7. Tennis

Tennis is a very popular game in England in the summer, both at school and later, with men and women. Some people join a tennis club with its own courts, others play in parks, where courts can be hired by the hour.

The full name is "lawn tennis", but this is used only in official language. Originally tennis was always played on grass courts (hence the name "lawn tennis"). Later, however, hard courts (courts covered with asphalt or some other hard substance) were introduced in those places where the courts were in constant use and grass was therefore impracticable.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is the gov­erning body of English tennis. The Wimbledon Open Championships, held every summer at Wimbledon, in south London, are international championships, and are followed with great interest by many people. Table tennis is a popular indoor sport, particu­larly in youth clubs. Its name is never abbre­viated to "tennis". Tennis and table tennis are considered to be quite separate games, although based on the same principle. The alternative name "ping-pong" exists, but is not often used.

8. Golf

Golf is a fairly popular game with adults, men and women (though more men than women), mainly middle-aged, middle class. It is a leisurely game, and is described by A. S. Hornby as fol­lows : "... game played by two or four persons with small, hard balls, driven with golf-clubs into a series of 9 or 18 holes on smooth greens (flat areas of short grass, like a lawn) over a stretch of land called a golf-course or a golf-links."

A golf-course looks like a park, except for the greens arranged at intervals, with a small hole

* Conclusion. For the beginning see issue No. 2, 1979. in the centre of each. There are public golf-courses and private golf clubs with their own course. Some men join such clubs in order to make social contacts with influential people. Note that "golf club" with a hyphen means a stick with a thick curved end used for hitting the ball, whereas without a hyphen it means a society of people who play golf.

9. Bowls, Bowling

Bowls and bowling are quite different games. Bowls is a slow, quiet game played on a bowl­ing-green, that is, an area of short, smooth grass, by middle-aged or elderly men. It is translated as шары.

Bowling is an indoor game and often very noisy. It is played mainly by young people in a bowl­ing-alley, that is, a special hall equipped for bowling. Its full name is tenpin bowling, and it is a modern version of skittles or ninepins. It has become rather popular in some places, and some suburban cinemas which no longer paid have been converted into bowling-alleys. "Bowling" is translated as игра в кегли.

10. Gymnastics

Everyone does gymnastics, at school (see Part I), in the gymnasium. ("Sports hall" is not used.) Both "gymnastics" and "gymnasium" are usually abbreviated to "gym", the meaning of which is determined by the context.

c. g. a) We do gym (= gymnastics) at school.

b) I like gym (= gymnastics).

c) Go into the gym ( = gymnasium).

"Gym" is used in the following expressions-gym lesson

gym (and games) teacher/master/mistress

gym shoes

sometimes called plimsolls. Light, rubber-soled shoes for gym

gym things

clothes for gym, including gym shoes. Only used in schools

gym bag for gym things, in schools

gym-slip

sort of pinafore-dress (сарафан) worn with a blouse by the younger girls in some schools as uniform. It was originally intended for gym. Skirts are now replacing gym-slips.

Not many people continue to do gymnastics after they leave school, although some girls and women go to keep-fit classes, where they do simple exercises in order to keep fit (or remain in good health) and, for some women more important, to keep slim. "Class" may be omitted in such sentences as:

a) I go to keep-fit every Friday.

b) I do keep-fit.

When talking about professional gymnastics (competitions, etc.) most English people simply say "gymnastics". "Calisthenics" is American English.