TOPIC: SPORTS AND GAMES
TEXT A. WHAT MAKES ALL PEOPLE KIN
People all over the world are very fond of sports and games. That is one thing in which people of every nationality and class are united.
The most popular outdoor winter sports are shooting, hunting, hockey and, in the countries where the weather is frosty and there is much snow — skating, skiing and tobogganing. Some people greatly enjoy figure-skating and ski-jumping.
Summer affords excellent opportunities for swimming, boating, yachting, cycling, gliding and many other sports. Among outdoor games football takes the first place in public interest; this game is played in all the countries of the world. The other games that have firmly established themselves in favour in different countries are golf, lawn-tennis, cricket, volley-ball, basket-ball, and so on. Badminton is also very popular.
All the year round many people indulge in boxing, wrestling, athletics, gymnastics and track and field events. Scores of young girls and women go in for callisthenics.
Among indoor games the most popular are billiards, table tennis, draughts and some others, but the great international game is chess, of course. The results of chess tournaments are studied and discussed by thousands of enthusiasts in different countries.
So we may say that sport is one of the things that makes all people kin.
TEXT B. SPORTS AND GAMES POPULAR IN ENGLAND
— What would you say are the most popular games in England today?
— Well, I suppose football, that is, soccer or rugger, and cricket.
— What are the other outdoor games?
— Oh, there's tennis, hockey, golf, and so on. Tennis is played all the year round — on hard courts or grass courts in summer, and on hard or covered courts in winter.
— What about horse-racing?
— I should say that is one of the most popular sports in Great Britain. Then there are, of course, walking-races, running, swimming and boxing.
— I've been told that there are no winter sports in England.
— Well, you see, the English winter isn't very severe as a rule, and we don't often have the chance of skiing, skating or tobogganing, but winter is the great time for hunting, provided the ground is not too hard.
— Is there any golf to be had near London?
— Oh, yes, any amount. There are dozens of good golf-links within an hour or so of London. You ought to join a golf club if you're keen on the game.
— I think I shall if I get the chance. What about indoor games?
— Well, there's chess, billiards, cards, table tennis... By the way, do you play billiards?
— Well, I do, but of course, I'm not a professional or a champion, just an ordinary amateur, and not a very good one at that,
TEXT C. THE FOOTBALL MATCH (A Conversation)
Characters — Mr. Priestley, Lucille, Frieda, Pedro, Olaf, Hob.
Lucille: What splendid seats! We'll be able to see everything from here.
Pedro: Yes, Jan has certainly looked after us well. We'll have to take him out to dinner after the match.
The others: Good idea, Pedro, we certainly must.
Hob: And we must shout for his team. I hope Jan is in form today.
Mr. Priestley: Ihope he is. I hear they are to choose the players tomorrow for the international match and if he plays well today Jan may be chosen.
Pedro: Yes, I heard that the Selection Committee would be at the match and I told Jan he was to play his best today because they were watching him.
О1af: It must be exciting to play in an international match.
Pedro: Here are the teams coming out. Jan is leading the London team. He must be the captain.
Frieda: Yes, he is.
Hob: Jan must be a good player.
Olaf: He is; you have to be a good player to be captain of London team.
Luсille If Jan is chosen for the international match, will he have to give up his studies and go into training?
Frieda: He mustn't do that. He must go on with his studies. They are more important than football.
Mг. Ргieslley: He needn't give up his studies. He has been playing regularly and is in good form.
Hob: Jan's lost the toss and the Oxford captain has decided to play with the wind.
Olaf: Oh, well, they'll have to play against the wind in the second half. I see Jan is playing centre-forward. He's just getting ready to kick off. There they go.
Hob: Come on, London!
(About an hour and a half later)
Mr. Priestley: This has been a grand game. I hardly remember ever seeing a better one. Jan has played the game of his life.
Lucille: I've nearly lost my voice with shouting "Come on, London!" Oh, I wish London could win.
Mr. Priestley: I don't think they can. It must be nearly time now. It's one goal each, and the Oxford defence is magnificent
Olaf: Yes, if my watch is right, they have three minutes to go.
