Things you can do with a ball

Now complete the following dialogues with the correct form of these expressions:

pass the ball

hit the ball so hard

run with the ball

1. - You played tennis with Greg last night, didn’t you? I hear he’s pretty good.

- You’re not joking! He …. that you spend most of the time trying to get out of the way!

2. - Do you ever watch American football? It’s pretty aggressive, isn’t it?

- Yes, when one of those guys ……. I wouldn’t like to get in his way!

3. - I don’t really understand rugby. Why do the players all stand in a line across the pitch?

- Because they’re not allowed to …. forward.

Places and people

The playing area for football, rugby, hockey and cricket is called a pitch; for tennis, volleyball, basketball, squash and badminton it is a court; for golf it is a course.

Note: When you describe the playing area for football and the area around for the crowd (= the people who watch, also called spectators), it is called a stadium, e.g. Wembley Stadium.

Players: Some games are played by individuals, others are team games. In a team, one player is the captain, and there is a manager (e.g. in football) or a coach (e.g. in basketball).

Officials: Football, rugby and hockey have a referee but tennis, cricket and baseball have an umpire. In football the referee has a whistle to control the game and two linesmen. In tennis there are line judges to decide if the ball is “in” or “out”.

BALL GAMES

Write down:

1. five games where you can hit the ball (with various kinds of equipment).

2. four games where you can pass the ball.

3. three games where you can catch the ball.

4. two games where you can kick the ball.

5. one game where you can head the ball..

SPORTS equipment

Organize these words and put them in the correct columns below? (You can put a word in more than one column if you wish)

swimming	gloves	crash helmet	course	football	racket	track
ring	boots	pool	motor racing	clubs	tennis	net
court	golf	pitch	track	boxing	goals	costume
		shorts	whistle	vest

 

Sport	Place	Equipment

 

GAMES, PEOPLE AND PLACES

True or false? If false, correct the sentence to make it true.

1. The people who watch a football match are the audience.

2. The official who gives the score in tennis is the umpire.

3. Athletes wear shorts.

4. You need a stick to play hockey.

5. Boxers wear gloves.

6. Tennis is played on a pitch.

7. The referee in football has a whistle.

8. Women wear trunks for swimming.

Equipment

Match the words on the left with those on the right:

1.tennis
2. golf
3. baseball	a. bat
4.squash	b. racquet
5.table tennis	c. club
6.hockey	d. stick
7.badminton

WHERE YOU PLAY

Match the words on the left with those on the right:

1. football
2. golf
3. tennis
4.basketball	a. court
5.badminton	b. pitch
6.volleyball	c. course
7.squash
8. rugby
9.hockey

11.

HORSE RIDING

Match the words with the right numbers in the picture.

 

..bridle

..saddle

…harness

…stirrup

..reins

..riding crop

12. READING

Read the text:

Basketball

What is the most popular sport in the world? Most people would probably say football, because of the many millions who play it and the even larger number who watch it on television. There are some, however, who say the correct answer is basketball – not because of its TV audience, which is certainly smaller than that for football, but because the number of people who regularly play the game might be higher (at least 300 million according to most estimates). In China, for example, which has a population of 1.3 billion, more people play basketball than football, and it is becoming more popular all the time.

Basketball has existed for less time than some of the world’s other major sports. It was invented in the early 1890s by a Canadian, James Naismith, working at a college in the state of Massachusetts in the United States. Wanting to create a game that could be played indoors during the long winters but would also be active enough to keep people fit, he had the idea of two teams of players trying to throw a ball into a basket that was above their heads.

Early basketball looked different from the game today: for example the basket didn’t have a hole in the bottom, so every time a player threw the ball in, someone had to go up to get it out again! Another difference is dribbling, which is when a player in modern basketball bounces the ball off the floor while moving across the court: it didn’t exist in early basketball because the balls didn’t bounce well enough.

One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the height of the baskets: James Naismith put the first one 10 feet (3.05 metres) off the floor, and that’s where they’ve stayed.

The biggest international TV audiences in modern basketball are for games in the

National Basketball Association (NBA) in North America, a league of thirty teams (twenty-nine from the United States and one from Canada) including famous names such as the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. Most of the players in the NBA are American but there are also some foreign stars such as Yao Ming from China and Dirk Nowitzki from Germany.

The United States has usually been the strongest team in international basketball competitions. In the last Olympic Games, in Beijing in 2008, the US men’s and women’s teams both won gold medals – the men beat Spain in the final and the women beat Australia.

Here are some simple definitions for words that appear in the text. Find the words they refer to and fill in the gaps.

1. A p _ _ _ _ _ _ (adjective) thing, place or activity is one that many people like.

2. A c _ _ _ _ (noun) is an area marked with lines where some sports (e.g. basketball, tennis) are played

3. _ t _ _ (noun): someone very famous and popular (e.g. an actor or sports player)

4. An _ _ _ _ _ _ ce (noun) is a group of people who watch or listen to something (e.g. a film or a show)

5. b _ _ _ _ _ (verb): to hit the surface of something and then move away (e.g. a ball moving through the air, hitting the ground, then moving through the air again)

6. _ _ _ m (noun): a group of people who play a sport or a game against another group

7. _ _ _ _ l (noun): a small flat piece of metal, often circular, that you might get for winning a competition

8. _ _ d _ _ _ s (adverb): inside a building (e.g. a house)

Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F), or if the text doesn’t say (D).

1. Basketball was invented after tennis.

2. The height of the baskets in basketball has changed many times.

3. More people watch basketball on TV than football.

4. There are some players in the NBA who are not American or Canadian.

5. Basketball was invented before 1900.

6. Australia was in the men’s basketball final in the 2008 Olympic Games.

7. The best team in the NBA is the Los Angeles Lakers.

8. The baskets in early basketball were different from in modern basketball.

SWIMMING