Vocabulary

skiing - лыжный спорт figure skating - фигурное катание track and field - легкая атлетика amateur - любительский possibility - возможность to acquire - приобретать to earn - зарабатывать to represent - представлять to provide - предоставлять role model - эталон to follow a diet - соблюдать диету to allow - позволять, разрешать injury - травма moreover - более того unfair - несправедливый to deny - отрицать to increase - увеличивать

benefit - преимущество to include - включать weight - вес it goes without saying - само собой разумеется self-confidence - уверенность в своих силах to were о me difficulties - преода­левать трудности downhill skiing - горнолыжный спорт shape - форма rock climbing - скалолазание rather - довольно addicted - пристрастившийся to take things to the edge - доходить до грани возможного to imagine - представлять

Questions

1. Is sport popular in Russia? Why?

2. What is your attitude towards professional sport?

3. Is professional sport always fair? Why?

4. Should professional sport be prohibited?

5. Why is it good/bad to do sports?

6. What attracts people to extreme sports?

7. What do you think about risk taking?

8. Is sport important to you? Why?

9. Do you go in for sports?

10. What is your favourite kind of sports?

My Favourite Sport

(Мой любимый вид спорта)

I enjoy many sports, but best of all I love swimming. I started to learn it when I was about seven years old. I think that swimming is something like music or languages. That's why it's very good to start swimming as early as possible if you want to be good at it.

When I was younger, I used to go swimming three or four times a week. Now I have less free time, but a week never goes by without my visiting the pool at least once. Swimming helps mc to stay good shape, to keep fit and to be healthy. Besides, it helps me to work off my extra energy. My parents also go to the swimming pool, but they began going in for swimming when they were grown-ups.

Swimming is an inexpensive and simple sport. You do not need any complicated equipment. You just need a swimming costume or trunks and, perhaps, a cap. You can swim in the sea or a river or you can go to a special swimming pool.

The first thing you need to learn is how to float in the water. You can help yourself do this by wearing a ring or by putting water wings on your arms. As soon as you can float, you are ready to learn some basic swimming strokes like breast-stroke, back-stroke and crawl. A big step forward in swimming is when you learn to dive. This is a way of jumping into the water arms and head — rather than feet — first. It is hard at first, but diving smoothly into the water is a marvellous feeling.

I love swimming because it is a very good exercise for the whole body. I would recommend it because it is so convenient to do: you can do it when you like and for as long as you like.

However, there are some sports which I haven't had the chance to experience but would really like to. They're mostly non­competitive sports. I love the water very much and I'd really like to try some more water sports. For instance, being pulled by a boat while wearing water skis would, I'm sure, be a fantastic experience. And I'd also like to try surfing. I think there's no greater feeling on earth than riding on the top of a wave on a surfboard. I'd like to try it just to see.

My parents and I are great fans. We subscribe to a sports newspaper and enjoy watching sports on TV. We read the newspaper from cover to cover and lie on the sofa watching sports competitions on TV on Sundays, so my family is a little bit a couch potato.