Task 4. Learn the following sporting terms you will come across in Text 6c:

1.	amateur n	любитель
	a	любительский
2.	eligible a	зд. имеющий право (например, войти в состав сборной команды страны)
3.	salary n	зарплата
4.	point n	oчко
5.	official score	официальный зачет

Task 5. Skim Text 6 C to understand how Olympic competitions are arranged. Time your reading. It is good if you can read it for five minutes (70 words per minute).

Text 6 c. Olympic Competition

Every country represented in the Olympics has a National Olympic Committee that selects the athletes who compete in the Games. An athlete who represents a country at the Olympics must be a citizen of that country. Until 1988, only amateur athletes participated in the Games. Professional athletes are now eligible to compete in basketball, ice hockey, football and tennis. In addition, the IOC voted in 1974 to allow national Olympic Committees to pay athletes during an unlimited training period before the Olympic Games. Each athlete may receive expense money, plus the equivalent of the salary that he or she would earn by working instead of training.

Each National Committee provides uniforms for its country’s athletes while they prepare for and compete at the Games and furnishes transportation for its team to the Games and back. The host country provides food and housing for all the athletes. Most countries use government funds to pay the expenses.

In many countries, athletes qualify for the Olympics by winning or finishing high, in competitions called selection trials. In some Olympic sports a nation may enter as many as three athletes in each individual event and one team in each team event.

Up to 12 teams can compete in each men’s team sport, except for football, which involves 16 teams. No more than 20 teams take part in each team sport that has competition for both men and women. If more than the maximum number of nations want to compete in a sport, a qualifying tournament is held before the Olympics.

The top three athletes in each Olympic event receive a medal and a diploma. The next five receive only a diploma. The first- and second-place medals are made of silver, but the first-place medal has a gold coating. The third-place medal is made of bronze. All the members of a winning relay team get a medal. In team sports all the members who have played in at least one of their team’s games receive one.

Olympic competition is intended to test the skill and strength of individuals, not nations. Therefore, the IOC does not keep an official score among the competing countries. No nation “wins” the Olympics. However, newspapers and television reporters from all parts of the world tell the public, how many gold, silver, and bronze medals have been won by each country.

Post-reading exercises

Ex.1. Complete in written form the statements with information corresponding to the contents of the text.

1. An athlete who represents a country at the Olympics must be …

2. Each athlete may receive expense money, …

3. National Committee provides uniforms for its country’s athletes …

4. The host country provides …

5. The top three athletes in each Olympic event receive …

6. The next five athletes receive …

7. All the members of a winning relay team get …

8. In team sports all the members …

9. Olympic competition is intended to test …

10. No nation “wins”…

Ex.2. Look through the text once more and write about the materials the Olympic medals are made of.