The mystery of Okinawa

The mystery of Okinawa

Takanashi always walks three kilometers a day, and he sometimes rides a motorbike. He often works in his garden, and he usually does martial arts in the morning. He is never stressed, and he is hardly ever ill. Not usual you think? But Takanashi is 103 years old.

Takanashi lives on the island of Okinawa in Japan. In Okinawa people live a very long time. They are hardly ever ill. Many people live to be 100 – more people than in other parts of the world. Why? What is their secret?

1. __________ The Okinawans eat vegetables, fruit, fish, soya, and rice. They usually have seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day. People don’t usually drink much alcohol or smoke. They don’t eat much meat or fast food.

2. __________ Physical activity is very important for the people of Okinawa. Martial arts, walking, traditional dancing, and gardening are very popular with people of all ages.

3. __________ In many countries people have healthy diets and do exercise. But the unusual thing about the people in Okinawa is that they are not stressed. They are relaxed and take their time. Buses are hardly ever on time, and people often arrive an hour late for meetings. Every evening hundreds of people, young and old, go to the beach to watch the beautiful sunset. People often meditate to relax.

4. __________ Another important thing is that people often work until they are 80 – sometimes until 90! In the Okinawan dialect there is no word for “retired”. They are busy and active all their lives. Old people don’t stay at home – they go out and meet friends. When journalists ask people “What is the secret of your long life?”, they answer “We are happy, we are always positive, and we are never in a hurry.”

Task 1. Read the text and put a heading in each gap:

Always active

A healthy diet

Low stress

Physical activity

Task 2. Translate from English Into Russian:

To be hardly ever ill; martial arts; to meditate to relax; people of all ages; not to stay at home; seven portions of fruit and vegetables; to walk 3 km a day; the island of Okinawa in Japan; physical activity; not to drink much alcohol and smoke; traditional dancing; retired people.

Task 3. Give English equivalents:

1) заниматься боевыми искусствами 6) никогда не торопиться

2) прогулки пешком 7) быть занятым и активным всю свою жизнь

3) придерживаться здоровой диеты 8) на диалекте жителей Окинавы

4) не употреблять много алкоголя 9) люди всех возрастов

5) любоваться на пляже прекрасным 10) заниматься садоводством

закатом

Task 4. Translate and group the following words according to the parts of speech:

Meditation, to retire, important, positive, to relax, exercise, active, busy, diet; healthy, to arrive.

verb	noun	adjective

Task 5. Guess the word according to its definition.

The answers are in the box, two of them are extra:

healthy sunset gardening active to mediate to retire martial arts stressed

1) the activity of tending and cultivating a garden, esp. as a pastime –

2) various sports or skills, mainly of Japanese origin, that originated as forms of self-defense or

attack, such as judo, karate, and kendo –

3) to focus one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or

spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation –

4) Someone who is … moves around a lot or does a lot of things. -

5) in a good physical or mental condition; in good health –

6) If you are … , you feel tense and anxious because of difficulties in your life. –

Task 6. Answer the questions on the text:

1) What is unusual about Okinawan people?

2) What do you think their secret is?

3) What products make up their diet?

4) Do the Okinawans know such word as “retired”? Why or why not?

5) Do people in your country live like the Okinawans? What’s different? What’s the same?