Unit 7 sports Text a. Sports in our life

Thousands of people go in for sports, because sports help us to keep in good health. The most popular sports in our country are field-and-track athletics, football, volleyball, basketball, ice hockey, gymnastics, skiing, and skating. There are lots of stadiums, sport clubs, and sport grounds in our country. If you want to keep fit, you must take up one kind of sport or another.

Sport is an essential part of my daily life. Every morning all the year round I do morning exercises. Almost every day I do some training. In summer I go swimming and rowing. Usually I spend my winter holidays in the country where I ski, skate or toboggan.

Nearly all students of our Uni spend much time going in for sport. First of all we have our physical training lessons. From time to time, competitions are organized between faculties in football, volleyball, basketball or chess.

Russian people have always paid much attention to sport. Sport keeps people fit and healthy and makes them better disciplined in their daily activities.

Numerous kinds of sports, both winter and summer, are popular in the Russian Federation. Millions of citizens of Russia engage in some sporting activities and even in competitions. Physical Training is a subject on the curriculum of schools and universities. You can hardly find a school or a college without sports grounds. Sports facilities are available at any university or other higher educational establishments.

Sports in this country have traditionally been divided into amateur and professional. The core of professional sports are sporting societies. Millions, from beginners to champions, are members of sporting clubs and societies. There is a number of national sports societies like the Spartak or the Dynamo which have their local brunch clubs throughout the country. Youngsters from the age of 7 to 18 are trained in sports schools which are run by the major sports clubs. The schools cover a wide range of sports, from track-and-field and calisthenics to boxing.

Since their debut at the Helsinki Olympic Games, Russia has been a participant of all the Olympiads. Russian sportsmen and sportswomen have collected numerous gold, silver and bronze medals. Numerous Olympic and world records have been broken and are still held.

There are sports clubs at many enterprises and offices. Many of them are fee-paying, but the membership fee is moderate. At these and other amateur clubs and fitness and shaping centers people go in for aerobics, yoga, body-building, swimming, skating, table and lawn tennis, chess, jogging, and winter swimming. Participation in sports in this country is massive by any standards.

Exercise 1.

Memorize the following words and phrases.

daily activities повседневные дела

competition соревнование

a subject on the curriculum предмет в программе

sports ground спортплощадка

sports facilities спортивные сооружения

to be available иметься

amateur любительский

core основа

a sporting society спортивное общество

a local branch club местное отделение

youngster молодой человек

to run руководить

to cover охватывать

a wide range большое количество

track-and-field лёгкая атлетика

calisthenics художественная гимнастика

participant участник

to break records устанавливать рекорды

to hold a record удерживать рекорд

fee-paying платный

membership fee членский взнос

moderate умеренный

Exercise 2.

Answer the following questions.

1. Why is sport so important for the daily activities of people?

2. Is sport popular in our country?

3. What proves the popularity of sports in this country?

4. What is the core of professional sports in this country?

5. How does the system of sporting clubs work?

6. What proves that Russia is an active participant of the Olympic movement?

7. What sporting activities do people go in for at the amateur clubs and fit centers?

8. What kinds of sport do you know?

9. What sport do you go in for?

10. Why are you fond of it?

11. Are you interested in tennis?

12. Have you ever taken part in any sport competitions?

13. Can you drive a car or a motor-cycle?

14. What are the main sporting events in the ASU?

15. Who is our best swimmer, chess player, high jumper?

16. Do you play football or any other “ball” game?

17. What is your favorite football team?

18. Do you cheer for Dynamo, Spartak, Locomotive or TsSKA?

19. Which Dynamo football players do you like best?

20. Who is the chief coach of the team?

21. When did you see a football match last?

22. What was the score?

23. Who scored the first point?

Exercise 3.

Find the pairs of synonyms in the two columns.

1. Olympics 2. to exercise 3. play, n 4. to take part 5. championship 6. match 7. to play sport 8. to do tennis 9. recreation 10. sports facilities 11. boxing competition 12. hiking 13. fitness class 14. aerobic group 15. program 16. to ban 17. to root 18. athlete 19. to beat 20. division 21. win, n 22. goalkeeper 23. to tie 24. kick-off 25. fans 26. rival

a) opponent b) supporters c) start, n d) to draw e) goalie f) victory g) league h) to defeat i) sportsman j) to shout about k) to make illegal l) calendar m) Olympiad n) to train o) game p) to participate q) tournament r) meet, n s) to do sport t) to take up tennis u) rest v) sports equipment w) boxing match x) shaping group y) wellness class z) backpacking

Exercise 4.

Ask your groupmate:

- what kinds of sports s/he knows;

• what sport s/he goes in for;

• if s/he has enough time to do sport;

• why people engage in sport;

• what his/her favorite sport team is;

• if s/he is interested in swimming;

• if s/he drives a car;

• if s/he smokes;

• if s/he goes to the stadium to see a football match;

• if s/he watches sports games on TV;

• if s/he belongs to any sport club;

• who his/her favorite sportsmen or sportswomen are;

• when the Sochi Winter Olympiad will begin.

Exercise 5.

Translate into English.

1. Миллионы людей занимаются тем или иным видом спорта, так как спорт помогает им держаться в хорошей форме.

2. Спорт входит в программу школ и вузов.

3. Спортивные площадки и другие спортивные сооружения есть в любой школе или университете.

4. Основу профессионального спорта составляет сеть спортивных клубов и обществ.

5. Общенациональные спортивные общества имеют местные отделения в разных городах страны.

6. Детские спортивные школы управляются спортивными обществами.

7. Дети и молодые люди проходят подготовку в целом ряде видов спорта – художественной гимнастике, лёгкой атлетике, плавании, боксе и т.д.

8. Членские взносы в спортивных клубах при предприятиях и организациях умеренные.

9. В любительских спортивных клубах люди занимаются различными видами спорта, это помогает им сохранять хороший тонус и быть более организованными в повседневных делах.

10. Многие студенты занимаются спортом и любят смотреть спортивные соревнования на стадионе или по телевизору.

11. В России хорошо развиты многие виды спорта, такие как лёгкая атлетика, футбол, фигурное катание, плавание.

12. В каждом университете есть спортзал, стадион или плавательный бассейн.

13. Заниматься спортом на открытом воздухе значит укреплять и закаливать организм.

14. Большое внимание уделяется водным видам спорта: прыжкам в воду, парусным гонкам, гребле и рафтингу.

15. Российские спортсмены принимают участие в международных регатах.

16. На Олимпийских играх мы завоевали много золотых, серебряных и бронзовых медалей.

17. Международные соревнования часто транслируют по радио и ТВ.

18. Многие болельщики смотрят прямые трансляции со стадионов нашей страны и из-за рубежа.