How tennis rackets have changed
In 2016, the British professional tennis player Andy Murray was ranked as the world's number one. It was an incredible achievement by any standard - made even more remarkable by the fact that he did this during a period considered to be one of the strongest in the sport's history, competing against the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, to name just a few. Yet five years previously, he had been regarded as a talented outsider who entered but never won the major tournaments.
Of the changes that account for this transformation, one was visible and widely publicised: in 2011, Murray invited former number one player Ivan Lendl onto his coaching team - a valuable addition that had a visible impact on the player's playing style. Another change was so subtle as to pass more or less unnoticed. Like many players, Murray has long preferred a racket that consists of two types of string: one for the mains (verticals) and another for the crosses (horizontals). While he continued to use natural string in the crosses, in 2012 he switched to a synthetic string for the mains. A small change, perhaps, but its importance should not be underestimated.
The modification that Murray made is just one of a number of options available to players looking to tweak their rackets in order to improve their games. 'Touring professionals have their rackets customised to their specific needs', says Colin Triplow, a UK-based professional racket stringer. 'It's a highly important part of performance maximisation.' Consequently, the specific rackets used by the world's elite are not actually readily available to the public; rather, each racket is individually made to suit the player who uses it. Take the US professional tennis players Mike and Bob Bryan, for example: 'We're very particular with our racket specifications,' they say. 'All our rackets are sent from our manufacturer to Tampa, Florida, where our frames go through a . . . thorough customisation process.' They explain how they have adjusted not only racket length, but even experimented with different kinds of paint. The rackets they use now weigh more than the average model and also have a denser string pattern (i.e. more crosses and mains).
The primary reason for these modifications is simple: as the line between winning and losing becomes thinner and thinner, even these slight changes become more and more important. As a result, players and their teams are becoming increasingly creative with the modifications to their rackets as they look to maximise their competitive advantage.
Racket modifications mainly date back to the 1970s, when the amateur German tennis player Werner Fischer started playing with the so-called spaghetti-strung racket. It created a string bed that generated so much topspin that it was quickly banned by the International Tennis Federation. However, within a decade or two, racket modification became a regularity. Today it is, in many ways, an aspect of the game that is equal in significance to nutrition or training.
Modifications can be divided into two categories: those to the string bed and those to the racket frame. The former is far more common than the latter: the choice of the strings and the tension with which they are installed is something that nearly all professional players experiment with. They will continually change it depending on various factors including the court surface, climatic conditions, and game styles. Some will even change it depending on how they feel at the time.
At one time, all tennis rackets were strung with natural gut made from the outer layer of sheep or cow intestines. This all changed in the early 1990s with the development of synthetic strings that were cheaper and more durable. They are made from three materials: nylon (relatively durable and affordable), Kevlar (too stiff to be used alone) or co-polyester (polyester combined with additives that enhance its performance). Even so, many professional players continue to use a 'hybrid set-up', where a combination of both synthetic and natural strings are used.
Of the synthetics, co-polyester is by far the most widely used. It's a perfect fit for the style of tennis now played, where players tend to battle it out from the back of the court rather than coming to the net. Studies indicate that the average spin from a co-polyester string is 25% greater than that from natural string or other synthetics. In a sense, the development of co-polyester strings has revolutionised the game.
However, many players go beyond these basic adjustments to the strings and make changes to the racket frame itself. For example, much of the serving power of US professional player Pete Sampras was attributed to the addition of four to five lead weights onto his rackets, and today many professionals have the weight adjusted during the manufacturing process.
Other changes to the frame involve the handle. Players have individual preferences for the shape of the handle and some will have the handle of one racket moulded onto the frame of a different racket. Other players make different changes. The professional Portuguese player Goncalo Oliveira replaced the original grips of his rackets with something thinner because they had previously felt uncomfortable to hold.
Racket customisation and modification have pushed the standards of the game to greater levels that few could have anticipated in the days of natural strings and heavy, wooden frames, and it's exciting to see what further developments there will be in the future.
Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
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People had expected Andy Murray to become the world’s top tennis player for at least five years before 2016.
- TRUE
- FALSE
- NOT GIVEN
题解：五年前，Andy Murray被认为是一个有才华的局外人。并且第一段中明确跟了一个but表示转折，后面提及到他没有获得任何主要赛事的奖项。由此可知，实际上应该是没有人认为它日后会成为世界最顶级的网球运动员。
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The change that Andy Murray made to his rackets attracted a lot of attention.
