СБОРНИК ТЕКСТОВ
ДЛЯ ЧТЕНИЯ
ПО АНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ
(для студентов факультета физической культуры)
Составитель –
Кафедра иностранных языков
КГПУ
2001
TEXT 1. A healthy mind in a healthy body
Keeping fit does not necessarily mean you have to become a professional athlete. We all know that not everybody can become a tennis champion and that you do not have to aim at Wimbledon in order to guarantee your own well-being. But taking up a sport will certainly help you keep in good physical condition. Research has, in fact, proved that people who neglect physical exercise are, on average, less successful and less well-balanced and it is true that the workings of mind and body are closely linked in many respects.
It does not matter what sport you choose, just so long you enjoy it. If, for example, you like the company of a lot of people, you can start playing games like football, basket-ball, volley-ball or ice-hockey. Belonging to a team can give you a great feeling of togetherness. If you think you would prefer training with just a few friends, you might choose tennis, table tennis, squash, judo, karate, jazz ballet, gymnastics or ice-skating. Even one session a week of this sort of exercise will do you a lot of good and the sport will probably develop into a regular hobby. If, on the other hand, you prefer being on your own, there is almost no end to the number of activities you can pick. If you are outdoor type, you can go horse riding, skiing, cycling, swimming, orienteering or simply walking. Of course there are other, more ambitious, alternatives such as ski-jumping, skin-diving, windsurfing or even sky-diving. But if you are the meditative type there is nothing better than yoga.
Sport should never become a stress factor, however, and there are lots of people for whom actually getting in and getting out is too much of an effort. Some of them are spectator sportsmen, that is they prefer watching to playing football and other games. But there is a further group for whom any kind of exercise is unthinkable and who are convinced that doing something to keep healthy is totally unnecessary. It would seem that the following set of “rules“ was written with them in mind.
Answer the questions:
1. Why is it necessary to take up sport activities?
2. What can the choice of sport activity depend on?
3. What advantages have people got if they don’t neglect physical exercise?
4. How do you understand the following words “A healthy mind in a healthy body”?
TEXT 2. Aiming to become unfit?
Just follow these golden rules
1. Fresh air? Who wants it?
2. Why use the stairs? Lifts were invented to make life easy, weren’t they?
3. Save your poor legs. Sit in a chair or lie on a bed whenever you get the chance – the softer and more comfortable it is the better.
4. You may be forced into some kind of sporting activity one day but don’t make a habit of it.
5. The best way to spend your free time is to go to as many parties as you can where there are lots of people and the atmosphere is thick with the cigarette smoke.
6. You should stay up late every night and then enjoy a lie in the next morning.
7. Always take the bus or go by car no matter how short a distance you want to cover.
8. What? Work on holiday? Holidays were invented so that you can sleep.
9. Sports and outdoor activities are ridiculous. Think of as many excuses as you can to avoid them and always have one handy.
10. Don’t deny yourself one of the pleasures of life. Eat as much as possible of anything you like. You deserve it!
TEXT 3. Schumacher‘s little joy
When you spend your life tearing at up to 190 mph, what do you drive on your day off? Michael Schumacher potters in his Fiat 500, which can stagger to 65 mph with a following wind and decent slope.
Formula one drivers have to drive the company product, so David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen, inevitably, were handed special versions of the new A-class famed for rolling over at below 40 mph. We suspect they drive carefully.
Schumacher earns so much-around 20 million pounds a year - that Ferrari could barely surprise him with a motor.
But his employers at Fiat, who own Ferrari, did take the double world champion aback by presenting him with a Fiat 500, the model he first drove as an unlicensed youngster on a private road. This one is special: a restored top-of the range job with sunroof. The two cylinder engine is the same, though Schumacher apparently has found a way to put a tiny car, made for pottering over cobbled Italian streets, through its paces with a bit of slip and slide through the corners. Old habits obviously die hard …
Answer the questions:
1. What does Michael Schumacher drive on his day off?
2. Who presented him with a Fiat 500?
3. Why did his employers present him with this car?
4. What were David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen handed?
5. What were these special versions famed for?
TEXT 4. Skiing
- And what is your hobby? Collecting stamps?
