Иностранный язык (английский). Political and social matters. Учебно-методическое пособие
.pdfThe President represents the IOC and presides over all its activities. He is elected by the Session. The members vote in a secret ballot. In the past unlimited, the length of the President‟s term of office is now fixed at eight years (entered into force 12 December 1999), renewable once for four years. Rule 20 of the Olympic Charter defines the role of the President, particularly his or her representation function. The IOC president, who is chosen by IOC members, is assisted by an executive board, several vice presidents, and a number of IOC commissions. The IOC's first president, Demetrius Vikélas of Greece (served 1894–1896), was succeeded by Coubertin himself (1896–1925).
Juan Antonio Samaranch was the President of the IOC from 1980 to 2001. The seventh President of the International Olympic Committee was born on 17 July 1920 in Barcelona (Spain). From the time he took up office, he tried to give a new direction to the Olympic Movement which was badly shaken by the political difficulties of the XXII Olympiad, and undertook a long voyage around the world to establish numerous contacts with Heads of State and sports leaders and to defend the Olympic cause. He secured the IOC's status as an international non-governmental organization and restructured its finances (television rights, sponsorship programmes). He kept the Olympic flame alive during the crisis years of boycotts (Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984). It was through his efforts that the Olympic Museum was built in Lausanne (1993).
When the IOC found itself in crisis, because of abuses of trust by some of its members, he undertook major reforms to the structure of the institution. Mr. Samaranch's mandate ended on 16 July 2001, in Moscow, where he was elected Honorary President.
Jacques Rogge has been the President of the IOC since 2001. Born on 2 May 1942 in Ghent, Belgium, Jacques Rogge is married and has two children. By profession, he is an orthopaedic surgeon. In the course of his sports career, he competed in the yachting competitions at the Games of the Olympiad in Mexico in 1968, Munich in 1972 and Montreal in 1976. He was also a member of the Belgian national rugby team.
Jacques Rogge served as President of the Belgian National Olympic Committee from 1989 to 1992. He became President of the European Olympic Committees in 1989, IOC member in 1991 and Executive Board member in 1998. Jacques Rogge is the eighth IOC President, elected on 16 July 2001 at the 112th IOC Session in Moscow.
The IOC elects host cities following a two-stage process. Cities wishing to stage the Games in question become 'Applicant Cities'; the IOC Execu-
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tive Board then selects a number of applicants to be considered 'Candidate Cities', from which one is chosen by a vote of the IOC session. In selecting the site of the Olympic Games, the IOC considers a number of factors, mainly among them is which city has, or promises to build, the best facilities, and which organizing committee seems most likely to stage the Games effectively as well as efficiently.
Answer the following questions:
1.What are the main functions of the International Olympic Commit-
tee?
2.What are the basic principles of the Olympic Charter?
3.How are new members of the IOC elected? What is the maximum term of office of the IOC members?
4.Who has the highest position in the IOC? How is the leader of the organization elected?
5.How does the IOC elect cities to host the Olympic Games?
Read the text about the OG ceremonies and mark the following statements True (T) or False (F). Then explain the words in bold.
1.Only the members of National Olympic Committees take part in the parade of nations.
2.During the parade the national team of the host country always enters the main stadium first.
3.The Olympic torch is usually delivered to the Host City by plane.
4.The President of the IOC declares the Olympic Games officially
open.
5.During a medal ceremony the national anthem of the winner‟s country is played.
6.The closing ceremony gives athletes a chance to break the ranks and mingle with each other.
Ceremonies
The Olympic Games have always included a number of ceremonies, many of which emphasize the themes of international friendship and peaceful co-operation. The opening ceremony has always included the parade of nations, in which the teams from each nation enter the main stadium as part of a procession. The Greek team always enters first, to "commemorate the ancient origins of the modern Games ", and the team of the host nation always enters last. The opening ceremony has evolved over the years into a complex extravaganza, with music, speeches, and pageantry.
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The torch relay, in which the Olympic Flame symbolizes the transmission of Olympic ideals from ancient Greece to the modern world, was introduced as part of the opening ceremony at the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin. In the relay the torch is lit in Olympia, Greece, and is carried over several weeks or months to the Host City by a series of runners. After the last runner has lit the Olympic Cauldron in the main Olympic stadium, the host country's head of state declares the Games officially open, and doves are released to symbolize the hope of world peace.
Two other important ceremonial innovations had appeared earlier at the 1920 Games in Antwerp, Belgium. The Olympic Flag, with its five interlocking rings of different colours against a white background, was flown for the first time. The five rings represent unity among the nations of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Another innovation occurring in 1920 was the first reciting of the Olympic Oath, taken in the name of all the athletes by a member of the host's team. The oath asserts "the athletes' commitment to the ideals of sportsmanship in competition".
