Also in 2026 Practice Test A English, question 21.
Passage Champion of the Channel
Champion of the Channel
In 1926 an editor at the London Daily News predicted that Gertrude Ederle, an American swimmer with eighteen world records and three Olympic medals, would fail in her attempt to swim across the English Channel. He claimed that “even the most uncompromising champion of the rights and capacities of women must admit that in contests of physical skill, speed and endurance they must remain forever the weaker sex.” Yet, at only nineteen years old, Ederle not only became the first woman to accomplish this feat, she also broke the men’s record by two hours. Gertrude Ederle’s triumphant swim across the English Channel was a testimony to her determination, innovative spirit, and passion for swimming.
Crossing the English Channel is a daunting task for any swimmer. At its narrowest point, the channel measures twenty-one miles across. Its icy waters hover around sixty degrees Fahrenheit, and its unruly tides and currents toss swimmers about like bobbing corks. Stinging jellyfish, seaweed, and floating debris from shipwrecks and lost cargoes present added hazards.
For decades the channel’s perils have defeated countless swimmers. Ederle, too, failed in her first attempt to cross the channel in 1925. Just six miles short of finishing, she became ill, and her coach had to haul her out of the water. Undeterred, Ederle decided to try again. Ederle knew that if she did not complete the challenge this time, she might never get the opportunity to set this record, because a rival female swimmer was preparing to make her second attempt at the crossing as well.
To prepare for the marathon swim, Ederle found ways to improve her equipment. She and her sister Meg discovered that melted candle wax perfectly sealed goggle edges, effectively waterproofing Ederle’s goggles against hammering waves. The sisters also designed a two-piece silk swimsuit for Ederle. During her first channel-crossing attempt she had worn a standard one-piece swimsuit that, after the lengthy hours of swimming across the channel, had stretched out, filling with water and creating drag, making an already challenging task almost insurmountable. Unlike the cumbersome typical bathing suit, this silk invention weighed little and allowed for easy movement.
On August 6, 1926, Ederle waded into the channel near Cape Gris-Nez, France. At first she shivered in the bone-chilling water even though she had covered her body in eight layers of grease for insulation. Her limbs felt stiff. Her strokes were irregular. Driving forward, she fought to clear her mind and find what she called her “sphere,” a place where the sea became her only companion and the shrieks of gulls and the humming of boat engines faded away. Using a new overhand stroke called the American crawl, Ederle eventually settled into a steady pace, briskly breaking through waves.
Throughout Ederle’s swim, two tugboats accompanied her. One carried newspaper reporters who wired dispatches of her progress to shore. The other, displaying a sign that read “This way, ole kid!” with an arrow pointing forward, transported her coach, family, and friends. Her coach played songs, such as “Yes, We Have No Bananas,” on a phonograph so that Ederle could time her strokes to the rhythm. Using a net, her coach also passed her baby bottles of broth for nourishment.
For hours Ederle swam, dodging debris with an amused smile. However, as she neared the English shore, a sudden fierce storm erupted. The tides and waves forced Ederle backward, and she fought the stubborn swells for several hours. The salty water caused her tongue to swell and inflamed her ears. Yet Ederle felt indescribably happy as she churned through the sea. Finally, as she neared the English shore, the storm abated, and the tide turned. No longer fighting against her, the sea pushed her toward the shore and victory.
After fourteen hours and thirty-one minutes, Ederle, on wobbly legs, stepped onto the English shore. The waiting crowd roared, honked their automobile horns, blasted their tugboat whistles, and set off flares that flashed in the sky. Ederle had swum into history.
When Ederle returned to New York, she received a parade, where thousands of people shouted “Trudy!” Not only were everyday American citizens proud of Ederle, but she also inspired them to be more active. Over the next few years, more than 60,000 people credited her with motivating them to earn their American Red Cross swimming certificates. Gertrude Ederle’s accomplishment proved to the world that with determination and passion, it was possible for a person to achieve his or her goals.
SOLO SWIMS ACROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL
|
Earliest Speed Records |
||
| Year | Swimmer | Time |
| 1875 | Matthew Webb (M) | 21 hours, 45 minutes |
| 1923 | Enrico Tiraboschi (M) | 16 hours, 33 minutes |
| 1926 | Gertrude Ederle (F) | 14 hours, 31 minutes |
| 1926 | Arnst Vierkotter (M) | 12 hours, 38 minutes |
| Current Speed Records | ||
| Year | Swimmer | Time |
| 2012 | Trent Grimsey (M) | 6 hours, 55 minutes |
| 2006 | Yvetta Hlavacova (F) | 7 hours, 25 minutes |
Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 4.
During her first channel-crossing attempt she had worn a standard one-piece swimsuit that, after the lengthy hours of swimming across the channel, had stretched out, filling with water and creating drag, making an already challenging task almost insurmountable.
The word “insurmountable” is used to highlight
- Ahow the bathing suit made it impossible for Ederle to make it across the channel.
- Bhow Ederle and her sister decided to improve Ederle’s swimming equipment in a creative way.
- Cthat the flaws in Ederle’s bathing suit made a difficult task even more complicated.
- Dthat the swimming equipment Ederle used needed to be custom made for her attempt.