- No, it’s skiing. Or should I put it this way: skiing is more than a hobby for me. I think it’s almost a way of living, you see.
- Oh, come on now, compared to a speed-boat racing skiing in capital letters.
- Why? What do you mean by capital letters?
- There are two kinds of skiing. I don’t have anything in particular against cross-country skiing – I mean this kind of rambling through virgin snow somewhere deep in the lonesome forest. That sort of thing can be most refreshing and it’s obviously what you have in mind when you call it an expensive hobby. But that’s not what I’m talking about.
- You said there were two sorts of skiing. How would you describe the other kind, then?
- Well, my kind of skiing is on mountains and slopes and you can’t call it cheap; it’s at least ten times as expensive as the cross-country variety.
- Yes, I know what you mean. The equipment alone costs a lot of money, doesn’t it?
- And then you’d have to fly out to one of those fashionable ski-resorts or whatever you call them, in the Alps or some such place, wouldn’t you? And what about all those “after-skiing activities” …. Yes, I’m beginning to understand what you mean when you say that skiing is like a way of living.
- Well, there are naturally countless reasons why people take up mountain skiing.
- Some of them enjoy the wide-open spaces with plenty of sunshine and fresh air and others enjoy the picturesque mountain villages on the one hand and up-to-date hotels with all the “mod cons“ on the other. In short, the sort of thing one would find only at a Central European ski-resort, don’t you agree?
- Indeed. But what about your own personal reasons. Would they be the swinging night life or the good-looking girls in their skiing outfits or high romance on the mountain slopes, or perhaps just going up and down on the ski-lift? That’s it, isn’t it?
- No, no. Not just those stereotyped images of yours. You shouldn’t try to analyze a way of living, and you can’t anyway. I like the totality of it all, every single aspect of it. You know the sun glistening on the clean snow, and the sky always blue. I would give twice as much money just to be able to feel as healthy as I do after a couple of weeks at St. Moritz.
- You must be joking of course. If I had that kind of money, I’d buy myself a Phantom 3 de luxe.
- Well, it takes all kinds to make a world, doesn’t it?
Answer the questions:
1. To some people skiing is more than a hobby. What is it then?
2. There are two kinds of skiing. What are they?
3. Why is cross-country skiing an inexpensive hobby?
4. What does cross-country skiing actually mean?
5. Why is the other kind of skiing much more expensive?
6. Where are the most fashionable ski-resorts in Europe?
7. What aspects of skiing does the person in our story like best?
8. What is his favourite ski-resort?
9. What would the other chap do if he had a lot of money?
TEXT 5. Jackie Joyner-Kersee is an American heptathlete
She is considered by many to be the world’s greatest all-around female athlete since Babe Didrickson Zaharias. She has all the qualities that make a great athlete: dedication, discipline, and a sense of fair play.
Joyner-Kersee’s specialty, the heptathlon, is a two-day competition in which women compete in seven track and field events. The first day consists of the 100-meter hurdles, shotput, high jump, and 200-meter run. The second features the long jump, javelin throw, and 800-meter run. Joyner Kersee won three Olympic gold medals, one silver medal, and two bronze medals in track and field events. When she won the heptaphlon in the 1998 Olympic Games in Seoul, she not only broke her personal record but set a new world record.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee comes from the family of world class athletes. Her coach is her husband, Bob Kersee. Her brother, Al Joyner, won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Al married Florence Griffith, herself an Olympic gold medal winner. (She died from a heart seizure in 1998. She was 38.)
Jackie still holds the world record for the heptathlon. Jackie always gave back to her community and formed the JJK Community Foundation. She retired from competition in 1998. Jackie came out of the retirement to qualify for the long jump competition in the 2000 Sydney Olympics Games.