Medal ceremonies are also an important part of the Modern Games. After each individual event during the Games, medals are awarded in a ceremony to the first-, second-, and third-place finishers. The ceremony occurs after each event, when these competitors mount a podium to receive gold (actually gold-plated), silver (silver-plated), and bronze medals. While the national flags of all three competitors are hoisted, the national anthem of the winner's country is played. Some critics have suggested that because the medal ceremony seems to contradict the IOC's vow to internationalism, these national symbols should be replaced by the hoisting of the Olympic Flag and the playing of the official Olympic Hymn.
Originally there was another parade of nations during the closing ceremonies of the Games. At the end of the 1956 Summer Games in Melbourne, Australia, the athletes broke ranks and mingled together to celebrate the occasion, and this custom is continued throughout subsequent games. After the athletes join in the main Olympic stadium in celebration, the president of the IOC invites the athletes and spectators to meet again at the site of the next Games. The IOC president then declares the Games officially over, and the Olympic Flame is extinguished.
Answer the questions:
1.How is the opening ceremony organized? What are the essential elements of the opening ceremony?
2.Why do you think the organizers of the Olympic Games have been upholding a tradition of torch relay for more than seven decades? What does the Olympic Flame represent?
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3.Which significant ceremonial innovations were introduced by Belgians in 1920? What does each symbolize?
4.How are medal ceremonies held?
5.What are the important parts of the closing ceremony?
Read the text and answer the questions. Before reading work in small groups and help each other to guess the meaning of the highlighted words. Use your dictionaries if necessary. Make a summary of the text and compare it with the summary of your partner.
Political turmoil
Although they were founded as part of a vision of world peace, once the modern Olympic Games became a truly important international event they also became a stage for political disputes. The most controversial Olympics were the Berlin Games of 1936.
The IOC had voted in 1931 to hold these Games in Berlin, before IOC members could have known that the Nazi movement would soon control the country. When it became known in the early 1930s that under the rule of the Nazis, German Jewish athletes were being barred from the 1936 German team which was in violation of the Olympic Charter, many Americans demanded a boycott of the 1936 Games. The boycott movement failed because Avery Brundage, head of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) at the time, was convinced by German officials that "Jewish athletes would be permitted to try out for the German team". In fact, only two Jewish athletes were named to the 1936 German Olympic team, and both were of mixed religious backgrounds.
There have been several boycotts of the Olympics by various countries. In 1956 the Egyptian, Lebanese, and Iraqi teams boycotted the Melbourne Games to protest the invasion of Egypt by the United Kingdom, France, and Israel that had occurred earlier that year. Major boycotts of the Olympics occurred in 1976, 1980, and 1984. In 1976 many African nations demanded that New Zealand be excluded from the Montreal Games because its rugby team had played against South Africa, then under the rule of supporters of apartheid, the official policy of racial segregation followed in that country from 1948 to the early 1990s. When the IOC resisted the demands of the African countries with the argument that rugby was not an Olympic sport, athletes from 28 African nations were called home by their governments.
The issue in the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Games was the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 by the USSR. Although American President Jimmy
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Carter forced the USOC to refuse the invitation to attend the Moscow Games, many other NOCs defied their governments' requests that they boycott the Games. Once Carter acted to spoil the Moscow Games and after 62 nations did boycott the Games it became clear that the USSR and its allies would retaliate with another boycott at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Although Romania did send a team to Los Angeles, 16 of the USSR's other allies boycotted the Los Angeles Games.
From the 1940s to the 1980s, the IOC also had to deal with the political problems caused by divided nations. One example was the dilemma concerning the Chinese Olympic team, which developed in 1949 after the political division of China into the People's Republic of China on the mainland and the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan. The issue was whether the Chinese people would be represented by a team from the mainland or by a team from Taiwan. In 1952 the IOC decided to invite both Chinas, but this decision led to decades of boycott by the government of mainland China, which did not send a team to the Olympics until the Lake Placid Games in 1980.
Another political issue arose in 1949, because of the formal political division of Germany that year into East Germany and West Germany. This division created the question of whether there was to be one German team or two. The IOC tried to solve this problem by insisting on a combined German team. Negotiations lasted several years, and this solution was first tested at the Melbourne Games in 1956; it lasted until the Munich Games in 1972, for which two teams were formed. There continued to be two German teams until 1992, by which time the countries had reunited.
The IOC also had to cope with racial segregation in South Africa. The IOC voted in 1968 to exclude the South African team from Olympic competition in order to bring pressure on the government to give up its policy of apartheid. The South Africans were not readmitted until the Barcelona Games in 1992-by which time apartheid had been discontinued.
