Question

from the farmers son
1 i started running a year ago. sometimes when i am running hard i forget where i am and what distance i have covered. i forget the pain in my legs and ankles. i simply am. exercise has become a big part of my life, and most days i head to the local forest or the gym and spend an hour or two working out. it lifts my mood and gives me a break from the farm. to spend too much time on a farm surrounded only by animals makes an oddity of a man.
2 ive been a serious runner for the last nine months. by serious, i mean in my own terms - that twenty - one kilometers isnt hard or out of the ordinary anymore. it started as a thought, a small want for change, in what the writer yukio mishima called the cultivation of the garden of the self. i was in australia, my old home, promoting my first novel; i had emerged from a serious illness and the idea of fitness came to me suddenly.
3 at the beginning i was slow and would soon run out of breath, but as the weeks moved by, my time on the treadmill increased, my heart grew stronger, and when i moved back to ireland i graduated to the great outdoors.
4 i remember my first five - kilometer race here last august. it was a simple course through the local forest and my only goal then was to finish. i had never before run so far, and slow as i was, i made it to the end. as i neared the finish, i found i had more fuel in the tank and sprinted to the line.
5 long - distance running is like farming, for it requires discipline, patience and preparation. you cant just decide you will run a marathon on a wednesday, just as you cant produce a herd in a day or make a cow calve before her time.
6 come rain or shine or tiredness, i have been running here for twenty minutes every day (the twenties, i call them), to keep me fit, with a longer run thrown in once a week, to build my distance. there are days when i do not want to run, as there are days i do not want to farm. i think then of the finnish long - distance runner paavo nurmi, who said, mind is everything, muscle mere pieces of rubber. all that i am, i am because of my mind.
7 i think about a lot of things when im out running. i think of the cows and their upcoming births. i think of their calves and the small ailments they have. i think of the fields, which are still hopelessly wet, and of the remaining silage, and i wonder if we will have enough. i see them there in my mind, all these creatures dependent on me, on the seasons, on time. as i break my jog and enter a run, i push through the pain and pass the boy i was a year ago, who was struggling with so many things. i do not feel pity for him, just love, for i feel that i am in control now - my life has a sense of stability and order - and that i like the animals, am safe.
8 i discovered a philosopher of running, dr. george sheehan, an american
part a
why does the author believe that his interest in running has made him a better farmer?

1. the regular training schedule he maintains as a runner reminds him of the chores he must complete on the farm.
2. the physical nature of running allows him to relate more deeply to the animals on his farm.
3. being a runner inspires him to reflect on the reasons he returned to his family farm.
4. running helps him build the strength he needs to labor on the farm.

part b
which excerpt from the passage best supports the correct answer to part a?

1. “exercise has become a big part of my life, and most days i head to the local forest or the gym and spend an hour or two working out.” (paragraph 1)
2. “i think of their calves and the small ailments they have.” (paragraph 7)
3. “as i break my jog and enter a run, i push through the pain and pass the boy i was a year ago.” (paragraph 7)
4. “i think of that instinct for motion, of my connectedness with the cows, with our horses, with vinny, with all animals that move” (paragraph 8)

Explanation:

For Part A, running helps the author build physical strength needed for farm - labor, which makes him a better farmer. For Part B, the excerpt about pushing through pain while running shows the physical aspect that relates to farm work, supporting the answer in Part A.

Answer:

Part A: 4. Running helps him build the strength he needs to labor on the farm.
Part B: 3. "As I break my jog and enter a run, I push through the pain and pass the boy I was a year ago" (Paragraph 7)