Terry Fox: The Run That Never Ended
He lost his leg to cancer when he was 18. Three years later, he started to run across Canada, a marathon every day. The story of a young man who never gave up.
Transcript
Tap a time to jump to that moment. Highlighted words have a meaning: tap them.
He lost his leg to when he was 18.
Three years later, he started to run across Canada, a marathon every day.
This is the story of Terry Fox.
Hello, and welcome to Bright Lives English. Real stories. Real English.
Today's level is A2.
In this story, listen for five new words.
. A is something you really want to do or have in the future.
He had a .
. When you , you collect money from people for a good cause.
He wanted to for research.
. Something is made by people. It is not natural.
He ran with one real leg and one leg.
. When you , you continue even when something is difficult.
The past is .
He was tired and in pain, but he .
. When you , you stop trying to do something.
The past is .
He never .
Ready? Let's begin.
Terry Fox was born in Canada in 1958.
He loved sport, especially basketball.
He was not the best player, but he always worked very hard.
When Terry was 18, his right leg started to hurt.
Doctors found in his leg.
They had to cut off his leg above the knee.
In the hospital, Terry saw many children with .
He felt very sad.
Then he had a .
He wanted to run across Canada and for research.
He wanted $1 from every person in Canada.
Terry trained for more than a year.
In April 1980, he started his run on the east coast of Canada.
He ran with one real leg and one leg.
He called his run the Marathon of Hope.
Every day, he ran about 42 kilometers.
That is a marathon every single day.
It was very hard.
He was often tired and in pain, but he .
At first, not many people knew about Terry, but soon people came out to for him.
They stood by the road and gave money.
Terry became a .
After 143 days and more than 5,000 kilometers, Terry had to stop.
The was back, this time in his lungs.
Terry died in 1981. He was only 22 years old.
But his run did not end.
Every year, people all over the world do the Terry Fox Run.
Together, they have hundreds of millions of dollars for research.
Terry never finished his run, but he never .
Let's review our five words.
He had a .
He wanted to for research.
He ran with one leg.
He was tired, but he , and he never .
Terry's story teaches us something.
You don't have to finish everything to make a big difference.
Want more practice? Go to brightlivesenglish.com for flashcards, a worksheet, and a quiz.
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See you in the next true story.
Step 3
Words from the story
Say the word, guess its meaning, then flip the card. Keep the ones you know, and practise the rest again.
Great work, you know every word in this story. Now try the quiz below.
dream noun
something you really want to do or have in the future
“Then he had a dream.”
raise money phrase
to collect money from people for a good cause
“He wanted to raise money for cancer research.”
artificial adjective
made by people, not natural
“He ran with one real leg and one artificial leg.”
keep going phrasal verb
to continue, even when something is difficult (past: kept going)
“He was often tired and in pain, but he kept going.”
give up phrasal verb
to stop trying to do something (past: gave up)
“He never gave up.”
cancer noun
a serious disease where cells in the body grow in a bad way
“Doctors found cancer in his leg.”
cheer verb
to shout to show support for someone
“Soon people came out to cheer for him.”
hero noun
a person that many people admire for doing something brave or good
“Terry became a hero.”
Step 4
Story Challenge
9 quick rounds: choose, fill the gap, build the sentence and match the words. Answer in a row to build a streak and earn bonus points.
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Take it further
Before you watch: Do you know someone who never gives up? Think about them while you watch.
After you watch: Tell a friend Terry’s story in three sentences. Use the words dream, keep going and give up.
Think about it: Terry never finished his run, but he made a big difference. What is something you started that you are proud of?
