Also in 2026 Practice Test A English, question 26.
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
Which sentence is the best summary of the steps that Ederle took to prepare for her second attempt to swim across the English Channel?
- AWorking with her sister, Ederle waterproofed her goggles using melted candle wax to seal the edges and designed a two-piece silk swimsuit that was lightweight and would not stretch out during the long swim.
- BEderle covered her body in numerous layers of grease for insulation and focused on finding her “sphere” during her swim.
- CEderle began training with her coach, who played music while she swam to help her time her strokes to the music.
- DEderle focused on developing better equipment than the standard bathing suit that proved cumbersome during her first attempt to cross the channel.
Show the answer
Correct answer: A
The question asks for the best summary of Ederle’s steps to prepare for her second attempt to swim across the English Channel.
A. CORRECT. Ederle’s preparation is outlined in paragraph 4. This option is correct because it acknowledges the idea that Ederle involved her sister in this process, and it details the efforts the two took to improve Ederle’s equipment, including sealing her goggles with wax and designing a better swimsuit.
B. Incorrect. The option focuses on Ederle’s actions in the moments before her swim (covering her body with grease for insulation) and during her swim (finding her “sphere”), not her overall preparation methods.
C. Incorrect. The option refers to a way that Ederle’s coach helped Ederle keep her strokes in rhythm during her swim. While this option suggests that Ederle and her coach had made thoughtful preparations, it does not address the many other steps that Ederle took to prepare for the swim.
D. Incorrect. The option does not refer to the series of steps that Ederle took to prepare for her swim, but rather to just one of the efforts made (improving equipment), without acknowledging her sister’s contributions.
Question analysis
This summary question asks which sentence best sums up how Gertrude Ederle got ready for her second try at swimming the English Channel. Because the passage also describes what she and her team did during the crossing, students must separate preparation from the swim itself and judge which summary is complete.
- NYS standards
- 7R2 theme or central idea
- Grade level
- Grade 6 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Below grade 7 This is a one-paragraph summary, the kind of task grade 6 standards describe; grade 7 central-idea work usually follows an idea through a whole text. The real demand is telling preparation apart from the swim.
- Estimated difficulty
- Straightforward: two steps or one careful reading.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Every choice must be checked minor
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 9, 790 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 121 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
Paragraph 4 holds all of the preparation, but the passage keeps describing things Ederle and her team did, so getting ready must be told apart from the swim. The grease is the hardest to place, because she put it on before wading in, on the day of the crossing itself. Between the two equipment choices, the one that lists the goggles, the silk suit and her sister's help is the fuller summary of several steps.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The right summary and the one about better equipment than the standard bathing suit describe the same work; only the waxed goggles and Meg's part, missing from the shorter one, separate them. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Every choice must be checked minor Choosing the answer
Two choices borrow real details from the crossing, the grease she wore and the songs played from the tugboat, so each has to be placed before or during the swim. (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987)
Strategy: Locate the paragraph about getting ready, list each preparation step and who took part, and choose the sentence that covers that list most fully without adding events from another part of the passage.
Traps
- Too narrow: A single detail offered as the central idea or a summary, or a summary that keeps minor details and leaves out an essential part.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Takes the grease she wore on the day and her search for her “sphere” in the water, both from paragraph 5's account of the swim, as advance preparation.
C Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Turns the phonograph her coach played from a tugboat during the crossing into training sessions before it, which the passage never describes.
D Too narrow (King et al., 2004)
Captures the idea of better equipment but names only the bathing suit, leaving out the wax-sealed goggles and her sister Meg, so it summarizes one step of several.
Working it out, step by step
Know what a summary needs
A summary retells the main points in a few words. Here you need the steps Ederle took to get ready before her second try. A good summary includes all of those steps. It leaves out things that happened during the swim itself.
Find the getting-ready paragraph
Paragraph 4 opens with “To prepare for the marathon swim, Ederle found ways to improve her equipment.” The word “prepare” signals that this paragraph holds the steps. Equipment means the gear she used.
List each step
- With her sister Meg, she found that “melted candle wax perfectly sealed goggle edges,” so water stayed out of her goggles.
- Together the sisters “designed a two-piece silk swimsuit” to replace her old one.
- The new suit “weighed little and allowed for easy movement,” unlike her old suit, which had stretched and filled with water.
Check each choice
- A fits: it names her sister, the waxed goggles and the light silk suit.
- B is wrong because the grease and her “sphere” belong to paragraph 5, the day of the swim.
- C is wrong because her coach played music from a tugboat during the swim (paragraph 6), not in training.
- D is wrong because it leaves out the goggles and Meg.
Watch out: D is true as far as it goes. But it covers only one step, so it is too narrow to be the best summary.
Choose the answer
Choice A lists all the preparation in paragraph 4, and nothing from the swim itself. So the answer is A.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
D comes closest, since improving her equipment is what paragraph 4 is about. But D mentions only the swimsuit. It skips the wax-sealed goggles and her sister’s help. A summary of the steps should include every step, and only A does.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Champion of the Channel” as printed (pages 56–57)