Violence has also occurred at the Olympic Games. In the midst of the 1972 Munich Games the Olympic movement experienced its most tragic hour. A band of Palestinian terrorists made their way into the Olympic village, murdered two members of the Israeli team, and took nine hostages. When the IOC, meeting in emergency session, learned that a gunfight had broken out and that all nine hostages were dead, along with five of the terrorists, the Games were suspended for a day. The IOC's controversial decision to resume the Games that year was endorsed by the Israeli government.
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Answer the following questions:
1.How do Olympic Games interrelate with politics?
2.Why were some Olympic Games boycotted? Was a boycott an effective measure to influence the decisions of the governments?
Read the text and answer the questions.
Recent developments
Having survived a century of warfare and political turmoil, the Olympic Games have become very successful in recent years, gaining more popularity and generating more money than ever before. A great deal of this popularity and wealth is due to the development of satellite communications and global telecasts. Not only can more and more people see the Games, but the opportunity developed to sell television rights to the Games for hundreds of millions of dollars.
With their share of this income, organizing committees can now stage spectacular Games without fear of the huge indebtedness incurred by Montreal's organizing committee in 1976. With more money, the IOC can also subsidize the development of sports in less affluent nations. In return for their money, however, television networks have gained a strong influence on when, where, and how the Olympics will take place. The Olympic movement has also become dependent on multinational corporations, who pay millions of dollars to become official sponsors of the game and to use Olympic symbols in their advertisements. This has led to the mass commercialization of the Olympic movement.
An increasingly serious problem is the use of performance-enhancing drugs, especially anabolic steroids and the human growth hormone by Olympic athletes. These drugs are banned but have nevertheless been used by athletes who feel that they must resort to them if they are to compete at the Olympic level. After the reunification of Germany in the 1990s came proof of what many observers had long suspected: for more than 20 years
East Germany‟s NOC had systematically administered performanceenhancing drugs to its elite athletes. Since 1968 the IOC has dealt with the problem with a committee whose responsibility it is to detect and punish those who relied on banned drugs. Due to these efforts many Olympic athletes have been caught and have had their Olympic eligibility suspended, but the use of drugs has not been eradicated. For example, at the 2002 Winter Games three Russian skiers were disqualified, and two stripped of their medals, after they tested positive for a prohibited substance.
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After-reading tasks
1.Which developments have made Olympic Games less financially risky and more commercially viable?
2.What has led to the mass commercialization of the Olympic move-
ment?
3.Is drug-taking in sport a recent problem? What do you think are the most likely reasons for athletes using performance-enhancing drugs?
4.Will the problem of drug-taking in sport be completely eradicated in the future?
_____________________________________________________________
Exercises:
I. Fill in the gaps with the correct preposition: into, over, for, against, on, with, to (2):
1.The first ancient Olympic Games were dedicated ___ the Olympian
gods.
2.Juan Antonio Samaranch represented the IOC from 1980 to 2001. He presided ____ all its activities for 21 years.
3.One of the key functions of the IOC is to lead the fight ____doping in
sport.
4.The IOC also had to cope ______racial segregation in South Africa.
5.He received a six-month suspension ____unprofessional behaviour.
6.The museum relies ____ voluntary donations to keep open.
7.They are hoping the talks might evolve _____ a political dialogue.
8.He will be eligible ____ compete in the next Winter Games.
II. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the following verbs or their derivatives: to ban, to commemorate, to commit, to detect, to disqualify, to incur, to sponsor:
1.A huge bronze statue c____________ the poet stands in the maim square.
2.Early d____________ of disease is vital.
3.He was d_________ from the competition for cheating.
4.She was b_________ from competing for two years after failing a drugs test.
5.They are not personally liable for debts i________ by a partner.
6.The competition was s___________ by British Airways.
7.I was impressed by the energy and c________ shown by the players.
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III. Match the words with their definitions:
1. |
Eligibility |
a) the traditional features of formal |
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ceremonies, for example special |
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clothes, music, and decorations; |
2. |
Endeavour |
b) the act of saying that something is |
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illegal; |
3. |
Extravaganza |
c) having necessary qualities or fulfil- |
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ling the necessary conditions; |
4. |
Pageantry |
d) formal an attempt to do something |
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new or difficult; |
5. |
Prohibition (of) |
e) a large and impressive celebration |
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or event. |
IV. Read the following comments on the decision of the IOC to award China the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, which was followed by the storm of criticism. Who supported the decision and who was it sharply criticized by? What arguments were provided for/against the decision?
