Sport and fitness. Olympic Games

(Здоровый образ жизни)

 

Kind words can be short and easy to speak,

but their echoes are truly endless.

Mother Teresa

Objective: to discuss ideas and suggestions about healthy lifestyle; have practice in exercises on reading and speaking

 

Tasks:

– to speak about healthy lifestyles, sport, fitness and Olympic Games;

– to read the texts: «Healthy Lifestyles», «Vegetarians», «Our life is getting more and more tense!»

– to ask and answer questions about the healthy lifestyle;

– to play in roles: «Healthy Centre: Fit as a Fiddle»;

– to talk about: «Healthy Lifestyle. Sport and Fitness. Olympic Games»

– to write essays and do the tests.

Preparatory Activities

 

Task 1. Discussion: Answer the following questions.

1) What is a healthy lifestyle?

2) Do you choose healthy foods? (Choose food that contains minimal amounts of unhealthy fats; eat healthy fat in moderation; select foods that are low in sugar; minimize your consumption of sweets, soft drinks, sugary fruit juices, and white bread; choose whole fruits, freshly-squeezed juices, and whole grain bread instead; eat a variety of different whole foods instead of eating processed foods; i ncorporate organic foods).

4) Do you do morning or evening exercises?

5) Do you go to the gym 3 to 5 times per week?

6) Are you sure that you should avoid unhealthy habits?

7) Do you know your weight? (Being overweight and being underweight are not healthy states of being. Consult your doctor or a reputable weight chart that shows ideal weights for your age and body type?)

8) Do you get plenty of sleep? (Studies have shows that those who sleep less tend to weigh more)?

9) Do you remember good hygiene? (Shower every other day.Brush and floss your teeth daily. Regular flossing not only prevents gum disease but also prevents heart disease; Clean your feet; always wear clean clothes. In particular, always change your underwear and socks once daily).

10) Is physical fitness an integral part of many people’s lives as they participate in sports and sports activities?

11) Do you know anything about Olympic Games?

12) How do you start living a healthier lifestyle?

13) What do you need to do to keep healthy?

 

Reading

Text 1. Healthy Lifestyle

Task 2. Read and translate the text. Comment on new words and expressions.

Healthy way of life is popular with the old and the young. What do you need to do to keep healthy?

 

It is widely known that life expectancy is increasing. But what is the reason why the average figures are higher than they used to. One reason is that, due to medical research, many illnesses were eliminated; the second one is that fewer people die in wars.

Generally, the life of modern man is endangered by many factors. One is the increasing pollution of the environment by industry and transport; another one is sedentary lifestyle of people living in cities and towns, that is, the majority of the population of the planet. The third one is the quality of food we eat and water we drink which results in a lot of diseases. The fourth one is that living in big cities leads to epidemics, and even pandemics of many catchy illnesses. Unhealthy life results in the fact that many people are overweight.

The only possible way of preserving your health is, therefore, healthy way of life which includes keeping fit, balanced meals, and giving up unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, and, of course, drugs.

Physical fitness is a general state of good physical health. For anyone who really wants to be healthy, fitness has become an integral part of their lives. The fitness boom results in a rise in the numbers of people participating in sports and sports activities.

It is a well-known fact that even moderate physical activity can protect you from heart diseases and strokes, obesity and influenza. There are many ways of keeping fit.

Firstly, you could visit health and fitness clubs. A lot of health and fitness clubs, public leisure centres, and huge indoor water parks are very popular among people of all ages.

Secondly, regular exercise is necessary. People of different ages can choose or design exercises that will fit them. Some people do aerobics or yoga; others prefer weight training in a gym. Many people prefer walking or jogging which are the cheapest and most accessible sports. Doing some sport or other on a regular basis is the best way of keeping fit.

In Russia a number of sports activities are popular among the old and the young: football, swimming, cycling, skiing, skating, fishing, hunting, roller-skating, etc. Mass running competitions gain popularity with Russians. City marathons have become sporting events reported on the radio, television and in the press.

A healthy diet is an important part of staying healthy, too. This diet contains reduced amounts of cholesterol, fat, sugar and salt. It helps protect our body from a wide range of diseases; the most dangerous are heart diseases, liver diseases, and cancer.

To stay healthy one must, of course, abstain from smoking. Everybody knows smoking is hazardous for your health and can lead to fatal diseases like cancer. Smoking should undoubtedly be banned in all public places.

Alcohol drinkers also have many health problems. Some are minors that can be treated for a little period of time and some can be very dangerous. Alcohol can cause cancers, liver disease, heart diseases, strokes, obesity and insomnia.

A major health problem associated with today’s lifestyle is obesity. Fast food and snacks has become a staple to Americans. What is the importance of solving environmental health problems for a healthy community?

