Home
About
Basic
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Grammar
Reading
Vocabulary
Spelling

Focus on People


 

Conchita Cintron


Conchita Cintron, also known as La Diosa Rubia (born August 9, 1922 in Antofagasta, Chile) was a female bullfighter in a time when it was unusual for women to work as bullfighters. Some people thought that fighting bulls was for men and did not think it proper for a woman to participate. Cintron started riding horses when she was three and eventually learned how to bullfight from a horse. In 1938 at the age of 15, she made her professional debut in Lima, Peru. Throughout her career she traveled to Mexico, Portugal, France, Venezuela, Colombia and Spain to participate in bullfights. She even fought once in the United States, near San Francisco, in an event in which she was not allowed to kill the bull.

During Cintron's career women were not allowed to fight on foot, which is the classic style of bullfighting popular in Spain. But her popularity in Spain was great, and eventually she was allowed to fight on foot at charity events not open to the public. In one of her last fights in Spain, she asked the president if she could get off of her horse to kill the bull. He refused, but she dismounted her horse anyway. She acted like she was going to kill the bull, but just dropped her sword instead. The audience loved it and threw hats and flowers at her feet. When she walked out of the bullfighting ring she was arrested. She retired shortly afterward. In her career she killed over 750 bulls and proved that women could compete with men.

Modified from wikipedia.com.





Sentence Completion

  Complete the sentences with 1-3 words from the text.
 1.

 Some bullfighters fight on horseback and others fight on .
 2.

 In Spain she was not allowed to fight on foot, while in America she was not  allowed to  .
Vocabulary in Context

 3.

 She her horse is another way of saying she got off of her horse.

 4.

Which definition of the noun audience fits its use in the text?

the group of people at a public event
the people reached by a book, radio or television broadcast, etc.
chance to speak to or before a person or group; a hearing
   
 5.

In the text, what part of speech is the word bullfight?

noun    verb     adjective