Unit 2: Selection Vocabulary 2

Cousin Ricky, a massive man who liked to say his guts were made of cast-iron, had eaten more Unknown Tacos than anyone.

Her name was actually some version of Maria where Cookie is the closest English approximation to the nickname, Cuquita.

Grandma Cookie had dressed her in a navy blue herringbone jumper and a new pair of gold shoes, the same color Cookie herself was wearing. All the better to accentuate Esme’s position as the only granddaughter, Gavin guessed.

People were shifting, getting out of their seats and soon there were clumps of dancers moving in a slow circle around the room in a leisurely cumbia.

Being in the mix was disorienting, and Gavin shuffled, trying to sway on beat and settling into a pace that wouldn’t bump the old lady in front of him and avoided the aggressive spins Cousin Ricky and his partner were doing behind him.

lost, in a market
or a mall, without
knowing it at first, following
a stranger, accidentally
thinking he is yours

only to see the face
look strangely down, utterly
foreign, utterly not the one
who loves you

...you
who are a bird suddenly
stunned by the glass partitions
of rooms.

...you
who are a bird suddenly
stunned by the glass partitions
of rooms.

The 2013 world championships marked Simone Biles’s arrival on the elite gymnastics scene.

Like anyone starting out at a new sport, Biles struggled with the fundamentals.

And on bars—the most technical event in the women’s repertoire—she lacked finesse.

Many times, the winner of an event would score a perfect 10. That changed in 2006, when the points system split into two: an execution score and a difficulty score.

The difficulty score awards additional points based on the rigor of the skills attempted during the routine.

After that competition, Biles invested more time with Andrews.

Few athletes have been able to stay so resolute.