Pre-reading. Learn how to pronounce the following words and word combinations:

physical prowess, endurance, ancient, lacrosse, jousting, temporarily, championship, tournament, steeple chasing, hurdle racing, obstacles, in­tercollegiate association (games), regatta, combative sports

 

Games and competitions involving physical strength, skill, and endur­ance have interested people from the earliest times. Competitions involving physical prowess or simulated combat date from prehistoric times and prob­ably are as old as community life. Although most ancient peoples took part in such sports as boxing and wrestling, some developed organized sports. The American Indians, for example, played games resembling lacrosse, field hock­ey, and bowling and engaged in foot racing and horse racing. In the Middle Ages tournaments gained wide popularity. Jousting was a sport of the nobil­ity; the sport of the common people in England was archery.

The British invented and developed many of the sports and games played throughout the world; interest and participation have increased as a result of improved facilities, more time and widespread coverage.

  Association football, one of the most popular sports, was first codified and developed in England during the 19th century. Now all countries hope to compete for the World Cup.

  There are two types of rugby football — the 15-a-side Rugby Union played by amateurs and the 13-a-side Rugby League played mainly in the North of England by professionals.

  The modern form of hockey was started in the 19th century by the Hockey Association of England.

     Cricket, a summer sport, is played with a small ball covered with leather, a bat, and wickets, by two teams of eleven players each. It is known to have been played as early as the 1550s and is popular in most of the countries which were once a part of the British Empire, and in the countries which were temporarily occupied by the British military. So, besides England, Australia and New Zealand, cricket matches are held, for examplej in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and West Indies.

  Golf originated in Scotland and the headquarters of the game is at St. Andrews on the East coast. The British Open Golf Championship is one of the world's leading tournaments.

  Modern lawn tennis originated in England in 1872 and the annual Wim­bledon Championships, widely regarded as the most important of the world tennis events, were first held in 1877.

   Boxing in its modern form dates from 1865 when the Marquess of Queens-berry drew up a set of rules rewarding skill and eliminating much of the bru­tality that had characterized prize-fighting.

   Administered by the Jockey Club, horse racing takes two forms - flat (from late March to early November) and steeplechasing or hurdle racing (from August to early June). In flat racing, the horses run on level or flat ground; in steeplechasing they jump over obstacles (fences).

   Britain has a large number of sailing events, one of the world's principal regattas being held each year at Cowes in the Isle of Wight. The rowing cal­endar includes the Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race, the Head of the River Race and the Henley Regatta, all held on the river Thames. Other important water sports include swimming and windsurfing.

    Indoor games such as snooker, darts, squash and badminton are also popular.

     In the middle of the 19th century the schools and colleges in England, followed by similar institutions in the United States, began a revival of athlet­ics that continues today. Now athletics forms an important part of the educa­tional system in the USA. There is a vivid distinction between amateur and professional sport in the US. Sportsmen (or athletes) engage in amateur ath­letics for fun, whereas participation in professional sports is generally done for money as well as pleasure. The Amateur Athletic Union of the United States and the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America control all amateur sports.

    The principal amateur athletic sports in the US are college football and basketball. Other popular team sports include baseball, hockey and soccer. Among sports for individual competition are tennis, including table tennis, badminton and handball; combative sports, such as boxing, fencing and wres­tling; water sports, including swimming, diving and rowing; winter sports, such as skiing and skating; golf and bowling. The chief professional sports are major-league baseball, basketball and football; others include boxing, wres­tling, golf, tennis and hockey.

 

Comprehension

 

  1. Say whether the following statements are true or false. Find the lines in the text that support your answer.

1. In fact, such sports as lacrosse, field hockey, bowling and horse rac­ing were invented by the American Indians.

2. Many different sports were developed in Britain in the 19th century.

3. The headquarters of golf is located in Great Britain.

4. Two types of rugby football differ from each other only in the num­ber of players.

5. Before 1865, brutality was a characteristic feature of prize fighting.

6. Cricket is widely spread in the English-speaking countries.

7. Schools and colleges in England followed similar institutions in the US in the revival of sports.

 2.Choose the correct variant.

1. Competitions involving physical strength___________________

A. have interested people since the 19th century

B. date from prehistoric times

C. were initiated by the American Indians

2. Interest in sports and games increased_________

A. as a result of greater participation in them

B. during the 19th century

C. due to the improvement of the facilities and wider coverage of the events

3. The phrase "Administered by Jockey Club" means:__________

A. the Jockey Club applies the rules                                              

B. the Jockey Club grants the awards

C. the Jockey Club controls horse racing                                      

4. Sailing events in Great Britain include:____________________

A. regattas

B. rowing races

C. swimming and windsurfing

5. What is the idea of the second to last paragraph?_____________

A. The revival of athletics in England and the US.

B. Professional and amateur sports in the US.

C. Sports as a part of the educational system in the US.

6. Which of the following is not true?__________________

A. The chief professional sports in the US are baseball and Ameri­can football.

B. The principal amateur sports in the US are college football and basketball.

C. Among amateur sports for individual competition are boxing, wrestling, golf, tennis and hockey.

 

3.Look through the text and find the English equivalents of the following word com­binations.

