How Healthy Are You?

Check your knowledge.

What sort of shape are you in? Are you the sort of person who goes for a run each morning, or are you the other kind who gets out of breath when reaching for a cigarette?

Maybe you have a lot of energy. You go to work or school, you make decisions all day, you do extra work at home. Exercise? You don’t have enough time – why bother anyway?

Well, the answer to that question is your body design. Human beings weren’t built for sitting at a desk all day: your body is constructed for hunting, jumping, lifting, running, climbing and a variety of other activities. If you don’t get the exercise that your body wants, then things can go badly wrong. Your mind works all day, and your body does nothing: the results can vary from depression to severe illness to early death.

Not a very cheerful thought, and of course the natural reaction is “It’s not going to happen to me.” Maybe, maybe not. Here are two ways of looking after yourself: firstly, by seeing if you are doing the right sort of exercise, and secondly by seeing if you have the right kind of diet.

(From “Modern English International”.

Mozaika. 1984, No. 263)

1. Persuade your partner to start practising sport immediately.

2. Speak on:

1. the role of sport in modern life

2. sport as part of school and college life

Exercise 4.

Role-playing

Work in groups of four or five. You are people of different age and social standing. Express your attitude to sport and sportsmen in general.

Olympic Games

The first Olympic Games were held by the Greeks in the year 776 B.C. in the plain of Olympia. They then were held once in four years each leap year. The four-year period between the games was called Olympiad. Greece at that time was divided into several states. The citizens of all the Greek states were invited to take part in the Games. On the day the Games were announced all wars and quarrels between the hostile cities and states were stopped and peace was proclaimed.

The prizes were wreaths made of the branches of olive trees. The olive branches were cut with golden knives from sacred trees and were highly praised by the winners.

When the country was conquered by the Romans in 146 B.C. the tradition was broken and the Games lost their meaning. In 394 A.D. the Games were stopped by the Roman Emperor Theodosius. The Games were not held until 1896.

The Games of 1896 were held in Athens and they were the first international Olympic Games. Two hundred and eighty-five athletes from thirteen countries took part in the first modern Olympic Games. During these Games there were competitions in many kinds of sports.

The Greek team was the largest with about two hundred athletes. No women took part in these Games.

Women were allowed to take part in the second Olympic Games, which were held in Paris in 1900. There were six women at these Games. They took part in the tennis competitions.

Athletes from Russia first took part in the fourth Olympic Games, which were held in London in 1908. There were five of them and they won one gold and two silver medals.

No Olympic Games were held in 1916 during the First World War and in 1940 and 1944 during the Second World War.

In January 1924 winter sports were added to the program. These were held in the winter of the same year as the regular Olympic Games.

At the fifteenth Olympic Games in Finland, in 1952, Soviet athletes took part in the Games for the first time. Their results were good in every kind of sport. They won 71 gold, silver and bronze medals.

The Olympic Games have become a wonderful sports tradition. They help to bring peoples closer together.

Assignments after the text

I

Speak of

1. ancient Olympic Games and their rules;

2. modern Olympic Games (how often they are held, what events are included there, the prizes);

3. Soviet sportsmen who first took part in the games;

4. The importance of the Olympic Games.

II

1. Describe the Olympic Games, pointing out:

1. how often they were held earlier and are held now; what people could see at the Olympic Games earlier and what they can watch now;

2. who took part in them earlier and does now (the countries, the sportsmen);

3. what kinds of sports were included earlier and are included now;

4. how the winners were awarded earlier and how they are awarded now;

2. Compare Old Olympic Games and Modern Olympic Games.

Grammar

Grammarchants

Unit 1

Verb To Be part one

3. Is Sam Married?

Is Sam married?

No, he’s not. He’s single.

Is Anne married?

No, she’s not. She’s divorced.

Are the Browns divorced?

No, they’re not. They’re separated.

Are Bill and Sue in love?

No, they’re not. They’re just good friends.

Unit 2

Verb To Be part two

2. Where’s Mary?

Where’s Mary?

Mary who?

Mary Brown.

She’s out of town.

Where’s Bill?

He’s very ill.

Where’s Sue?

She has the flu.

Where’s Ted?

He’s home in bed.

Where are Bob and Ray?

They’re absent today.

4. Checking In at the Airport

Are the bags all here?

Yes, they are.

Are the tags on the bags?

Yes, they are.

Where’s the big black bag?

It’s there, on the floor.

Where’s the little brown bag?

It’s there, near the door.

Where are the tickets?

They’re there, in your hand.

Where are the tags?

They’re there, on the bags.