Frieda: Look! Jan has got the ball. He's going like lightning towards the Oxford goal. Oh, go on, Jan!
Pedro: That Oxford centre-half is trying to stop him.
Lucille: Go on, Jan. You mustn't let him stop you.
Mr. Priestley: Jan passed the ball to the inside right, a wonderful pass.
Luсil1e: Oh! The inside-right is down; he's had to part with the ball.
Olaf: Look, Jan's got it again, he's beaten the fullback and is racing towards the goal.
Hob: Shoot, Jan, shoot! It's a goal!
Pedro: Oh, what a shot! The goal-keeper hadn't a chance.
Mr. Priestley: And there's the whistle for full time, and London have won. Well, they have to choose Jan for the international match now.
(From "Essential English for Foreign Students", Book 4, by C. E. Eckersley. Abridged)
ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY (II)
Words
Some popular sports
archery skating artistic
gymnastics (callisthenics) skiing boxing
cross-country skiing car (motorcycle) racing down-hill skiing
cycling ski-jump diving
slalom fencing sky diving (parachuting)
figure-skating swimming gymnastics
weight-lifting gliding windsurfing
hang gliding wrestling mountaineering
arm-wrestling rowing and canoeing yachting
athletics (track-and-field) marathon (race) discus (hammer, javelin)
pole vault (vaulting) throwing race/run
high (long, triple) jump shot putting hurdle races
steeplechase
Some popular games
Open-air games
badminton n net-ball n56
basket-ball n rugby n (colloq. rugger)
cricket n (lawn) tennis n
football n (colloq. soccer) volley-ball n
golf n water polo
hockey n
Indoor games
chess n squash n
draughts n table-tennis n
Sports Terms
amateur (professional) sport cup (final, semi-final) match
indoor (outdoor or open-air) sports championship n, е.g. national
football championship sport n
compete v sports n = events
competition n, е.g. inter- sports adj, е.g. sports jacket
college cup competition (shirt)
con'test v sporting adj
'contest n, е.g. world gym nastics tournament n
contest (rivalry in singing, beauty)
Participants
crew n (used for sportsmen opponent (rival) n
rowing or sailing a boat) sportsman (athlete) n
national (Olympic, college) sportswoman n team
official (umpire, referee, judge) n
Audience
fan (colloq.) n, е.g. a foot- spectator n
ball fan sports enthusiast
shout for v support v
Scoring system
best (record, fastest) time point n, е.g. How many
defeat v points have they won?
draw n, е.g. The match runner-up n
ended in a draw. score n, е.g. The score of the
draw v, е.g. The two teams drew. game was 6:4 (six to four).
goal n score v, е.g. He scored
lose v 20 points. Neither side
loser n scored in the game (нe
victory n забила гол).
Competition sites and sports equipment
barbell n net n
beam n play-ground n
chessboard n puck n
chessman n racket n
club (stick) n rings n
discus n ski jump
draughtsman n sports hall
gym n boxing gloves
javelin n trampoline (батут) n
jumping (spring) board uneven (parallel), asymmetric bars
Word Combinations
athletic training to win the team (personal,
to follow a tournament national, world) champion-
(competition, etc.) ship
to kick the ball to win by 2 (3, etc.) goals
to score a goal (20 points) (points)
to keep the score to win with the score 4 to 0
to end a game in a draw in smb.'s favour
(to draw a game) to set up (break) a record
to win a prize (a cup, the record holder
victory) the world (national, European) record
EXERCISES
I. Study Texts A and В and transcribe these words:
tobogganing, yachting, lawn-tennis, wrestling, athletics, gymnastics, callisthenics, billiards, draughts, tournament, enthusiast, soccer, rugger, court, amateur.
