Sports in britain and in the usa

The British are a sporting nation. Like every one else they love foot­ball — in fact, they invented it. Most British towns and cities have a foot­ball team. Every year, each team plays in the Football Association com­petition. The two best teams play in the Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in London. Some fans pay up to £250 for a ticket for the Cup Final. It is one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

Cricket is a typically British game. Cricket is a summer game, lovely to watch from under old trees on a village "green". It looks slow, but it can be exciting if you understand what's going on. There are 11 men in each team. One man, ("the bowler") throws the ball, and a "batsman" hits it with his bat. Cricket is a very long game. The big international matches go on for 5 days. But in the real English way, the players always stop for tea.

Tennis is another popular game in Britain. Every summer, in June, the biggest international tennis tournament takes place at Wimbledon, a suburb of London. There are strawberries and cream for sale, and every­one hopes the rain will stay away.

Many British people who live near the sea, a lake or a river enjoy sailing. IF you are really enthusiastic, and rich enough to buy your own boat, you can take part in one of the annual sailing races or "regattas" on the river Thames.

Baseball is the most popular summer sport in U. S. The first Ameri­can baseball match was in 1839 in New York, but some people think that baseball comes from a much older game called rounders, played in Europe for many years.

To play baseball, you need two teams of 9 players. The "pitcher" throws the ball and the "batter" hits it with a bat.

Americans start playing baseball young. There are "leagues" which children of 8 can join. The top players become big stars and earn a lot of money every year.

Americans play tennis, hockey and most other international sports, but they do not play football in the same way as the rest of the world. American football is a very different game. The players can run with the ball, touch and push each other. The field looks different and even the ball is a different shape. Players wear special clothes for American football, with helmets on their heads, because the game can be dangerous. Like international football teams, American teams have 11 players.

Basketball is another popular game in America. Only 5 people play in each team. One American basketball team, the Harlem Globetrotters, are famous all over the world. These extraordinary sportsmen, all very tall, have shown the world that sport can be funny as well as exciting.

Americans love winter sports, and ice hockey is a great favourite. This game, the national sport of Canada, is very fast, and can be dangerous. So if you play ice hockey, remember to wear your helmet!

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The exercise craze

Everybody's doing it, old and young. They're running, dancing, jump­ing up and down, bending and stretching. Exercise is in fashion. Every­body wants to be fit, feel good, look slim and stay young.

It started with running. Millions of Americans put on their white "trainer" shoes and fashionable tracksuits and ran through the parks or along the streets for half an hour a day. Then the runner got the marathon craze. Popular marathons are now held everywhere. Lots of people want to see if they can run 42 km and do it faster than everyone else. The big city marathons, in London and New York, are important sporting events. Television cameras and newspapers report them in detail. Some remark­able people take part in the marathons: seventy-five-year-old grandfathers and nine-year-old grandchildren, and even disabled people in wheelchairs.

But marathons are not for everyone. Some prefer to get fit at home. For them, there's a big choice of books, cassettes and video programmes with music and instructions. One of the most popular of these home exer­cises programmes is called aerobics. Bend down and touch your toes. You can do it too. Taking exercises is only one part of keeping fit. You've got to get slim, too. Books and magazines about slimming are bestsellers these days. Some people eat nothing but fruit for two or three days a week. It sounds terrible. Why not forget about keeping fit, sit down and have an­other chocolate biscuit?

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