1 . To a regular person, Spitfire may look like just an ordinary dog, but to fans of the dock diving circuit, he is an incredible athlete in the same league as sport stars like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant
Before COVH-19, eight-year-old Spitfire and his 16-year-old owner, Sydney, dominated the dock diving circuit like never before in the history of the sport. If you’re unfamiliar with the sport of dock diving, it’s essentially dogs running on a wooden dock and jumping as far or as high as possible before diving into a pool of water. And no dog did this better than Spitfire. Between 2016 and 2019, he broke 21 world records.
Spitfire came into the Mackey family in 2013. Back then, he was just an adorable dog with big eyes that Sydney instantly fell in love with. Sydney and her mother learned about dock diving in 2016, from a family friend who encouraged them to try it with Spitfire. In May of that year, they decided to give the sport a try and their pet proved to be a natural.
It wasn’t long after that very first jump that Sydney and Spitfire started making waves in the world of dock diving. They took the sport by storm and they dominated events across the United States like no team had ever done before. In three years, time, they broke many world records, and became known as an unbeatable pair of players.
Before he jumps into the air, the world’s best dock diver reaches a speed of about 30 miles per hour, and when he takes to the air he can reach a distance of 31 feet before hitting the water, or 8 feet 6 inches when he’s going for height. It’s no wonder they call him the flying dog.
But while Spitfire is undoubtedly the star of the show, most dock diving experts are convinced that despite his athletic abilities, he would have never reached his true potential without his young owner’s guidance. Sydney’s “Ready? Ready? Go, Go, Go!” pep talk to get Spitfire fired up has become famous on the dock jumping circuit.
1. Why are Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To show Spitfire owns the same number of fans. |
| B．To show Spitfire’s incredible talent in basketball. |
| C．To show Spitfire’s excellent performance in sports. |
| D．To show the importance of sports stars to the league, |
| A．His friend’s encouragement. | B．His devotion to the dock diving. |
| C．Spitfire’s good performance in diving. | D．The popularity of the dock diving. |
| A．They didn’t perform well at the beginning. |
| B．They achieved impressive results in the events. |
| C．They were ever defeated by other teams. |
| D．They seldom participated in the events in US. |
| A．He can’t live up to the title of sports star. |
| B．He doesn’t obey his owner’s orders at times. |
| C．They doubt whether he has his athletic abilities. |
| D．Sydney’s guidance contributed to his achievements. |