Answer the questions:
1. J. Joyner-Kersee is considered to be the world’s greatest heptathlete, isnt’ she? Why?
2. What qualities does she have?
3. How many gold medals did she win?
4. What family does she come from?
5. Who still holds the world record for the heptaphlon?
6. Why did she come out of the retirement?
TEXT 6. “Babe” Didrickson Zaharias is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time
She won more medals (and set more records) in more sports than any other athlete in the 20th century. Babe first played basketball, then went on to track and field in the 1932 Olympics. Babe received a gold medal in the javelin throw (setting an Olympic record) and a gold medal in the 80-meter hurdles (with another Olympic record). She won a silver medal in the high jump.
After the Olympics, Babe decided to try golf and by 1947, she had won 17 consecutive tournaments. One of those was the British Women’s Amateur golf tournament, and Babe was the first American woman to win it. As a professional golfer, she won 31 tournaments in a span of eight years, including three U. S. Women’s Open Tournaments.
She continued to win at golf until her death in 1956.
Babe tackled other sports during her life and became accomplished in tennis, softball, and baseball; she was also an expert bowler, diver, and roller skater. She received her nickname by hitting five home runs in a single game, as did New York Yankee baseball player Babe Ruth.
Answer the questions:
1. What sports did Didrickson tackle?
2. Why is she considered one of the greatest athletes of all time?
3. Who was the first American woman to win the British Women’s Amateur golf tournament?
4. How did she receive her nickname?
TEXT 7. Cyclists
Cyclists are not only healthy - they are smart. Bike riding is one of the most efficient ways of getting about. When comparing the energy expended with speed and distance covered, even the rustiest two-wheeler outstrips the hummingbird, cheetah and jumbo jet.
There are an estimated 14 million bikes in Britain – with 5 million of them gathering dust in garages. A pity, because bicycles are so versatile; as transport or for simple pleasure.
While getting you to work, a bicycle also gets you fit. For every half hour’s pedalling, a 150 lb person burns up 300 calories. The heart, the lungs, back and leg muscles are strengthened – all while sitting down. Because the bodyweight is supported, cycling is effective exercise.
Answer the questions:
1. Bike riding is one of the most efficient ways of getting about the town, isn’t it? Why?
2. How does bike riding help us to keep fit?
3. Why is it effective exercise?
TEXT 8. Fitness Cycle
If you are feeling rather under the weather at the moment, a trifle sluggish, here’s an opportunity to do something about it. A regular stint on our super Fitness Cycle will make you all the difference, make you feel on top of the world. And you don’t have to ride round the draughty streets at some unearthly hour when you know your friends and neighbours will not be about. For you may do the necessary in the privacy of your own home.
The Cycle is full size, the seat and handlebars are adjustable. It’s tough enough to take the weight of a hefty fellow and it folds up neatly and slimly to be stored. Just think of the benefits. Your muscles will be toned up-not filled out, no worry about that. You arms and legs become firmer, so does your tummy, thighs and hips.
Answer the questions:
1. What advantages has Fitness Cycle got?
2. What disadvantages has it got?
3. What kind of bike would you prefer? Why?
TEXTS FOR ADDITIONAL READING
TEXT 1. From bone blades to rock stars
As the Winter Olympics figure skating competition drew to a close, Don Knight flipped off his television set and shook his head in amazement.
“Unbelievable what these kids can do now!” exclaimed the former Canadian champion. “How they can jump, how they’re dressed, the variety of music they skate to.”
For two weeks, Don had been watching the 1994 Olympics from Lillehammer, Norway. It was a much different scene from the 1964 Olympics, where he had been one of the world’s best skaters.
“In our day, everyone skated to classical music, everyone,” Don recalled. “And I remember the 1966 World Championships. School figures were held in an outside rink. It started to snow, and you couldn’t make your skates move over the clumps where the judges had walked. One night it rained during the pairs freeskating. It was ludicrous. A year or so after that, they moved everything indoors for good.
“We had compulsory figures then, and they don’t have them now. And our costumes were much different. The dress that Peggy Fleming wore-you wouldn’t see a girl dressed like that even for practice today. Men all wore the same kind of suit, buttoned up to the neck, with a tie. It was more formal and regimented. We looked like waiters in some fancy dining room.”
