“Extreme Park Safety”
Assignment Directions:
Read “Extreme Park Safety.” Then, answer
the questions that follow.
“Extreme Park Safety” From Courier Journal
Mayor Dave Armstrong is right when he
points out that new Louisville Extreme Park “is an
extreme park. It’s a place where people takes risks.”
Logic tells us to expect a steady stream of
athletes with abrasions and broken bones.
But last week, a more serious risk became
apparent when an 11-year-old boy without a helmet
fell 11 feet. He has been in critical condition at
Kosair Children’s Hospital ever since.
Suddenly the community euphoria over a
basically rule-free, unsupervised extreme park is
gone. The question must be asked: Could the city
run the park in a way that would reduce the risk of
serious injuries?
The answer, of course, is yes: There at least
could be a requirement for athletes to wear helmets.
There could be staff ensuring they do.
The irony, however, is that taking any step
to reduce athletes’ risk puts the city at financial risk
instead. “Less is better from a liability standpoint.”
Admits Heidi Lemmon of the Skate Park
Association. Staff presence implies supervision, and
thus creates the opening for lawyers for injured
athletes to argue over the adequacy of the supervision
provided.
Still, there is something grossly wrong with
a city government declining to protect its citizens
because of a fear of liability. And there is something
grossly wrong in inviting kids to the biggest and most
challenging extreme park in the country, then
backing away from the insisting on obvious
protections.
Instead, the Mayor should support a rule
requiring helmets. He should see that the rule is
enforced. Helmets reduce the severity of head injury
88% of the time.
Yet, largely because of the liability issue,
few publicly owned extreme parks have helmet
requirements or staff. In fact, Zach Wornhoundt,
designer of Louisville’s park, says of the 43 he has
designed, only one is staffed.
That park, near Sacramento, opened a year
ago with no supervision, but was shut down four days
later because kids weren’t wearing helmets. A week
later, it reopened with a gatekeeper, who makes sure
helmets are worn.
The gatekeeper doesn’t serve as a lifeguard.
After all, there’s no way for supervision to make
extreme parks “safe.” But there are ways to make
them safer – to reduce the frequency and severity of
injuries. Hiring gatekeepers is one way.
Nationally, serious injuries are rare. The
accident that happened here may have been an
unfortunate fluke.
But as the Mayor boasts, ours is a
challenging park – “The premier.” That charges us
with the responsibility of being in the forefront of
recognizing and reducing risk as well.
Questions
1.
What type of writing is “Extreme Park
Safety”? a. Feature article. b. Letter
c. Proposal. d. Editorial.
2.
The type of writing requires the author to a.
Simply tell the facts of news events. b.
Voice his/her opinion about a topic in a
persuasive way. c. Tell a story about his or
her life. d. Tell a made up story.
3.
What is the topic of this writing? a. Safety
issues at an extreme park. b. Fun at extreme
parks. c. Dangers of building extreme parks.
d. Closing extreme parks.
4.
The audience most likely intended for this
piece is a. Teacher. b. all teenagers
c. Residents of Louisville d. Skate park fans
5.
Why would the author select this audience?
a. Teachers grade papers. b. They enjoy the
skate park. c. They are the ones who can
encourage local officials to do something or
to do nothing. d. None of the above.
6.
Why wouldn’t fans of the skate park be the
intended main audience? a. Many of them
aren’t 18 or older and cannot vote on this
issue. b. Many of them might not be from
the county involved. c. They would have a
biased opinion. d. Both a & b
7.
The overall tone of this piece is of a. Serious
concern. b. Sarcasm c. Humor d. Rage
8.
Why is this tone effective? a. It’s a serious
matter. b. It makes people laugh. c. It makes
people cry.
d. None of the above.
9.
How does the author create his/her voice
and tone? a. By using a rhetorical question.
b. By using strong statements like the last
sentence. c. By quoting the mayor.
d. All of the above
10. How can you tell that the author writes from
the perspective of an informed writer to a
less informed reader, which is what one
should do when writing an editorial? a. She
supplies readers with factual information,
not just the obvious. b. She gives personal
opinions. c. She uses correct language. d.
All of the above.
11. When writing to persuade, it’s always good
to acknowledge the other side’s point of
view. How does the author acknowledge the
opposition’s point of view? a. She states
that the mayor should support the helmet
rule. b. She acknowledges that taking any
step to reduce risk puts the city at financial
risk. c. She states that the park is one of the
best.
12. How does the author attempt to persuade the
audience? a. By using strong emotional
appeals such as “grossly wrong.” b. By
citing a parallel situation (park near
Sacramento uses gatekeepers to enforce
helmet requirements) c. By using statistics
(“Helmets reduce the severity of head injury
88 percent of the time.”) d. All of the
above.
13. By stating, “helmets reduce the severity of
head injury 88 percent of the time.” The
author most likely is trying to make readers
feel that. a. Helmets don’t make a
difference. b. Helmets stop all injuries. c.
Helmets truly help keep skaters safer. d. It’s
time to eat.
14. A smart reader always questions statistics,
and never takes them at face value. Thus,
the question we should ask about the
statistics mentioned in the previous question
is? a. Where did the author get the statistics?
b. Did the author get the statistics from a
reliable source? c. Do the statistic only
represent skate parks accidents, not
motorcycle or bike accidents? d. How much
of a reduction of injury occurred with
helmet usage? e. Any or all of the above
15. What does the author believe should be
done? a. Nothing. b. The park should be
closed. c. Helmet usage should be required
or monitored. d. An age minimum for
admittance into the park should be enforced.
16. In the concluding paragraph, the author
implies that since Louisville has a “premier”
park, a. Louisville should also set the
example in reducing the risk of injury.
b. Residents should be proud.
c. Residents should stop complaining.
17. In the forth paragraph, the word euphoria is
used. Based on context clues, this works
most likely means the following:
a. Feeling of well-being.
b. Foolish pride.
c. Sadness.
d. Stupidity
18. In the last paragraph, the word forefront is
used. Based on the context clues, this word
most likely means. a. Dark ages. b.
Scientific discovery c. End of d. Cutting
or leading edge.
19. Which Persuasive technique is not used?
A. bandwagoning
B. plain folks
C. expert opinion
D. attacking the person
20. What is the author’s position?
A. close the skate park down
B. set and enforce safety standards
C. redesign the skate park
D. do nothing