- TRUE
- FALSE
- NOT GIVEN
题解：从这个问题可以拿到一个非常重要的判断点a lot of attention。接着读原文，第二段首先表明有一个变化是举世皆知的，但是看下去发现这个是在讲invited former number one player和playing style的关系，实际上和题目中强调的rackets没有关系。接着往下看，出现了Another change was so subtle as to pass more or less unnoticed这一句非常重要，和题目刚好完全相反。然后后面可以很明显看出和rackets有关系。那么这个实际上应该是FALSE。
-
Most of the world's top players take a professional racket stringer on tour with them.
- TRUE
- FALSE
- NOT GIVEN
题解：题目信息非常充足，首先就是量词Most of，这表明一定是要大多数，在阅读时要注意量词关系。然后就是带的是racket stringer，并且还需要tour。这就表明了需要随身带，打比赛时候得跟着。很明显，在第三段中出现了这么一句话Touring professionals have their rackets customised to their specific needs，这只是在说会用定制拍并没有说要随身带一个老师傅。但是实际上也没有不会带老师傅，因为判断题是顺序题，所以我们直接看下一题。
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Mike and Bob Bryan use rackets that are light in comparison to the majority of rackets.
- TRUE
- FALSE
- NOT GIVEN
题解：首先就是出现了专属名词Mike and Bob Bryan，并且这个名词还不是那种全篇出现的常客。接下来有一个重点，出现了比较。在雅思的考试中，比较是非常重要的考点（虽然本质上都是同义替换）。要比较的对象是rackets，然后目标是majority，比较的结果是light。第三段直接有说明这俩人的拍子weigh more than the average model。 OK，那结果很明显，选FALSE。这样的话上一题的答案就明确了，是NOT GIVEN。
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Werner Fischer played with a spaghetti-strung racket that he designed himself.
- TRUE
- FALSE
- NOT GIVEN
题解：出现专有人名，然后还有一个特殊名词spaghetti-strung。再关注一下designed himself ，本题非常简单易懂。直接找到第五段，两个名词都出现了，但是实际上并没有说明是designed himself，只是说so-called。老规矩，看下一题。
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The weather can affect how professional players adjust the strings on their rackets.
- TRUE
- FALSE
- NOT GIVEN
题解：首先影响因素是weather，其次影响对象是adjust the strings。OK，简单易懂，直接看原文。Modifications 直接对应题中的weather，然后文中也出现了professional players，虽然这词全文有多处出现，但是此时要素过多。后面出现了决定性的词语climatic conditions。好了，破案了，此题选TRUE，上一题选NOT GIVEN 。
-
It was believed that the change Pete Sampras made to his rackets contributed to his strong serve.
- TRUE
- FALSE
- NOT GIVEN
题解：出现专有名词Pete Sampras，然后还有strong serve，是因为rackets of change。简单易懂，直接看文章。serving power对应strong serve，然后还有attributed to。实锤了，确实是的，选TRUE 。
Questions 8-13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
The tennis racket and how it has changed
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Mike and Bob Bryan made changes to the types of paint used on their racket frames.
题解：出现了专有名词Mike and Bob Bryan，直接进行定位，然后去找他们change了什么。并且还是在racket frames上。原文中出现了kinds of paint，好了，直接对应types of，没有问题，填paint -
Players were not allowed to use the spaghetti-strung racket because of the amount of topspin it created.
题解：首先就是熟悉的专有名词spaghetti-strung，然后还有状态were not allowed，并且原因是created the amount of。直接看原文，出现了so that，对应because of，还有还有much topspin，直接和出题处对应，应该填topspin。 -
Changes to rackets can be regarded as being as important as players' diets or the training they do.
题解：获取信息diets，和as being as important。从原文中可以得到这样的说法equal，然后nutrition or training。其中nutrition对应diets，那么填空处自然就应该是training。 -
All rackets used to have natural strings made from the gut of animals.
题解：获取信息natural strings和animals，以及表示程度的All rackets。在原文中找到all tennis rackets和sheep or cow，第一个属于原词复现，第二个则是对应了All rackets。并且原文中有natural gut，答案得出，填gut。 -
Pete Sampras had metal weights put into the frames of his rackets.
题解：专有名词Pete Sampras，然后还出现了metal，在frames of his rackets。看原文，lead weights onto his rackets。冷知识，lead有铅块的意思，所以对应了metal，而且onto his rackets几乎属于原句复现。那么答案就非常明显了，应该填weights。 -
Goncalo Oliveira changed the grips on his racket handles.
题解：Goncalo Oliveira出现专有名词，然后changed在racket handles。看原文，Goncalo Oliveira replaced the original grips of his rackets ，没什么好说的，replaced对应changed，后半部分原句浮现，然后答案呼之欲出，该填grips。