The 1994 Olympics saw skaters dressed in karate outfits, Italian peasant clothes, movie star grab, and glittery costumes costing several thousand dollars each. Those skaters were seen on television by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
They were described and interviewed by announcers who knew everything about them.
“These kids are like rock stars now,” says Gerry Walbert, editor of Blades On Ice, an American skating magazine. ”They’re recognized everywhere. They’re on TV all the time. They’ve got their own fan clubs.”
“Yes, it is like being a rock star, only scaled down a bit,” marvels Kurt Browning, four-time world champion from Canada. ”There are moments when you really feel like one. But I’m glad it’s only moments when you really feel like one. But I’m glad it’s only moments, because you like to be able to walk down the street and not be mobbed.”
TEXT 2. Skating’s earliest years
Today’s figure skating superstars have come a long way since Don Knight’s years as a championship contender three decades ago. Just think how much further they’ve come from the earliest moments of the sport.
It’s impossible to say who invented the first skate or where and when it first touched the ice. But historians believe that it may have been more than 40 centuries that time people were already trying to get extra help moving on frozen surfaces by strapping long pieces of animal bone to their feet. One such pair of “blades” is on display in the city of Berne, Switzerland. Scientists have determined it is probably about 4000 years old.
For people in northern climates, skating has for centuries provided an enjoyable way to deal with the cold and ice of winter. Historians have found evidence that metal skates were in use by the 1300s in Holland. Because metal skates cut more deeply into the ice than bone skates, they allowed the skater to move more quickly and smoothly. It was very important for the Dutch to have a way of traveling on their vast network of canals which, of course, froze during the winter.
As more and more people in Europe and North America discovered the pleasures of skating, they began to skate together on ponds and lakes. The first skating club in the world, the Edinburgh Skating Club in chilly Scotland, came into being around 1650. To join the club, you had to be able to skate in a circle on one foot, then on the other foot, then jump over a pile of three hats. Perhaps these tricky exercises could be considered the first skating competition.
TEXT 3. Ayrton Senna
Some say he is a genius, others call him arrogant. What is certainly true is that Ayrton De Silva Senna is the fastest man in motor racing. He won the World Championship in 1988 and 1990 and he has won more than twenty Grand Prix altogether.
Ayrton Senna was born on 21st March 1960, in Brazil. At 5 ft 9 in (1m 76 cm) Ayrton is a little taller than most other racing drivers. He is good-looking, with short, wavy dark hair and dark brown eyes.
Senna does not like to talk about his private life. His marriage in the early 1980s lasted a year. “To be married to a Formula One driver,“ he says, “is an impossible lifestyle for a wife. But I will get married again.“
He has an older sister and a younger brother. His parents live in a large house in the north of Sao Paulo but Senna himself lives in Monaco, in Europe.
As far as hobbies go, he likes flying model planes. He also enjoys jet skiing on water and flying with his father over the cattle country which his family owns in Brazil.
What motivates him to win? “Driving doesn’t seem like a job. I started driving when I was four. I love feeling the power of the engine and the wind in my face. When I drive, I experience new sensations and I always want more. That is my motivation.“
Ayrton Senna was tragically killed in a high speed crash at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in Italy on May 1st 1994 at the age of 34.
TEXT 4. Cycling in my life
I have been experiencing cramp pains in my thighs. I returned to cycling about two years ago, after a lay-off of approximately fifteen or sixteen years. After breaking myself in gradually, I started commuting to the City by bike, a journey of about twelve miles each way, usually every other day.
Last September the cramps first occurred, then again in February this year, both times when walking, having been off the bike for two or three days. These pains made walking very painful and, at times, difficult.
I have a lightweight bike, am forty years old and my general health, I consider, is very good.
TEXT 5. Oksana Baiul
To say she came out of nowhere does not even begin to tell the story of how the fragile-looking fawn-eyed Oksana Baiul exploded onto the world figure skating scene.