II. Write 15 questions about Texts A and B; b) Retell Texts A and В (in indirect speech). Evaluate the reports of your fellow students according to delivery: general clarity, pronunciation, fluency, rythm, intonation. III. Study Essential Vocabulary (II), Explanatory Notes and name: a) as many kinds of sport as you can; b) some open-air games; c) some indoor games. IV. What do yon call a person who goes la for:
wrestling, cycling, weight-lifting, swimming, diving, running, mountaineering, boxing, skiing, racing, hunting, playing football, playing chess, playing draughts, athletics, skating, playing volley-ball, playing basket-ball, playing hockey?
V. a) Fill in prepositions if necessary:
Sport is very popular ... Britain. ... other words a lot... British people like the idea ... sport, a lot even watch sport, especially... the TV. However, the number who actively take part ... sport is probably quite small. ... the whole British people prefer to be fat rather than fit
The most popular spectator sport is football. Football is played ... a Saturday afternoon ... most British towns and the fans, or supporters ... a particular team will travel... one end ... the country... the other to see their team play,
Many other sports are also played ... Britain, including golf ... which you try to knock a ball ... a hole; croquet... which you try to knock a ball... some hoops; basket-ball... which you try to get a ball... a net; tennis ... which you try to hit a . ball so that your opponent cannot hit it and cricket which is played ... a ball, but is otherwise incomprehensible. As you can see, if the ball had not been invented, there would have been no sport.
Actually that's not quite true. Athletics is not played ... a ball, nor is horse-racing. Perhaps that explains why they are not so popular as football. (See "Approaches". Cambridge 1979)
b) Retell the text. VI. Answer the following questions. Do not answer in one sentence. Add something:
1. What kind of sport do you go in for? 2. Do you play draughts? 3. Do you attend hockey matches? 4. What football team do you support? 5. Did you ever try figure-skating? 6. Who usually likes tobogganing? ?. What do spectators do at the stadiums? 8. Where are boat-races held in Moscow? 9. What is the most popular sport in Russia? 10. Do Russain teams participate in international matches? 11. Who coaches your volley-ball team? 12. Where are the Oxford and Cambridge boat-races held? 13. What is the difference between a "sport" and a "game"? 14. What sports and games do you know? 15. What games take the first place in public interest? 16. What is the great national sport in England?
VII. Read Text С and try to explain the phrases listed below. Do not merely translate them into Russian. Change them into a type of English that is more easily understood and explain what they mean in the context of the conversation.
shout for his team; is in good form today; lost the toss; to play with (against) the wind; to kick off; come on; the game of his life; 3 minutes to go.
VIII. Translate the following sentences into English:
1. Я предпочитаю легкую атлетику боксу и борьбе. 2. Я мечтаю поставить рекорд по плаванию. 3. Сегодня я не могу бежать, я не в форме. 4. Люди во всем мире следят за Олимпийскими играми. 5. Он уделяет много времени физической подготовке. 6. Я болею за футбольную команду «Спартак». 7. Наша игра закончилась вничью. 8. Он охотно будет тренировать нас в фехтовании. 9. Вы занимаетесь легкой атлетикой? 10. Виндсерфинг и дельтапланеризм появились совсем недавно. 11. Мальчик мечтает стать хоккеистом и просит купить ему клюшку и шайбу. 12. Сколько человек примут участие в институтском шахматном чемпионате? 13. Разве вы не хотели бы завоевать кубок в этом соревновании? 14. Кто первый забил гол? 15. Вы пойдете на этот матч? 16. Стрельба из лука стала достаточно популярным видом спорта. 17. Никто не ожидал, что они выиграют со счетом 2:0. 18. Ему хорошо дается фигурное катание. 19. Женщины не играют в футбол, правда? — Играют, но редко. 20. Кто завоевал первенство вашего института по шашкам? — Один из наших первокурсников. 21. Не стоит вступать больше чем в два спортивных кружка одновременно. 22. Я предпочитаю художественную гимнастику любому другому виду спорта. 23. Мы не сможем с вами соревноваться, мы недостаточно подготовлены. 24. Вы собираетесь участвовать в соревнованиях по гребле? — Обязательно. 25. Я уверен, что игра закончится вничью. 25. У нас прекрасный зал и все возможности для хорошей физической подготовки.
