HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

1532568

1532568

by David Lau

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

Level: LDRA: 24Genre:Narrative Nonfi ctionStrategy:Summarize Skill:Main Idea and DetailsWord Count: 416

1.6.30

Lance Armstrong

by David Lau

LanceArmstrong

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Printed in China

ISBN-13: 978-0-544-04743-3 ISBN-10: 0-544-04743-5

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2

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.

3

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.

4

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!

5

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!

Lance runs in a triathlon at age 17.

6

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.

7

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.

8

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.

9

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.

10

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!

11

RespondingTARGET SKILL Main Idea and

Details What is the most important idea in the book? Find details that

tell more about it. Make a web.

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.

Write About It

Main Idea

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

12

brothers

everyone

field

loved

most

only

people

sorry

WORDS TO KNOW

champion coach trainLEARN MORE WORDS

TARGET SKILL Main Idea and

Details Tell the most important

idea and details about a topic.

TARGET STRATEGY Summarize

Stop to tell important ideas as

you read.

GENRE Narrative nonfiction tells

a true story about a topic.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

1532568

1532568

by David Lau

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

Level: LDRA: 24Genre:Narrative Nonfi ctionStrategy:Summarize Skill:Main Idea and DetailsWord Count: 416

1.6.30

Lance Armstrong