She was unknown outside her practice rink in Odessa, Ukraine, until she won the silver medal at the European Championships in 1993. A month later, 15-year-old Oksana was world champion, the youngest since Sonja Henie won in 1927 at age 14. The following year, 1994, Oksana won Olympic gold.
As Olympic champion, Oksana was the winner of the most publicized women’s skating final in Olympic history. Her victory over American Nancy Kerrigan at the Lillehammer Games was gained by the slimmest possible margin: one mark on one judge’s card. Oksana’s incredible artistry broke the tie.
It took all of Oksana’s charm and delicate grace to triumph over the other skaters. But it took her strength and determination to triumph over the serious accident the day before the freeskate final. During a practice, she and German champion Tanja Szewczenko collided. This resulted in injuries for both. Oksana suffered a three-stitch gash in her right leg and also wrenched her back. It was not certain until just before the freeskate whether she would be able to compete.
As a child, Oksana wanted to be a ballerina but was turned down by the ballet school. Instead, she was enrolled in skating. Her early love of dance is evident in her skating style. She lands fewer triple jumps than some of her toughest opponents, but makes up for it in a beautiful interpretation of her music. “You see Oksana’s inner soul out there,” says American coach Kathy Case.
Bubbly and sassy on the ice. Oksana shows little of the sadness that was part of her earlier life. When she was an infant, in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, her father died in an accident. Then, when Oksana was13, her mother died of cancer, leaving her an orphan. The next year, her coach left the country, to live in Canada. Oksana had to move 300 miles (480 km) to Odessa to work with coach Galina Zmievskaya, who also coached 1992 Olympic men’s champion Victor Petrenko. “God has taken away her family,” says Galina. “But now the skating world is her family.”
Oksana moved in wit Galina. Victor took a special interest in the talented and unknown skater from his homeland. Having turned professional, he began helping to pay many of Oksana’s training expenses.
Victor says, “I first saw her in the summer of 1992, and I knew she was something special. As a skater you can see right away when someone has it.”
Oksana and Victor continue to be close friends, and now Victor, Galina and Oksana have all moved to the same town in the United States-Simsbury, Connecticut. In fact, Victor is married to Galina’s daughter.
But Oksana has not forgotten her native Ukraine. When she and Victor receive stuffed animals or T-shirts from fans after a performance, they bundle them up and send them to an orphanage in Ukraine.
Oksana turned professional after the 1994 Olympics, and when skating officials gave professionals one last chance to return to amateur skating in 1995, she decided to stay pro. She has won several major professional competitions and often skates with Victor on tour.
Oksana usually takes longer than most skaters to start her program after her name has been called. “I try to concentrate,” she explains of the delay. “I listen to my skates. When they can start, I can start.“
Those skates must know what they are talking about because it’s been more than 65 years since anyone Oksana’s age has been so successful.
TEXT 6. Vicious and dangerous sports should be banned by law
When you think about tremendous technological progress we have made, it’s amazing how little we have developed in other respects. We may speak contemptuously of the poor Romans because they relished the orgies of slaughter that went on in their arenas. We may despise them because they mistook these goings on for entertainment. We may forgive then condescending because they lived 2000 years ago and obviously knew no better. But are our feelings of superiority really justified? Are we any less blood-thirsty? Why do boxing matches, for instance, attract such universal interest? Don’t the spectators who attend them hope they will see some violence? Human beings remain as bloodthirsty as ever they were. The only difference between ourselves and the Romans is that while they were honest enough to admit that they enjoyed watching hungry lions tearing people apart and eating them alive, we find all sorts of sophisticated arguments to defend sports which should have been banned long ago; sports are quite as barbarous as, say, public hangings or bearbaiting.
It really is incredible that in this day and age we should still allow hunting or bull-fighting, that we should be prepared to sit back and watch two men batter each other to pulp in a boxing ring, that we should be relatively unmoved by the sight of one or a number of racing cars crashing and bursting into flames. Let us not to deceive ourselves. Any talk of “ the sporting spirit ” is a sheer hypocrisy. People take part in violent sports because of the high rewards they bring. Spectators are willing to pay vast sums of money to see violence. A world heavyweight championships match, for instance, is front page news. Millions of people are disappointed if a big fight is over in two rounds instead of fifteen. They feel disappointment because they have been deprived of the exquisite pleasure of witnessing prolonged torture and violence.