IX. Correct the wrong statements. Add a few more sentences to make up a dialogue:
1. There is no difference between "soccer" and "rugby". 2. Badminton can be played only indoors. 3. The goal-keeper acts as a judge in football. 4. Ice hockey is popular with women. 5. A tennis ball is struck with a club. 6. Women are good football players as a rule. 7. People who play draughts are called draughtsmen. 8. We use balls when playing badminton. 9. Golf is played on ice fields. 10. Hockey is one of the most popular summer games. 11. Table-tennis and lawn-tennis are one and the same game. 12. In hockey a handball and rackets are used. 13. Boxers fight with bare hands. 14. Track and field events are never included in Olympic Games. 15. You may touch the ball with your hands when playing football.
Prompts: I just don't agree...; I'm not so sure...; All I know is... but at least...; How can you say such a thing! You seem to think that...; That is just the other way round. You are badly mistaken.
X. Try to describe your favourite game. Use a dictionary to look up any special words. Let your partners guess which game you are describing. Speak according to the plan that is given in the example:
E x a m p l e:
1. Number of players (per team):
Two teams of eleven players each.
2. Equipment necessary: a ball.
Each player wears shorts and special boots.
3. Place where played: a special field which has goal posts at both ends.
4. How to play and win: the players kick the ball to each other. They try to kick it between the goal posts of the opposing team. The opposing team try to stop them, The team scoring the greatest number of "goals" wins.
5. Length of game: one hour and a half, with a break in the middle.
6. Some of the rules: only the two goal-keepers (who stand in front of the two goals) are allowed to touch the ball with their hands; no one can kick or push another player.
(See "Approaches," Cambndge, 1979)
XI. a) Speak on each kind of sport on the list below; briefly describe it as well as the qualities it requires from the sportsman, е.g. strength, endurance, quickness of reaction, courage, etc. Say a few words about its advantages and attractive features:
mountaineering, rowing, yachting, hockey, tennis, basket-ball, volley-ball, chess, boxing, wrestling, fencing, artistic gymnastics, figure-skating, skiing, skating, ski-jumping, sky-diving, archery, discus throwing, wind-surfing, steeplechase, marathon.
b) Make up dialogues discussing one (or several) of the sports from the list above. Use the following:
in my opinion ...; there's nothing like ...; I don't quite see what people find in ...; how can you say such a thing!; I don't know anything more exciting than ...; I see nothing exciting in ...; I can't agree with you there; absolutely marvellous; I like it immensely.
XII. a) Read the text and comment on it:
Hang Gliding The Sport of the 1980s
Hang gliding, like windsurfing, comes from America. The person who thought of this sport, Francis Rogallo, got the idea when he was watching space capsules falling towards the sea. The capsules had a sort of wing which helped them to go more slowly until they reached the sea.
But this idea isn't as new as you might think: in the fifteenth century, Leonardo da Vinchi drew pictures of a hang glider; it was a sort of kite which could carry a person.
The modern hang glider can go with the wind or against it, and the pilot can change direction by moving the control bar. Hang gliders rise and fall with the movements in the air — near lulls, for example, they usually go up.
All over the world, these giant butterflies are becoming more and more popular, as people discover the fun of flying. (From "Modern English International". Mozaika, 1984, No. 264)
b) What do you know of the kinds of sport which recently appeared! Describe them and say what attracts people in them. XIII. Act out the following situations:
1. Two friends are talking after a football match. One is happy — his favourite team has won; the other is not as his team has lost the match.
2. Imagine a dialogue between two sports fans about their favourite sports.
3. A friend of yours claims to be an "all-round sportsman". Once you call on him and find him surrounded by a thick cloud of cigarette smoke. You have a talk with him.
4. It's Sunday afternoon. In a few minutes, there will be a football match on TV, while on another channel there will be a fashion show. Argument between husband and wife.
5. You are in the hall of your institute. You are an ardent athlete and like to get up at sunrise, at which your room-mate is grumbling. You try to make him do at least his morning exercises.