1. Требующие физической силы и выносливости.

2. Относиться к доисторическим временам.

3. Широкое освещение в средствах массовой информации.

4. Участвовать в соревнованиях на кубок мира.

5. Развивать командные виды спорта.

6. Возник в Шотландии (Англии).

7. Открытый чемпионат по гольфу.

8. Считается самым важным соревнованием по теннису в мире.

9. Установить правила.

10. Календарь соревнований по гребле.

11. Водные виды спорта.

12. Возрождение спорта.

13. Представлять важную часть образовательной системы-         

14. Заниматься спортом для развлечения.

15. Основные любительские виды спорта.

Text B.

The Olympic games

Pre-reading. Learn how to pronounce the following words and word combinations:

religious, Zeus, javelin, Olympiad, Hellenic calendar, controversies, en­thusiast, inauguration, officiating

The Olympic Games were originally an ancient Greek religious festival in honor of Zeus, which was held in Olympia near Mount Olympus, the myth­ical home of the gods. The Games were first held in 776 ВС. They were held every four years, in the middle of the summer. The festival was only held if there was peace throughout Greece. The ceremonies included contests in oratory, poetry, music and art, as well as in athletic skills like wrestling, throw­ing the javelin, and running.

The Olympic Games were an exclusively male festival. Women were not allowed to compete in the Olympic Games, or even to attend and watch them. The victors were traditionally crowned with olive leaves rather than with gold medals. Their importance in Greek life was so great that the Olympiad, the four-year interval between Games, was a main unit of the Hellenic calendar. To be a victor in the classical Olympic Games was a great honor not only for the athlete but also for his city.

The classical Games continued for over a thousand years. Factionalism and controversies over the status of competitors became so fierce and disrup­tive in later years that the Games were finally suppressed by the Roman Emperor Theodosius in AD 392 as a disturbance of Roman peace.

With growth of interest in sport in the 19th century, and the organization °f annual and traditional sport competitions, especially between schools and universities, the idea arose of reviving the Olympic Games in the modern world. A Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was the enthusiast whose personal drive and initiative brought about the inauguration of the modern Olympic Games in 1896 with the participation of 311 athletes from thirteen countries, competing in nine sports.

At first, the modern Games were limited to men. Women first competed in the Games in 1910, playing golf, but real women's participation only be­gan in Paris in 1924 with the inclusion of women's athletics in the program.

Winter sports were brought into the Olympic program through the orga­nization of special winter Games, first held in France at Chamonix in 1924, with competitions in ice-hockey, speed skating, figure-skating, and skiing. These are still the basic events of the winter program, with the addition of bobsled and toboggan races.

The most impressive event of the opening ceremony of the Games is the taking of the Olympic oaths. First a representative athlete from the host coun­try, holding a corner of the Olympic flag, takes the following oath on behalf of all the participants:

"In the name of all competitors, I promise that we will take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams."

After the representative athlete, a judge from the host country takes an oath on behalf of all those judging and officiating in the Games.

The Olympic flag has a motif of five interlocking rings on a white back­ground. The five rings represent five continents of the world and symbolize universal brotherhood. The six colors, the white of the background and the blue, yellow, black, green and red of the rings, represent the nations of the world, since every national flag contains at least one of these colors. The ceremonial embroidered flag, by the Olympic rules, must reside in the prin­cipal municipal building of the host city until the next Games.

The motto of the Games, "Citius, altius, fortius" (Latin - faster, higher, braver), puts the emphasis on personal winners — not team performance and achievements. Officially, there are individual and team winners but no win­ning countries; from the very beginning of the games, however, the press has made an unofficial count of the medals won by the sportsmen of each partic­ipating country and has kept an unofficial points score. Until the 1952 Olym­pics the United States teams dominated the Summer Games because of their strength in athletics, swimming and boxing. Since the Helsinki Games, when the USSR took part in them for the first time, competition in all events of the program has become keener, and one country has ceased to dominate: the US hold on first place was successfully challenged by the USSR and the German Democratic Republic.

  Each Olympiad the size of the Olympic Games has been growing in the scale of competition, number of competitors and size of the audience watch ing them — live or on television. Huge stadiums accommodate tens of thou­sands of spectators, while television brings the scene directly to the homes of the whole world.

 

Comprehension