Why should we ban violent sports if people enjoy them so much? you may well ask. The answer is simple: they are uncivilized. For centuries man has been trying to improve himself spiritually and emotionally - admittedly with little success. But at least we no longer tolerate the sight madmen cooped up in cages, or public floggings or any of the countless other barbaric practices which were common in the past. Prisons are no longer the grim forbidding places they used to be. Social welfare systems are in operation in many parts of the world. Big efforts are being made to distribute wealth fairly. These changes have come about not because human beings have suddenly and unaccountably improved, but because positive steps were taken to change the law. The law is the biggest instrument of social change that we have and it may exert great civilizing influence. If we banned dangerous and violent sports, we would be moving one step further to improving mankind. We would recognize that violence is degrading and unworthy of human beings.
TEXT 7. The joys of winter sports
While I was clearing out some rubbish the other day, I came across the top of half of a ski stick, and it took me back to a Sunday in March several years ago … .
The sun was shining, the air was crisp, the snow was firm and I was putting skis for the first time ever. Lesson number one lasted about five minutes – I had to learn how to stand up without leaning on my ski sticks - and then we were off. The tracks went straight across a flat field and the advice from the 12 year-old son of my Finnish hosts came in a steady stream – lean forward, keep your skis together, look up, take long strides, no, not like that, like this.
Anders glided away with a steady rhythm: right foot push, slide, left foot push, slide – it looked so easy. I began to feel a bit braver and picked up speed. This is easy, I thought, until suddenly the world turned upside-down and I was flat on my face in the snow!
Somehow I had managed to get the tip of my right ski on top of my left ski, which had made me lose my balance. I untangled my legs, arms, skis and sticks and struggled to my feet. This was only the beginning – I have din memories of trying to cross a ditch and getting stuck in the middle, the ends of my skis dug into the snow on either bank and me balanced in the middle; snow down my neck and in my skiing boots; sliding gracefully backwards down a slope that I had just climbed at a rate of metre a minute… .
I think the worst part of the trip was when we had to ski down a slope and through a hedge. The slope was very popular with the local youngsters, who were absolutely amazed to see a red-faced adult cautiously inching his way forward to the top of the slope. Suddenly I was moving – downwards, faster and faster – lean forward, knees bent, ski sticks behind, bend your ankles and toes inwards to slow down a bit. I could feel the wind in my face and when I opened my eyes I was nearly at the bottom OH no! The hole in the hedge was about five metres to my left. What do I do now?
I realized then that two important lessons were missing from my brief introductory course in cross-country skiing – how to stop and how to turn. A five-year old expert who must have passed me on the way down stood open-mouthed as I sailed into and through the branches of the hedge with one ski in the air.
When I finally dared to open my eyes I was looking at the clear blue sky and had only one ski and one and a half ski sticks. The other ski was underneath me and the half ski stick was stuck in the hedge, behind which I could hear the laughter of about 40 interested spectators aged from five to fifteen. With such an undignified end to my first skiing trip, all I could do was close my eyes and pretend that I had really meant to make anew hole in the hedge!
I have come a long way since then. I can now both turn and stop. I know which kind of wax to pit on the bottom of fiberglass skis and which to put on wooden skis. I can talk like an expert about fell-ski bindings which hold the heel of the boot closer to the ski and racing bindings which only grip the toe. I have learnt how to run up hills with the ski tips wide apart to prevent myself from sliding backwards and I can side-step up steep slopes.
Nowadays I find cross-country skiing very enjoyable. It keeps me fit and is a lovely way to spend a cold winter day. Finland is an ideal country for this sport – the terrain is perfect and the skiing season is quite long. I can even ski at night on especially lighted skiing tracks.
