Use of English PRO

Edison Pena is living proof that sport can be a (0) POWERFUL (POWER) tool. The Chilean miner was trapped two-thousand feet underground with thirty-two others for sixty-nine days. Most people would find this appalling situation (1) ............ (BEAR) and Edison almost lost his battle against (2) ............ (DESPOND) . Amazingly, what helped him to overcome such feelings was jogging through the (3) ............ (EXTEND) system of underground tunnels. He believes he managed to survive his ordeal by concentrating on the (4) ............ (MAINTAIN) of a strict fitness routine. Running around six miles a day, his (5) ............ (PERSIST) paid off, and he emerged from the ordeal in relatively good shape. Following the miners' dramatic rescue, Pena was invited to attend the New York Marathon, not as a (6) ............ (COMPETE) but as an honoured spectator, the organisers having been impressed by his story. They (7) ............ (ESTIMATE) him, however, because he asked to compete. Disarmingly (8) ............ (CHARM), Pena captivated the New York crowds. Not only did he run the race, but he finished it in less than the six hours he had set himself