5. Fill in the blanks with the words: championship, champion, competitor, contestant, final, round, tournament.

1) is a series of games or contests that make up a single unit of a competition. 2) ____ is the winner of the first place or first prize in competition by defeating the other ____ in his division in a contest or ____. 3) The greatest ___ in sports are called the Olympic Games. 4) The most common ___ is the single elimination ____ in which ___ are paired off for individual ____, with winners advancing to the next ___. Losers are eliminated until there is a single ___ . 5). European Cup consists of a qualifying ____ in three groups followed by a semifinal ___ and a six-nation____. Each nation enters one ___ per event.

6. Choose the correct word for each blank in the text from the list on the right.

I’m interested in (1) ___, especially (2) ___ , and I run seven or eight kilometers every day. I particularly enjoy (3) ___, where you have to run across fields, (4) ___ over streams and so on. (5) ___ I’m running I think about all sorts of things, and at the end of a (6) ___ I’m sometimes surprised to find that I’ve managed to solve a problem that was on my mind. Next year I’m going to try the London (7) ___. It’s a long, hard (8) ___ - 26 miles, or 42 kilometers – and you have to be (9) ___ to finish, but I very much want to do it. I (10) ___ a bit about getting old, and I’d like to prove myself that I’m still almost as (11) ___ as I was twenty years ago. I’m interested in (12) ___ as well as (13) ___. I’ll never become an expert (14) ___, but I know what I’m doing in the mountain. I easily completed a course in snow and ice (15) ___ when I was younger, and I’ve done a series of successful (16) ___ in the Alps during the last few years.

cross country running while worry marathon mountaineering jump climbing athletics run tough fit climbing race climbs sport climber

7. Match each idiom on the left and a similar expression on the right.

1. to hit below the belt 2. see stars 3. to be on the ropes 4. rounds 5. to be saved by the bell 6. to be in our corner

a) to be overwhelmed b) to be in support of a person c) a stage of negotiations d) to be weakened and in trouble e) to be unfair f) to have something happened at the last moment that prevents a potential disaster

8. Think about:

1. five games where you can hit the ball (with various kinds of equipment);

2. four games where you can pass the ball;

3. three games where you can catch the ball;

4. two games where you can kick the ball;

5. one game where you can head the ball.

9. You are going to read some statements which are all concerned with sport. Read the statements and find out which sport you think the statement is about.

1. I’m not so keen on the field events such as the javelin and the high jump, but I love all the track events, especially the 1500 m.

2. And it’s a goal! What a match! So, that’s three two to Blackburn… six more minutes till half-time.

3. I think there’s a real feeling of achievement once you get to the top. You know, it’s just man against nature, and you’ve actually done it. It’s a great feeling!

4. I tried it for the first time when we were on holiday last summer. I spent about fifteen minutes practicing on the beach: standing on the board, holding the sail, trying to keep my balance. I thought I’d got the hand of it, but as soon as I actually got in the water I couldn’t stay on at all. John couldn’t stop laughing.

5. It’s a bit like a tennis in that there’s a net and you’re trying to get the ball over the net. But you don’t have a racket, and you hit the ball before it touches the ground.

6. The course at St. Andrew’s is one of the most challenging courses in the country. Even the most experienced professionals sometimes end up stuck in the sand, or losing their ball in the sand.

7. They don’t have a pool at school, so I usually take the kids to the local leisure centre every Saturday afternoon. They love it. Nicola usually does lengths, and Adam just splashes around in the shallow end.