Of course, cross-country skiing is by no means the only winter sports; you can choose from slalom skiing, ice-skating, curling, ice-hockey and even hang-gliding behind a car on the frozen sea. In fact, I started ice-skating this year, but that is another story altogether …
TEXT 8. National Sports
Many kinds of sports originated from England. The English have a proverb, ”All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” They do not think that play is more important than work; they think that Jack will do his work better if he plays as well, so he is encouraged to do both. Association football or soccer is one of the most popular games in the British Isles played from late August until the beginning of May. In summer the English national sport is cricket. When the English say: ”that’s not cricket“ it means “that’s not fair‘, “to play the game means “to be fair”.
Golf is Scotland’s chief contribution to British sport. It is worth noting here an interesting feature of sporting life in Britain, namely, its frequently close connection with social class of the players or spectators except where the game may be said to be “national“ sport. This is the case with cricket in England which is played and watched by all classes. This is true of golf, which is everywhere in the British Isles a middle-class *****gby Union. the amateur variety of Rugby football, is the Welsh national sport played by all sections of society whereas, elsewhere, it is a game for the middle classes. Association football is a working-class sport as are boxing, wrestling, snooker darts and dog racing. As far as fishing is concerned it is, apart from being the most popular British sport from the angle of the number of active participants, a sport where what is caught determines the class of fisherman. If it is a salmon or a trout it is upper class, but if it is the sort of fish found in canals, ponds or the sea, then the angler is almost sure to be working-class.
Walking and swimming are the two most popular sporting activities, being almost equally undertaken by men and women. Snooker (billiards), pool and darts are the next most popular sports among men. Aerobics and yoga, squash and cycling are among the sports where participation has been increasing in recent years.
There are several places in Britain associated with a particular kind of sport. One of them is Wimbledon – a suburb to the south of London where the all-England Lawn Tennis Championships are held in July (since 1877). The finals of the tournament are played on the Central Court. The other one is Wembley - a stadium in the north London where international football matches, the Cup Finals and other events have taken place since 1923. It can hold over 100,000 spectators. The third one is Derby, the most famous flat race in the English racing calendar, it is run at Epsom near London since 1780.
TEXT 9. Football no longer is about sport
Dialogue I
- We have talked a lot about work but also has to have hobbies to balance the stress of one’s everyday job. What is your hobby?
- It’s the most popular and best ball-game in the world. A game played in practically every country.
- I see, so you watch football.
- I don’t watch football, I play football.
- In some top-class team?
- No, not anymore. I still play in a good team, but not in the first division.
- It is a strange game today.
- What do you mean strange? I don’t find anything strange in the game. It’s the most interesting and exciting thing in my life.
- You may feel that way, but I’m sad to say that football no longer is about sport. It’s become a money game, hasn’t it? I mean young players in the first and second division make millions a year. And then they are taken care of by doctors and checked the minute they sneeze. Everything seems to be ready - made for them.
- Are they really that important and that exceptional, the players, I mean.
- Yes, they are. The top-players are highly developed products achieved by experts through nutrition, exercise, training and so on.
Dialogue II
- Well, they even speak about anabolic drugs.
- You must be joking. Perhaps in some individual cases, but not in normal circumstances. You don’t seem to like football too much?
- Well, I do, but what with all these scandals? Large sums of money changing hands. I mean, football is corrupted. Look at Italian football or German football. Games are fixed because there is a lot of money abroad. Some athletes have accepted huge payments to lose games. That’s not fair play.
- Well, there may be some individual cases. Maybe some illegal bookmakers have fixed a few games but taking bribes is very dangerous at football. The guilty player could be suspended for life and even worse, their teams could be ruined. But I’m sorry to see that even your faith in football has shaken.
- But money is the source of evil. I’d like to see pure sport, in the Olympic sense. Not games where the players have tears in their eyes because they lost, not because they lost a game, but because they lost so much money in bonuses. And what about all these transfer fees?
- Well, it may be that there has been something wrong with football in some cases of late, but I’m quite sure that with competent managers and fair game the value of football as a spectator-sport will increase in the very near future. And the fact that the East European countries are ever better will surely improve the game a lot.
- I hope you right because I hate to see a good game go to the dogs.