If not solved, the healthy community will not remain healthy.

 

Word Check

Task 3. Memorize the key terms, concepts, expressions and their meaning.

1.	life expectancy	продолжительность жизни
2.	eliminate	ликвидировать, уничтожать
3.	sedentary lifestyle	сидячий образ жизни
4.	keep fit	поддерживать здоровье
5.	obesity	ожирение
6.	accessible	доступный
7.	abstain from smoking	воздерживаться от курения
8.	liver disease	заболевание печени
9.	insomnia	бессонница
10.	a staple	основной продукт
11.	(as) Fit as a Fiddle	абсолютно здоровый человек, в отличной физической форме. В добром здравии, в хорошем настроении

 

Task 4. Answer the following questions, solve the problems, do the tasks.

1. What is the title of the text?

2. What is the main idea of the above text?

3. Healthy way of life is popular with the old and the young. What do you need to do to keep healthy?

4. What are the reasons why life expectancy is increasing?

5. Do you think that the life of modern man is endangered? Why?

6. What is a healthy way of life?

7. What should you do to preserve a healthy way of life?

8. What ways of keeping fit do you know?

9. What is the importance of solving environmental health problems for a healthy community?

10. Do you do weight-training or body-building?

11. Have you ever followed a special diet?

12. Do you ever do relaxation exercises?

13. Could you run for a kilometer without stopping?

14. Which things most stress you out?

15. Is there any food that you can’t eat for health reasons?

 

Task 5. Role Play “Fit as a Fiddle”

Role Play “Fit as a Fiddle» is between Clients and Managers of Health Centre “Fit as a Fiddle”. Clients want to join the centre to be fit as a fiddle. The task of clients is to ask questions about different ways to get fit for life. The task of managers of the centre is to answer questions and recommend programs, timetable and facilities for clients to be fit as a fiddle?

 

You may ask about: 1) a personal trainer to set goals and build up an individual exercise program; 2) a friendly ‘family’ atmosphere; 3) suitable timetable; 4) healthy eating; 5) a daily time table of fitness classes such as aerobics, kick boxing, yoga, treatments such as massage and physiotherapy, a sauna and steam room, a range of healthy refreshments; 6) the nearest centre address or website.

Task 6. Make questions for these answers.

 

1) …………………………………………………………………………………………

“Fit as a Fiddle” centre allocates a personal trainer to every member. This trainer helps a client to set goals and build up an individual exercise program. The trainer can provide a client with an exercise video to use at home, if that suits a client better.

 

2) ………………………………………………………………………………………….

All the trainers of the centre are qualified and experienced instructors. Their aim is to motivate, give help and advice in a friendly ‘family’ atmosphere.

 

3) …………………………………………………………………………………………..

No problem! The clients are exactly the kind of person these centers are designed for. The centre can give a client a short program to ease him/her gently back into exercise and help to make it a regular part of the life.

 

4) …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Even if a client can only spare half an hour twice a week, the centre will find the most beneficial way for a client to use it. Most of the centers have ‘early bird’ openings three or four times a week when they open at 7 a.m., so a client could easily fit in half an hour in the gym before work.

 

5) …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Yes, the centre can. Every centre has a nutrition expert who can design a diet for a client, based on his/her needs and lifestyle, or simply give advice about healthy eating and help a client to change bad dietary habits for ever.

 

6) …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Other facilities include: a daily timetable of fitness such as aerobics, kick boxing, yoga, treatments such as massage and physiotherapy, a sauna and steam room, a range of healthy refreshments;

7) …………………………………………………………………………………………..

A client can join “Fit as a Fiddle” centre any time he/she wishes. The centre has a range of membership deals from one month to a year.

8) …………………………………………………………………………………………...

6) To find the nearest centre a client may call or visit website.

 

Text 2. Vegetarians

Task 7. Read and translate the text. Comment on new words and expressions.

A vegetarian is someone who avoids eating the flesh of animals (meat, poultry, or fish, including shellfish). Most vegetarians will also not eat eggs or cheese or use cosmetics or toiletries made that contain animal ingredients or are tested on animals. The word “vegetarian”, coined around 1842, comes not from “vegetable” but from the Latin word vegetus meaning “whole, fresh, and full of life”.

People are vegetarians for a number of reasons. Some think that it is wrong to keep and kill animals for use as food and in other products. Others choose to be vegetarians because they believe that a vegetarian diet is healthier than a diet that includes meat. Indeed, a vegetarian diet fits in very well with modern medical advice to cut down on fats, salt, and sugar, and to eat more fiber and fresh vegetables. It is also cheaper than meat. Some people are vegetarian because of their religious beliefs. Some people have chosen to be vegetarian for ecological reasons. They argue that the growing of vegetables takes up much less valuable space than the raising of livestock;moreover, it is easier to provide food for all the people on Earth by growing vegetables for food rather than raising vegetable-eating animals.

