.

There are uncomfortable moral issues involved.

What does the writer say about the fashion for competitive eating?

Sonya is convinced that competitive eating is a sport.

Sonya is trying very hard not to laugh out loud.

the writer thinks that Sonya is not telling him the truth.

the writer can't believe that Sonya takes competitive eating seriously.

The choice of the word straight-faced in line 38 emphasises that

The craze for competitive eating

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