CELPIP Reading Part 3 Practice Test: Terry Fox and the Marathon of Hope

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Few Canadians are as widely admired as Terry Fox, a young man who never finished the journey that made him famous. Born in Winnipeg in 1958 and raised in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Fox was a determined athlete who played basketball for Simon Fraser University. In 1977, at the age of eighteen, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, and his right leg was amputated above the knee. Shortly before his operation, he read a magazine article about an amputee who had completed the New York City Marathon. The story stayed with him, and during his treatment he began to imagine a run of his own, one that would raise money for cancer research.

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After more than a year of training on an artificial leg, Fox began what he called the Marathon of Hope on April 12, 1980, by dipping his leg into the Atlantic Ocean at St. John’s, Newfoundland. His aim was ambitious: to cross the country on foot and collect one dollar from every Canadian, roughly $24 million at the time. Each day he set out before dawn and covered close to the length of a full marathon, followed by a van driven by his friend Doug Alward. His younger brother Darrell later joined them. In the early weeks, as he struggled through rain, snow and strong winds in Atlantic Canada, crowds were small and donations were modest.

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Interest grew steadily as Fox moved into Quebec and Ontario. Thousands of people lined the streets to cheer him in Toronto, and money began to arrive from across the country. On September 1, 1980, however, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres, Fox was forced to stop near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Tests showed that the cancer had spread to his lungs. The news shocked the nation, and a television fundraiser held days later collected millions of dollars. That same month, he became the youngest person ever named a Companion of the Order of Canada. Within months, donations had passed his original goal. Fox died on June 28, 1981, one month before his twenty-third birthday.

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Fox’s influence did not end with his death. In September 1981, the first Terry Fox Run was held, and it has taken place every year since in communities across Canada and in many other countries. The event is not a race: there are no winners and no entry fees, and participants may walk, run, cycle or roll any distance they choose. Schools across the country also hold their own runs each fall. Near Thunder Bay, a bronze statue of Fox overlooks the Trans-Canada Highway, not far from where his run came to an end. Together, these events have raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cancer research.