Word Check

Task 8. Memorize the key terms, concepts, expressions and their meaning.

1.	flesh	плоть, тело, мясо
2.	toiletry	принадлежность туалета
3.	contain	содержать в себе
4.	coin	создавать новые слова
5.	fiber	волокнистый
6.	livestock	домашний скот

Task 9. Answer the following questions, solve the problems, do the tasks.

 

1. Comment on the title of the text.

2. What is a vegetarian? Support your answer.

3. Speak about the history of the word “vegetarian”?

4. Why are people vegetarians? Comment on the reasons.

5. What is better: to grow vegetables for people to eat or to raise vegetable-eating animals?

6. Are you a vegetarian?

Task 10. This paragraph summarizes the text. Put one missing words in each gap to make the paragraph complete.

 

A vegetarian is someone who (1) _____ eating meat. The word “vegetarian” comes from the Latin word vegetus (2) _____ “whole, fresh, full of life”. According to the text people (3) ______ to be vegetarians for six reasons. Here they are:

1. It’s (4) _____ to kill animals for food.

2. A vegetarian diet is (5) ______ than a diet that includes meat.

3. A vegetarian diet is (6) ______ than a diet that includes meat.

4. Some people are vegetarian because of their (7) _______ beliefs.

5. Some people have (8) ______ to be vegetarian for ecological reasons.

6. It’s easier to grow vegetables than to raise vegetable-eating animals to (9) ______ food for all the people.

 

Task 11. Developing Speech (Dialogue). Ask and answer questions on “Folk Remedies”.

Task 11.1 Your group mate doesn’t look well. He has a runny nose. It is probably a cold. But his temperature is normal and he doesn’t want to go to the doctor. He wants to use some folk remedies. You can advise something useful. You begin the conversation.

Sample

Y – You; G – your group mate

 

Y: You look ill. You have a runny nose, don’t you? Your eyes are red. Have you taken your temperature?

G: I don’t feel well. But my temperature is normal.

Y: Evidently you have a cold. If I were you, I’d stay home from university. Why don’t you go to the doctor?

G: I’d love to, but I can’t. We have a test in maths. I have to write it.

Y: You’d better go to bed and take some medicine. At least, aspirin: besides, it is contagious.

G: I don’t like tablets. I’d rather use some home remedies: hot tea with honey and raspberry jam.

Y: Drink hot chicken soup. It clears the head and the nose. They say it is good for a cold.

G: What other useful home remedies do you know?

Y: Rub oil on the chest. I know a recipe for nose drops to stop a runny nose: mix together carrot juice with vegetable oil and garlic juice. Try to use them several times in the evening and you’ll be much better the next day. I’m sure these drops work wonders.

G: Thank you very much.

 

Task 11.2 Make similar conversations advising folk remedies.

Text 3. Our life is getting more and more tense!

Task 12. Read, translate the text for control, discuss and suggest solutions to problems:

Nowadays our life is getting more and more tense. People live under the press of different problems, such as social, ecological, economic and others. They constantly suffer from stress, noise and dust in big cities, diseases and instability. A person should be strong and healthy in order to overcome all difficulties. To achieve this aim people ought to take care of their physical and mental health. There are several ways to do it.

The state of your body depends on how much time you spend doing sports. At least everybody must do morning exercises every day. The healthiest kinds of sports are swimming, running and cycling. Healthy food is also a very important factor. Overeating causes many dangerous diseases. The daily menu should include meat, fruit and vegetables, milk product, which are rich in vitamins, fat, proteins and etc.

On the other hand modern diets are very popular especially among women. Diets may be harmful, if they are used in the wrong way. To be healthy, people should get rid of their bad habits. It’s necessary to stop smoking and drinking much. Everyone should remember that cigarettes, alcohol and drugs destroy both body and brain. Besides according to statistics most of crimes are committed by people under the influence of drugs and alcohol. In addition it is recommended to watch TV less, avoid anxiety and observe daily routine. Certainly it’s hard to follow all these recommendations, but every person has to choose between healthy life style and numerous illnesses.

 

Task 13. Here are three questions which introduce the three paragraphs in the text. They are not in the right order. Write down the correct question for each paragraph.

1) What does a healthy way of life depend on?

2) What can people do to get rid of their bad habits?

3) How should people overcome all difficulties to live without stresses?

 

Work in pairs

Task 14. Work in pairs with your partners and make up short dialogues about “Healthy Lifestyle”:

1) Healthy Living. 2) Healthy Eating. 3) Healthy Way of Life. 4) Healthy Habits. 5) Healthy Sports.