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sports were invented in Great Britain and then spread throughout the world. Sports became popular long ago. In the 19-th century sport was organised at public schools so that young people could develop their physical abilities. But shortly afterwards the idea was borrowed by businessmen who started to organise football and other sports for their workers. From the 1960s commercial companies began to sponsor different British sports and activities. The national British sports are: football, golf, cricket, tennis, racing, darts. Like everyone else the British adore football. Moreover, the Englishmen invented it.

Isles. It is important however, that current uniform rules of the game were settled only in the 19-th century. At that time there was a great debate, whether one could use his hand to kick the ball or not. Those who wanted to permit the players to carry the ball with their hands united to form rugby. Rugby is played by teams of 15 men with an oval ball. Those who insisted on playing with feet and head only had the majority and that was the beginning of football as everybody knows it today. In Great Britain and more often in the United States football is called soccer to distinguish the game from American football, the game that has much in common with rugby.

in Great Britain. Each team consists of field players and one goalkeeper. Only the goalkeeper is permitted to take the ball into his hands. The game lasts for 90 minutes with a 15 minute break between two halves 45 minutes each. Most British towns and cities have a football team. Every year, each team in England plays in the Football Association competition. The two best teams play in the Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in London. It is one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

spread outside the British Isles. Cricket is a summer game, it is played in schools, colleges, universities. Cricket is a very long and a very slow game. There are two teams. Each team consists of eleven men. The “bowler” throws the ball, and a “batsman” hits it with his bat.

dog racing, donkey racing are very popular in England. The most famous boat racing in England is between Oxford and Cambridge. It first started in 1820 and has been held almost every spring since 1836. A lot of people come to watch this competition between England’s leading universities.

sports are ice hockey, baseball, American football and basketball. The large choice of sports in America can be explained by the variety and size of the country, its different climates and the people’s love of competitions of any type. The seasons of the “four major sports” often overlap.

same way as the rest of the world. American football is a game that does not have much in common with soccer. The players can run with a ball, touch and push each other. The field is not traditional, and even the shape of the ball is different. American football players wear helmets on their heads, because the game is very dangerous. American football teams have eleven players.

rules for a game that his students could play indoors. There are only five players in a basketball team. Usually basketball players are very tall and they show that basketball can be exciting. Ice hockey is America’s favorite winter game. It is very fast. It can be dangerous and its players wear helmets too. Other sports and activities attract millions of participants and spectators in the USA. These are swimming, tennis, marathons, bowling, cross-country skiing, skating, and badminton. Now triathlon is one of the most popular sports in the USA. It comprises swimming, bicycle racing and long-distance running.

overshadow the many sporting activities which are part of daily Russian life. School children spend their free time playing football, basketball and other sports. In winter many Russians go in for skiing and skating. There are many skating rinks in the cities.

12. Are there special “universities” for sports in the USA?

special TV channels that broadcast sports programmers for 24 hours. The major sporting competitions, such as the Olympic games, are shown on the central TV channels attracting millions of people who can be thousands of kilometers away from the event. Popularity of sports differs from country to country. In Latin America football stadiums are always crowded, while the Russian fans are so disappointed with the poor performance of our football teams that many prefer not to watch the games even on TV.

considerably. Now there is a large variety of available opportunities and facilities. Sport is the best and the shortest way to health and fitness. Increasing number of people are involved today in activities that help them keep fit and enjoy life. Physical recreation tends to be informal and non-competitive and may include, for example, cycling, boating, jogging. Dancing has become a very popular recreation. Many Russians have started learning Latin American dances, such as samba, rumba, cha­cha-cha.

sports competitions. At the same time these two kinds of activities are tightly interconnected. Professional sport is important not only for the professional athletes, one of its missions is to propagandize and popularize sports activities on the everyday level. At the same time it is always an individual preference. And only the individual has the right to decide what is better for him. But whatever the choice is, the pleasure is undoubted.

RUSSIAN CUISINE

recipes but also in the fact that it reflects a certain way of life. Russian people usually have meals three times a day. In the morning they have breakfast, in the afternoon — dinner and in the evening it's time for supper.

prepare, due to the fact that people, as a rule, are in a hurry for work, school or somewhere else. It may include just sandwiches, fried or scrambled eggs, corn flakes

at least once in your life your grandmother or mother prepared them for you. Nothing can be compared with sirniki, made of fresh village cottage cheese and fried on a pan. They are usually served with sour cream and sugar. Perhaps, the only dish which is as delicious as sirniki is blini or pancakes. In Russia they say that the thinner blini are made the tastier they are. Blini are served rolled with a variety of fillings but the most delicious ones are pancakes with jam, honey and sour cream.

day. First of all snacks are served. It can be caviar, herring, salt cucumbers and sauerkraut. All these salt dishes are served in order to excite the appetite. In general Russian cuisine is famous for its pickles.

garnish. The Russians prefer freshwater fish like carp and pike. As for meat, it may be pork, beef, veal, lamb, turkey or chicken. The most famous meat dishes in Russia are zharkoye (stewed beef with potatoes, onions, carrots and garlic seasoned with salt and pepper), beef Stroganoff (the dish consists of pieces of beef served in a sauce with sour cream) and cutlets (the dish made of minced meat). The main course is usually served with garnish — mashed, baked or fried potatoes, pasta or vegetables. Russian people often eat pelmeni (meat dumplings) for the second course. Pelmeni are often cooked by the whole family. Firstly, the filling of minced meat is made due to the particular recipe, then they roll out the pastry and after that everybody sits at the big dinner table and makes pelmeni. Sometimes the preparation of this dish takes almost the whole day. Very often people cook pelmeni for a holiday. The Russians eat everything with bread but sometimes pies are served instead of bread. These pies may be stuffed with various fillings: fish, spring onions and eggs, meat, chicken, potatoes and mushrooms. Sweet pies are served for tea. They are usually stuffed with different fresh berries or jam. Every housewife has her own cooking secret.

can gather at one table and discuss some news. Russian people usually have a substantial meal for supper. It may be fried potatoes, potatoes in their skin with herring, fried fish or chicken. But there are also people who prefer light supper such as cottage cheese with sugar or milk and jam, an apple cake called “sharlotka”, or a potato cake, or some vegetables. It will depend just on a person's preference.

Russian people are fond of gathering, drying and using mushrooms and all kinds of forest berries in their dishes.

world but tastes differ. As far as I know, people from other countries consider Russian people heavy eaters not only because of the amount of food we eat per day, but also due to its fat content. Anyway, if you are not keen on Russian cuisine, it is up to you to choose any other food.

The internationally popular French comics about Asterix the Gaul contain an episode in which he and his best friend Obelix, who is famous for eating a lot of food, go to England where the two heroes struggle to eat normally, but even Obelix cannot cope with English food which is tasteless and liberally coated with mint sauce. There is also the famous joke about the international contingents in heaven and hell: in hell the chef is an Englishman (the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French and everything is organized by the Italians; there are, of course, any number of variants on this joke).