XIV. Translate into English:
1. Я, кажется, знаю этого человека. Он был когда-то отличным бегуном, а теперь он тренирует молодых спортсменов. 2. Неужели правда, что он не принимал участия в игре на кубок? — Да, ему не повезло; накануне игры он слег с воспалением легких 3. Я едва мог поверить своим ушам, когда мне сказали, что команда нашего института выиграла со счетом 6:0. 4. Напрасно вы торопились. Соревнования не состоятся из-за плохой погоды. 5. Он был страшно расстроен, когда ему сказали, что его команда проиграла. 6. Моя старшая сестра занимается художественной гимнастикой уже три года. 7. Я рад, что сегодняшняя игра закончилась вничью. Мы могли проиграть, многие из нас не в форме. 8. Соревнования по легкой атлетике еще не начались. 9. Кем был установлен последний мировой рекорд по ярыжкам в высоту?
XV. a) Translate the text into Russian:
The Football Match
Something very queer is happening in that narrow thoroughfare to the west of the town. A grey-green tide flows sluggishly down its length. It is a tide of cloth caps.
These caps have just left the ground of the Bruddersford United Association Football Club. To say that these men paid their shilling to watch twenty-two hirelings kick a ball is merely to say that a violin is wood and catgut, that "Hamlet" is so much paper and ink. For a shilling the Bruddersford United A.F.C. offered you Conflict and Art; it turned you into a critic, happy in your judgement of fine points, ready in a second to estimate the worth of a well-judged pass, a run down the touch line, a lightning shot, a clearance kick by back or goal-keeper; it turned you into a partisan, holding your breath when the ball came sailing into your own goalmouth, ecstatic when your forwards raced away towards the opposite goal, elated, downcast, bitter, triumphant by turns at the fortunes of your side, watching a ball shape Iliads and Odysseys for you; and what is more, it turned you into a member of a new community, all brothers together for an hour and a half, for not only had you escaped from the clanking machinery of this lesser life, from work, wages, rent, doles, sick pay, insurance cards, nagging wives, ailing children, bad bosses, idle workmen, but you had escaped with most of your mates and your neighbours, with half the town, and there you were, cheering together, thumping one another on the shoulders, swopping judgements like lords of the earth, having pushed your way through a turnstile into another and altogether more splendid kind of life, hurting with Conflict and yet passionate and beautiful in its Art. Moreover, it offered you more than a shilling's worth of material for talk during the rest of the week. (From "Good Companions" by J. B. Priestley. Abridged)
b) Comment on the extract:
1. Explain the words: "To say that these men paid their shilling to watch twenty-two hirelings kick a ball is merely to say that a violin is wood and catgut, that "Hamlet" is so much paper and ink." 2. Explain the words: "For a shilling the Bruddersford United A.F.C. offered you Conflict and Art." 3. What, in the author's opinion, does football give people? 4. Do you agree with the author in that? What do you think about such games as football and hockey and the secret of their popularity?
XVI. a) Study the text and search for some arguments in favour of sport. Summarize the text:
How Healthy Are You?
Check your knowledge.
What sort of shape are you in? Are you the sort of person who goes for a run each morning, or are you the other kind who gets out of breath when reaching for a cigarette?
Maybe you have a lot of energy. You go to work or school, you make decisions all day, you do extra work at home. Exercise? You don't have enough time — why bother anyway?
Well, the answer to that question is your body design. Human beings weren't built for sitting at a desk all day: your body is constructed for hunting, jumping, lifting, running, climbing and a variety of other activities. If you don't get the exercise that your body wants, then things can go badly wrong. Your mind works all day, and your body does nothing: the results can vary from depression to severe illness to early death.
Not a very cheerful thought, and of course the natural reaction is "It's not going to happen to me." Maybe, maybe not. Here are two ways of looking after yourself: firstly, by seeing if you are doing the right sort of exercise, and secondly by seeing if you have the right kind of diet.
(From "Modern English International". Mozaika. 1984, No. 263)
 
  
b) Persuade your partner to start practising sport immediately. c) Speak on: 1. the role of sport in modern life; 2. sport as part of school and college life. XVII. Role-playing.
