British Champions of Sport
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 576.
Text 4 C
Note the pronunciation: Australian
In modern times Britain has produced more than 40 world sport title- holders. Here are some of them:
Roger Bannister was the world's first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes at Oxford in 1954.
Bobby Charlton born in Ashington joined Manchester United in 1953 and spent all his professional career there. In 1958 he made his England debut against Scotland and scored. The mid-60s were Charlton's great years. He scored many goals and helped United win the FA Cup (1963 ), the League title (1965,1967) and the European Cup (1968). In 1966 both Bobby and his elder brother, Jackie, played in the England team that won the World Cup. That year Bobby was voted the European and English Footballer of the Year. Bobby played 106 times for England and set a goal-scoring record with 49 goals.
Mary Peters was Northern Ireland's greatest all-round athlete. At the age of 33 she reached the peak of her career at the Munich Games of 1972 where she won the gold medal with a new world record of 4801 points.
David Wilkie was the greatest performer in the history of British men's swimming. In 1973 he won his first world championship in the 200 m breaststroke and was never beaten at that distance until he retired in 1976.
Virginia Wade was the last in a long line of English tennis players to win Wimbledon. In
1977 she won the prestigious championship. In addition to her Wimbledon triumph she won the US Open in 1968, the Italian in 1971 and the Australian in 1972. Her elegant style made her a great crowd-pleaser.
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the world ice dance championships every year from 1981 to 1984 and the gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics.
Daley Thompson was Britain's most successful decathlete ever. From 1982 until 1987 there was no better all-round track-and-field athlete in the world. During that period he won two Olympic gold medals, two European championships and one World championship.
Steve Redgrave won rowing gold medals at five successive Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee's official magazine has announced him “Rower of the Century”.
Vocabulary and Speech Exercises
Ex. 1. Memorize the following word combinations with the verb “to be” to describe the profile of one of the British champions:
1. to be the world's first athlete -быть лучшим спортсменом в мире
2. to be one of the most gifted athletes -быть одним из самых талантливых спортсменов
3. to be the greatest all-round athlete -быть величайшим многоборцем
4. to be the greatest performer -быть лучшим спортсменом
5. to be the most successful athlete -добиться наибольшего успеха в спорте
6. to be never beaten -быть непобедимым
7. to be voted the athlete of the year -быть избранным Лучшим спортсменом года
Ex. 2. What did Bobby Charlton do these years? Complete the chart:
________________________
Years Achievements
________________________
Ex. 3. Read aloud the sentences containing information about the leading British athletes you didn't know before.
Ex.4. With the help of the above word combinations describe any famous British sporting personality.
Task 8. Learn the following abbreviations you will need to understand Text 4 D :
1. UAU – Студенческий спортивный союз Англии и Уэльса
2. WIVAB – Студенческий женский спортивный союз Англии и Уэльса
3. BUSA – Спортивная ассоциация университетов Великобритании
4. UCS - Профессиональный студенческий спортивный союз Великобритании
5. FISU – Международная федерация студенческого спорта
Task 9. Read the text and answer the questions before each paragraph.
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