Popular English Sports and Games

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 832.

Text 4 A

Step 2. Reading Practice

Task 1.Before you read Text 4 A say what you already know about the most popular sports and games in Great Britain.

Task 2. Read the text and find the answer to the question:

1. What sports and games were invented in Great Britain?

England is a sports-loving nation and when they are neither playing nor watching ¹

games they like to talk about them and to discuss the major sporting competitions as the greatest events of the day.

If you ask the British to name their most favourite sports they may name football, cricket and tennis, though many of them go in for golf and hockey, athletics and climbing, rugby and rowing. Horse-racing, dog-racing and motor racing are also among the most popular sports in Great Britain.

Britain invented and developed many of the sports and games which are now played all over the world. Association football, or “soccer', is one of them. As an organized game it appeared in the middle of the 19 th century, but in fact the game is much older. Probably Roman soldiers brought it to England 2000 years ago. Most British cities and towns have a football team. Every year each team plays in the Football Association Сompetitions ². The two best teams play in the Cup Final ³ at the Wembley Stadium near London which holds 100.000 spectators. Some fans pay up to 250 for a ticket for the Cup Final. It is one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

Another popular game appeared in 1859, when a teacher at Rugby school, while playing

football, decided that it would be better to pick up the ball ⁴ and run with it. That is why the game took the name of rugby or “rugger”. The rules of the game are different from football. There are 15 or 13 players instead of 11 in a team. The ball is oval, not round and a player is allowed to take the ball in his hands and run with it. He may also attack his opponent, hold him by the shoulders or by the legs. Rugby is a violent game and it is highly popular in many regions of the country especially in Wales.

Cricket is England's national summer game. It appeared in the 18 th century though nobody knows exactly how old the game is. Some form of cricket was played in England in the 13 th century. Cricket is a typically British sport. The game looks slow but it can be exciting if you understand what's going on. There are two teams of eleven players: one man (the“bowler” ⁵) throws the ball and the “batsman” ⁶ hits it with his bat. Cricket is a very long game. The most important matches can last from one to five days..

Golf is another kind of sports that is truly British. It is not known for certain where this game came from, but the word “golf” is Dutch ⁷. The game is played by striking a ball with a special golf club round a golf course with 18 holes. The golf player should push the ball into a hole in the ground with as few strokes as possible ^8. You need a special field for this game, so golf is rather expensive. Now it is played mostly in private clubs and is the sport of the rich.

Lawn tennis was also born in England at the end of the 19th century. The game soon spread all over the world. The number of people who play lawn tennis is great. Some join a tennis club, but most find a partner and go to one of the public courts that can be hired for a very small payment. Every summer, in June, the biggest international tennis tournament takes place at Wimbledon near London.

Some people say that horse-racing is the king of sports in Great Britain and others call it the sport of the kings. Only rich people can afford to ⁹go in for this kind of sport and only the rich can afford to buy tickets for the most famous races.

Swimming is also very popular. The British think that swimming is one of the most beneficial sports. Millions of people enjoy swimming both as a recreational activity and as a competitive sport.

Rowing is the most popular of all kinds of sports at the oldest English Universities. The University Boat Race ¹⁰is a traditional sporting competition between Oxford and Cambridge which is held on the Thames every spring. The Boat Race is a festival in London and on the Boat Race Saturday the banks and bridges of the Thames are crowded with ¹¹ people.

The British are very sporting people. About 50 per cent of the population of the United Kingdom ( some 29 mln adults and 7 mln children) participate in some sports or recreational activity. Among the most popular sporting activities also are: walking, hiking, snooker and billiards, darts, athletics, squash and cycling.

Notes:

¹neither playing nor watching…- ни играют, ни смотрят …

² Football Association Competitions – соревнования, проводимые футбольной ассоциацией Англии

³. the Cup Final – финальная игра на кубок

⁴that it would be better to pick up the ball…-было бы лучше подхватить мяч…

⁵ “bowler” – подающий (бросающий) мяч

⁶ “batsman” – игрок с битой, отбивающий мяч

⁷ Dutch – голландский

⁸The golf player should push the ball into a hole in the ground with as few strokes as possible.-

Игрок в гольф должен послать мяч в лунку на поле, сделав при этом как можно меньше ударов.

^9…can afford to … – …могут позволить себе...

¹⁰ Boat Race – соревнования по гребле

¹¹ banks and bridges are crowded with… – набережные и мосты заполнены…

Vocabulary and Speech Exercises

Task 3 Before reading Text 4 B match the following international words with their Russian equivalents:

1. squash 1. база

2. bowling 2. типично

3. statistics 3. сквош

4. reputation 4. профессиональный

5. typically 5. боулинг

6. base 6. репутация

7. professional 7. статистика

8. league 8. марафон

9. marathon 9. лига

Task 4. .Learn these words and word combinations:

1. different a другой,непохожий,

отличающийся (от)

to be different from отличаться от

differ v (from) отличаться,различаться

difference n различие,разница

e.g. American sports are in many ways different from European sports.

2. jogging n бег трусцой

3. sailing n парусный спорт

4. participatory sports занятия спортом

syn. participant sports

ant. spectator sports посещение спортивных

соревнований, зрелищный спорт

e.g. Swimming, bicycling, fishing, jogging, gymnastics and bowling are Amarican's favourite participatory sports.

5. outdoor a на открытом воздухе

ant. indoor в помещении

6. hit n, удар

hit ( hit, hit ) v ударять рукой

e.g. Each player from one team hits a ball with a bat.

7. kick v ударять ногой

8 handle v трогать руками,

владеть мячом

.g. American football is played between two teams of 11 players using an oval ball that can be handled or kicked.

9. size n размер

10. origin n 1.источник,начало

2.происхождение

e.g. Basketball is American in origin.

11. attend v посещать

e.g. Large numbers of fans attend basketball games in the USA.

12. level n уровень

state государственный

national level национальный уровень

international международный

13. audience n зрители

TV audience телезрители

e.g. Basketball matches have a wide TV audience.

14. pastime n приятное времяпрепровождение, развлечение

e.g. “Shooting baskets” with friends is a pastime many young people like most.

Task 5. Read the text to know about the development of sports in the USA.