Show the answer
Correct answer: C
The question asks about the effect of the word “insurmountable,” which means “incapable of being overcome,” in paragraph 4.
A. Incorrect. Ederle did not complete her first swim because she became ill (“Just six miles short of finishing, she became ill, and her coach had to haul her out of the water.” [paragraph 3]), not because the suit made it impossible for Ederle to complete her swim.
B. Incorrect. The author uses the word “insurmountable” to draw attention to the increased difficulty caused by the suit, not to draw attention to the sisters’ creativity in solving the problem.
C. CORRECT. The suit Ederle wore during her first attempt to swim the channel “stretched out, filling with water and creating drag” (paragraph 4), which likely contributed to her failed attempt to swim across the channel.
D. Incorrect. The passage does not address whether the original suit was custom made, simply that the suit created additional difficulties for Ederle in a situation that was already difficult.
Question analysis
This vocabulary-in-context question quotes a sentence about the stretched-out swimsuit Gertrude Ederle wore on her first attempt to swim the English Channel and asks what the word insurmountable is used to highlight. Students must decide what point the word stresses in this sentence rather than simply define it, and the choices range from the old suit's effects to the sisters' new equipment.
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Explaining what a strong word emphasizes in context is standard grade 7 vocabulary work. The sentence is printed in the question, which saves a search, but it is long, with several phrases stacked between the swimsuit and the key word.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly analyze
- What makes it hard
- Hard words moderate
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Complex sentences minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one sentence or line
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 790 words; question and choices: about grade 10, 108 words.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
The phrase to weigh is “an already challenging task almost insurmountable”, and two small words carry it: “already” says the swim was hard to begin with, and “almost” stops short of impossible. Students who know only the dictionary meaning blame the suit for a failure that paragraph 3 pins on illness. Those who look past the sentence to the sisters' new gear answer a different question, about the fix rather than the problem the word stresses.
Hard words moderate Understanding the question
The question hinges on “insurmountable”, impossible to overcome, which is softened by the “almost” in front of it and set against the “already challenging task” it describes. (Perfetti, 2007; Freedle & Kostin, 1993)
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right choice and the one saying the suit made the crossing impossible both blame the old suit; they differ only in degree, which is exactly what “almost” decides. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Complex sentences minor Understanding the question
The stem prints all 38 words of the sentence, but between the swimsuit and “insurmountable” come an inserted time phrase, the verb “had stretched out” and two “-ing” phrases, so the link is easy to lose. (Abedi & Lord, 2001; Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Messick, 1989)
Strategy: Say in your own words what the quoted sentence claims about the old swimsuit, then choose the statement that restates that claim, checking each choice against the sentence word by word.
Traps
- Dictionary meaning, not meaning here: A common meaning of the word that does not fit its use in this text.
- Wrong purpose or structure: Names a purpose, structure or effect that the part does not serve, or describes what a part says when the question asks what it does.
- Reads too much in: A reasonable-sounding conclusion that goes further than the text allows.
The wrong answers, classified
A Dictionary meaning, not meaning here (Perfetti, 2007)
Gives “insurmountable” its full dictionary force and drops “almost”, so the suit seems to have made the crossing impossible, though paragraph 3 says she stopped in 1925 because she became ill.
B Wrong purpose or structure (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001)
Describes what the paragraph goes on to do, the sisters' creative silk suit and waxed goggles, when the quoted sentence and its key word dwell on the old suit's flaws.
D Reads too much in (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994)
Reasons that because a standard suit failed, her gear had to be custom made, a conclusion the passage never draws and the word does not point toward.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out the word’s job
This question asks why the author chose one word, “insurmountable,” in paragraph 4. First you need to know what the word means. Then you can see which idea it helps the sentence stress.
Break the word into parts
To surmount something is to get over it or on top of it, the way a climber gets to the top of a cliff. The start in- means not, and the end -able means can be. So something insurmountable cannot be gotten over. It is too hard to beat.
Read the words around it
The old suit “had stretched out, filling with water and creating drag.” Drag is a force that pulls back on you and slows you down. This made “an already challenging task almost insurmountable.” Two small words matter a lot. Already tells you the swim was hard even before the suit caused trouble. Almost tells you it came close to impossible, but not all the way.
Decide what the word stresses
Put together, the phrase stresses how much worse the old suit made things. A task that was hard to begin with became even harder. The word does not say the suit by itself made the swim impossible.
Check each choice
- C fits: the suit’s flaws made “a difficult task even more complicated,” just like “already challenging” plus “almost insurmountable.”
- A is wrong because it drops “almost,” and paragraph 3 says her first try ended when she “became ill.”
- B is wrong because the sisters’ clever new gear comes in other sentences, while this word is about the problem.
- D is wrong because the passage never says her gear had to be custom made.
Watch out: A uses the word’s dictionary meaning. Always read the small words around a key word.
Choose the answer
The word shows how the old suit turned a hard swim into a nearly hopeless one. So the answer is C.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
A comes closest, since “insurmountable” alone does mean impossible. But the author wrote “almost” in front of it. And paragraph 3 says illness, not the suit, ended her first try. C keeps the exact amount the sentence gives: a hard task made even harder.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Champion of the Channel” as printed (pages 56–57)
