Text “Sport in my Life”

People all over the world are fond of sport and games. To begin with I must say that sport is one of the things that always keep people fit. I think that everyone must do all he can to be healthy. Physically inactive people get older earlier than those who have plenty of exercises. If you do daily exercises regularly you feel refreshed, have a good posture and that makes you feel well.

Wise people say that good health is a great blessing. Everyone should do all possible to stay healthy. Being in good health means having both body and mind in good working order free from diseases and pain.

There is a truthful Latin proverb: “A sound mind is in a sound body”. If you want to keep yourself fit, you are to go in for sports.

The most popular outdoor winter sports are shooting hunting and hockey, in the countries where the weather is frosty and there is much snow – skating, skiing and tobogganing. Some people greatly enjoy figure-skating and ski-jumping.

Summer affords excellent opportunities for swimming, boating, yachting, cycling and many other sports. Among outdoor games football takes the first place in public interest; this game is played in all countries of the world. The other games that are popular in different countries are tennis, volleyball, badminton and so on.

All the year round many people indulge in boxing, wrestling, athletics, gymnastics and track and field events. Young girls and women go in for calisthenics. It helps them to be slim, healthy and strong. The founder of this kind of sport was a well-known American actress Jane Fonda.

Among indoor games the most popular are billiards, table tennis, fencing, draughts, but the great international game is chess, of course.

Sport is very popular in our family. Together with my father we do our morning exercises at home and twice at week we have our basketball training and in summer we like to swim most of all.

My favourite kind of sport is tennis. I have been playing it since I was eleven years old, and the more I play it the more I like it. There is a good tennis court not far from my house and I often go there with my friends.

I am a football fan. I try to watch every football match on TV. I support “Dynamo” Kyiv football team and never miss important matches.

Vocabulary

to keep fit – бути у формі

to do daily exercises – щоденно робити фіззарядку

to feel refreshed – відчувати себе бадьорим, відновленим

posture – постава

blessing – благо

disease – хвороба

truthful – вірний, справедливий

outdoor winter sports – зимові види спорту на відкритому повітрі

shooting – стрільба

hunting – полювання

tobogganing – санний спорт

to afford excellent opportunities for smth. – надавати чудові можливості для чого-небудь

yachting – вітрильний спорт

cycling – велосипедний спорт

to indulge in smth. – захоплюватися чимось, займатися (спортом)

wrestling – боротьба

track and field events – легка атлетика

to go in for smth. – займатися чимось

calisthenics – ритмічна гімнастика

fencing – фехтування

indoor games – ігри у закритому приміщенні

diving – стрибки у воду

rowing – веслування

Exercise 1

Answer the questions:

1) Why should people go in for sport?

2) Is it difficult to choose the kind of sport you would like to go in for?

3) Why are the lessons of physical training at college so important?

4) What kind of sport are you fond of?

5) Why are you fond of this kind of sport?

6) Is sport popular in our country?

7) What kinds of sports do you know?

8) Are you interested in tennis?

9) Have you ever taken part in any sport competitions?

10) Do you play football or other “ball” game?

11) What is your favourite football team?

Exercise 2

Guess the missing words and fill them in

1) The most popular outdoor winter sports are _____________________ .

2) The sport that takes the first place in public interest is __________________.

3) The sports people can go in for all the year round are __________________.

4) The most famous popularizer of aerobics was ____________________.

5) The great international indoor game which is the most popular in the world is ____________.

Exercise 3

Match the following words and expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents

1. tobogganing a. шашки

2. ski-jumping b. боротьба

3. keeping fit c. веслування

4. bowling d. біг підтюпцем

5. chess e. санний спорт

6. draughts f. стрибки на лижах з трампліна

7. wrestling g. гра у кеглі

8. jogging h. шахи

9. leisure centre i. вести здоровий спосіб життя

10. rowing j. центр відпочинку

Exercise 4

Make up situations or sentences, using the following word combinations:

To be fond of sports, to go in for, to win the game, to do training, to train for competitions, to be a poor chess (football) player, to play snow-balls, to keep healthy and strong, to be good at, to cheer for, sport fans.

Exercise 5

Agree or disagree with the following statements:

1. People practice sport for at least two reasons: first, they enjoy it and second, they feel a need to keep fit.

2. Many professional sportsmen are now as popular as the greatest Hollywood film stars.

3. People enjoy watching international matches. Events such as the Olympic Games or the Football World Cup attract more and more spectators a s the time goes by.

4. A lot of Ukrainians like sport, especially on TV. The number of people who actively take part in sport is quite small. On the whole Ukrainian people prefer to be fat rather than fit.

Exercise 6

Match the explanations with the kinds of sport

Football to get a ball through a net

Volleyball to knock a ball into a hole

Golf is a kind of game to knock a ball in to a goal

Crickets in which you try to knock a ball through some hoops

Tennis to hit a ball so that your opponent

cannot hit it