Level: L DRA: 24 Genre: Narrative Nonfiction Strategy: Summarize Skill: Understanding Characters Word Count: 444 Lance Armstrong 1.6.30 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books by David Lau ISBN-13:978-0-547-02736-4 ISBN-10:0-547-02736-2 1032768 H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN 1_027364_AL_LRSE_CVR_L30_ARMST.indd 5/17/10 6:59:49 PM Lance Armstrong by David Lau PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover © Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; © Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images; © Patrick Gardin; © Getty Images; © UpperCut Images/Alamy; © Getty Images; © Comstock Images; © Joe Raedle/Getty Images; © Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images; © Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; 10 © Laurent Rebours Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers, Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777 Printed in China ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02736-4 ISBN-10: 0-547-02736-2 0940 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers retains title to the materials and they may not be resold Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format When he was young, Lance Armstrong was a lot like other kids He didn’t have any brothers or sisters He liked to play, swim, and ride his bike But Lance could also ride his bike for hours and swim for miles Lance liked to race, and he never gave up Lance liked many sports, but he was happier in a race than on a football or soccer field He loved to cross a finish line first! When Lance ran a race, he ran hard If he fell behind, he didn’t give up He just ran harder Lance also liked swimming races He often beat swimmers who were older and stronger! Lance trained hard to win Each morning, he rode his bike ten miles and swam three miles After school, he did it again! Lance runs in a triathlon at age 17 One day, Lance heard about a race called a triathlon In this race, racers swim, run, and ride a bike Lance thought he would be good at this race He won the Iron Kids Triathlon when he was only thirteen! 1_027364_AL_LRSE_L30_ARMST.indd 2/8/10 6:02:05 PM To train for triathlons, Lance took long bike rides Sometimes he rode all the way out of Texas! Then Lance had to call his mom She would have to drive her car to pick him up! Lance was sorry to make her drive so far But his mom was proud that he was one of the best triathlon racers in Texas As he got older, Lance decided that he liked bike racing the most Then everything changed Lance got very sick He was weak and in pain The doctors didn’t know if he would ever get well, or if he would ever race again Fighting to get well was much harder than racing, but Lance still didn’t give up In time, Lance got stronger He went to France for a big race The first day went well, but the second day was too hard He had to leave the race People wondered if Lance had given up on becoming a champion Lance wanted to try again He asked his coach for help His coach told him to go slow at the beginning of the race Then, when other riders were tired, Lance could ride his hardest to take the lead It worked! Lance was soon winning races all over the world Lance had finally achieved his dream He was a champion! Now everyone knows Lance Armstrong’s name They also know that he never gives up! 10 Responding Understanding Characters What does Lance Armstrong say in the story? What does he do? How does he feel? Make a chart TARGET SKILL Write About It Text to Text Think of the story you read about Mia Hamm Do you admire Mia or Lance more? Write two sentences to tell what you think and why 11 WORDS TO KNOW brothers loved people everyone most sorry field only LEARN MORE WORDS champion coach train Understanding Characters Tell more about characters TARGET SKILL Summarize Stop to tell important ideas as you read TARGET STRATEGY GENRE Narrative nonfiction tells a true story about a topic 12 Level: L DRA: 24 Genre: Narrative Nonfiction Strategy: Summarize Skill: Understanding Characters Word Count: 444 Lance Armstrong 1.6.30 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books by David Lau ISBN-13:978-0-547-02736-4 ISBN-10:0-547-02736-2 1032768 H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN 1_027364_AL_LRSE_CVR_L30_ARMST.indd 5/17/10 6:59:49 PM ... young, Lance Armstrong was a lot like other kids He didn’t have any brothers or sisters He liked to play, swim, and ride his bike But Lance could also ride his bike for hours and swim for miles Lance. .. hardest to take the lead It worked! Lance was soon winning races all over the world Lance had finally achieved his dream He was a champion! Now everyone knows Lance Armstrong? ??s name They also know... Count: 444 Lance Armstrong 1.6 .30 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books by David Lau ISBN-13:978-0-547-02736-4 ISBN-10:0-547-02736-2 1032768 H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN 1_027364_AL_LRSE_CVR_L30_ARMST.indd