Work in groups of four or fire. You are people of different age and social standing. Express your attitude to sport and sportsmen in general.
XVIII. Describe these pictures in suds a way as if you have seen the event with your own eyes. Use some details, try to sound as convincing as possible. Use some words and phrases given below:
the stadium with a seating capacity of ...; a pole-jumper; in good form; a referee; a starter; a cross-bar;
wave a start; rushing towards; like lightning;
race past; carrying the pole; puzzled;
plant the pole; up in the air; with a smile on his face; awestricken;
pretty-looking; embarrassed; with her eyes downcast; with his hands pressed; land onto; break the record; the record of his life; candidate master of sports of Russia.
STUDIES OF WRITTEN ENGLISH
VI
The plot is a very important aspect of written works. But there is something even more important, that is, the main idea or the message.
Message is the main idea that a writer wants to communicate in his work through the characters and their behaviour, the physical and emotional background or sometimes through his own generalizing statements. To make it clear and understandable you have to learn how to write the gist.
Gist is commonly understood as the essence or main point (of an article, paragraph or argument), also as the essential part of a story, novel, or play that helps to understand the main idea.
Summary deals with the plot of complete written works, such as a story, novel or play. Gist deals with the main idea of any thoughtful writing, no matter whether it is a paragraph or a novel. It is expected to be very short and clear.
In order to write the gist of a story ("A Day's Wait", for example) you have to do the following:
1. Read the story carefully, paying attention to the characters, general atmosphere and the author's remarks or statements (е.g. a bright cold day, a pale-faced and shivering boy, the growing strain), the atmosphere of suspense.
2. Jot down the main points and see how they are linked (е.g. the boy is ill but he won't go to bed; he is still worried and keeps staring at the foot of the bed; he can hardly believe that he has no reason to worry about his health).
3. Point out the author's remarks (the boy was looking at the foot of the bed strangely; that's a silly way to talk; he had been waiting to die all day; relaxation was very slow).
4. Go over these points, reconsider them carefully and formulate the main idea, е.g. It is a story telling us how fear and self-pity through ignorance or misleading information may cause worry and suffering or how remarkably patient the child's endurance may be.
Assignments:
1. Give your own version of the gist of "A Day's Wait" and "How We Kept Mother's Day".
2. Write the gist of "A Friend in Need". When writing analyse the title of the story.
3. Write the gist of two letters written by Judy and compare them. What is their message?
LABORATORY EXERCISES (П)
1. Listen to the dialogue "Sports and Games Popular in England". Mark the stresses and tunes. Repeat the text following the model.
2. Listen to the text "The Football Match", mark the stresses and tunes. Repeat it following the model.
3. Write a spelling-translation test Check it with a dictionary.
4. Task I: Translate the English sentences into Russian (in writing) and check them with the key.
Task П: Translate your sentences hack into English (orally) and check them with the key.
5. Listen to the text "Sport in Great Britain".
Task I: Write down the Russian equivalents given in the exercise. Task II: Listen to the text again and write down the English equivalents of the Russian phrases.
Task Ш: Write 10 questions on the text Be ready to discuss it in class.
CURIOSITY QUIZ FOR EAGERS
1. Say in what countries the following sports and games are popular:
cricket, surfing, karate, reindeer racing, rugby, baseball, judo (jujitsu), lacrosse, lasso-throwing, soccer, croquet
II. Which is better — to be a specialist or a generalist?
Divide your class into 2 teams. Match each specific term in column I. with the generic term in column II. The team which is the first to match the terms correctly wins the score.
I II
barbell basket-ball
racket cricket
wicket golf
alpenstock fencing
knockout figure-skating
bishop tennis
catcher ice-hockey
gauntlet mountaineering
puck baseball
tee boxing
spin chess-playing
spike weight lifting
III. Read one of the short stories by W. S. Maugham and speak about it in class. Speak not only on the contents, but also give analyses of the characters, the author's mastership, methods of characterization, style and language. See Notes on Style, p. 52.
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