Beijing – a fitting Olympic host?
The International Olympic Committee have announced that Beijing will host the 2008 Olympic Games. There has been much debate over whether China, with a poor human rights record, should stage the prestigious sporting event. Is Beijing the best choice?
Beijing, host of the 2008 Olympic Games, beat off competition from Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka. Having joined the Olympic movement in 1979, China has sealed a successful bid at the second time of asking – having been beaten by Sydney for the 2000 Games. This time, Beijing was the front runner but controversy has stirred over China's human rights record, and whether the IOC are right to hand them the opportunity. IOC members were encouraged to vote on a city's preparation and technical ability to host the event.
So, is Beijing the best choice? Should their ability to host the sporting showpiece override political considerations?
China has finally won the right to stage the Games and the country was overwhelmed in jubilation when the winner was announced. The Games will act as a catalyst to the improvements of human rights in China. What is more, it will provide many jobs and the economy will grow faster. By the
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year 2008 a more democratic and modern China will welcome the people from all over the world. Han, China
As a Tibetan exile that was kicked out of my country nearly 50 years ago, I feel utterly devastated by this award. I cannot believe that the IOC can reward nepotism, brutality and savage occupation. The IOC has once again proved that human rights are only a side issue when it comes to a mul- ti-billion dollar business venture. Will humanity ever come to our aid?
Dorje K., Dharmasala, India
If human rights are really an issue, why was Moscow awarded the Games in 1980? Do you really think that the former USSR had an excellent human rights record? I do not agree with many policies of the Chinese Government, but we should not deny the Chinese people their rights to host the Olympics. Kent, USA
That the brutal regime that is the Communist Party of China is rewarded with the Olympics is sick beyond belief. Persecuting the followers of Falun Gong, committing genocide in Tibet and continuing to suppress the Uygurs is obviously acceptable to the majority of the IOC and indeed supported. Once again respect, tolerance and promotion of common human decency has lost out to the dollar. Patrick Smith, United Kingdom
Keep politics out of sport. If we're going to look at countries' human rights records, how about Japan's treatment of ethnic Koreans, how about America's attitude towards capital punishment? It's ultimately a sporting event. Keep it that way! David Gatenby, Germany
I have family working in China. The ordinary Chinese people are wonderful. Most have a very poor quality of life. I think it will be very good for them to experience something like this, although most won't see the games because they don't have televisions! Don't penalize the masses just because of government's policies. China will go all out to impress the rest of the world and will turn on something really special! Gaynor, New Zealand
If our political leaders still engage with China why should we be surprised at this decision? To use the games to try and make a point regarding human rights issues seems to me rather bizarre when we continue to politically interact with China. If we wish to do something positive about their appalling human rights record it must be on all fronts not just the sporting one. Elaine Smith, UK
The whole idea of the Olympic Games is that it's a non-political sporting event that is trying to unite the people of the world through competitive sports. The Games should go to the Asian continent in 2008 – why should the entire continent be penalized for the political decisions of one country?
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North America and Canada have had their turn so it's time for another continent to host the games! Donni Masters, Stratford, UK
Well done to China. Regardless of politics, it was time for this part of the world to have them. We seem to like to use politics as an excuse to keep Olympics in the western world – and that's discriminatory and wrong.
Neil Smith, Scot in Canada
I am appalled to hear the news. If the Olympics stand for anything, it is human endeavour, and the record of the Chinese government in oppressing both its own citizens and the citizens of occupied Tibet and Sinjiang is disgusting. As usual, the ideals that the Olympic movement claims to stand for, have been set aside for base commercial reasons. Richard Carter, UK
There's no way China should have been awarded the Games. They have an appalling record on human rights and it wasn't that long ago that most of the Chinese swimmers and divers were being disqualified for taking banned substances. Toronto would have been a far better choice. The Games would have been held in a city with great facilities and with no political undertones. I can already see the 2008 games will be affected by boycotts.
Paul Jeffries, Canada
Congratulations China! I am very pleased to see the games go to a nation that has never hosted them before. About the human rights record; hopefully that will be history and China will improve as a result of this. I believe the Olympic movement is a positive influence on the human race, promoting peace, friendship and conflict through sport not war! Let's see the Games hosted in Africa next. Saki, Canada
V.Read the following text and find the words which mean:
1.To be in the highest position in a list because you are
the most successful;
2.the difference in the number of votes, points etc that exists between the winners and the losers of a competition or election;
3.to work hard in order to improve something;
4.to organize an event in order to show good qualities of a person, organization, product etc;
5.to organize all the people or things that you need in order to be ready for a battle, election etc;
6. to get something such as respect or attention because you do something well or are important or popular.
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