Olympic Games and sports

1. Learn the words:

to allow – позволять, разрешать

to compete – состязаться, соревноваться

a ring – кольцо

to host – устраивать (Олимпийские игры), принимать гостей

Olympic torch – олимпийский факел

ancient – древний

to be closely related – быть очень тесно связанным

the bid – заявка

competition – соревнование

fierce – свирепый, лютый, сильный

prosperity – процветание

rebirth – возобновление, возрождение

to be admitted – получать право, быть допущенным

to participate – участвовать

events – события

let alone – не говоря уже о..

relatively – относительно

addition – дополнение, добавление

to include – заключать, содержать в себе; включать

union – объединение, союз

at least – по крайней мере

to reinstate – восстанавливать (в прежнем положении), в правах

the opening ceremony – церемония открытия

the torch relay – эстафета передачи факела

a lit torch – зажженный факел

venue – разг. место сбора, встречи; зд. место проведения спортивного состязания (место проведения Олимпийских игр)

to involve – включать в себя (in), подразумевать

to charter – заказывать, нанимать

a short swim underwater – короткий заплыв под водой

enormous – огромный

a steady increase – постоянное увеличение

anthem – гимн

topped the charts – занимал первое место в таблицах (популярности)

to estimate – насчитывать приблизительно; оценивать

to televise – транслировать

to claim – заявлять

successful – успешный

spectators – зрители

exceeding – превышающий

the location – размещение; определение места (игр)

the rewards – награды

lucrative contacts – прибыльные (выгодные, доходные) контакты

a new lease of life – изменения, которые делают город более современным

contributions – вклад; пожертвование, взнос

disruption – разрушение

2. Read these statements about the Olympics and decide if they are true (T) or false (F).

1. Originally women were not officially allowed to compete in the modern Olympics.

2. The Olympic emblem with the five rings first appeared in 1913.

3. Individual cities host the Olympics

4. The Olympic torch has always been part of the games.

5. In the ancient games both men and women could compete.

6. Plans are underway to build a purpose built Olympic stadium.

3. Now read the text and check your answers:

Every city tells a story.

The history of the Olympic games has always been closely related to the city that holds it. This is because it’s the city not the country, that makes the bid to hold the Olympic Games. Understandably, the competition to hold the Olympics is fierce as it can bring great prestige and prosperity to the city.

From its rebirth in Athens in 1896 to the present day, the modern Olympic Games have gone through many changes. Women were not officially admitted to the Olympics until the Stockholm games of 1912, thought they had participated in some events before then. In the ancient games in Greece, women were not even allowed to watch the games, let alone take part.

The Olympic emblem is also a relatively new addition to the game. The first emblem was designed in 1913, although the five rings weren’t included until the Antwerp games of 1920. The five rings represent the union of the five continents of the world and the colours were chosen because at least one of the five colours exists in every flag of the world’s nations.

The Olympic torch, which had been part of the ancient games, was reinstated as part of the opening ceremony in the 1928 games in Amsterdam. The idea of the torch relay (carrying a lit torch from Greece to the next Olympic venue) was introduced in the Berlin games of 1936. The relay included some 3,000 runners who carried the torch from Greece to Germany, crossing a total of seven countries. The relay to Sydney was far more complex and involved keeping the flame alight 30,000 feet above the earth on a specially chartered transcontinental flight as well as on a short swim underwater.

The Berlin games also saw the first live television transmission of the event and during the next 30 years of the Olympics there was an enormous growth in its popularity with a steady increase both in the number of sports included and the number of countries participating.

The 1990 also saw the massive commercialization of the Olympics. In 1992, during the opening ceremony of the Barcelona games, Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballé sang an Olympic anthem which topped the charts in many countries. The Atlanta games in 1996 had an estimated TV audience of 2.3 billion people a day and in 1995 NBC paid 1.2 billion dollars to televise the Olympic Games in Sydney. Many claim that the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney were the most successful ever. Attendances reached record levels, with the numbers of spectators at some athletic events often exceeding 100,000.

The process of choosing the location for an Olympic event has become increasingly competitive over the past three decades as the rewards for staging such an event can bring lucrative contacts and investment to the areas concerned as well as bringing a new lease of life to the city. However it is also becoming much more difficult to host the event as the number and variety of sports grows along with the number of contestants and spectators. It has been suggested that it might be worth establishing an Olympic city, purpose built to host the games and paid for with contributions from all the participating nations. The big problem of course would be to decide where this city should be built. So at present it looks like the games will continue to travel the world, hosted by some of the world’s greatest cities and bringing in their wake both glory and disruption.

4. Answer the questions:

1. Does the country or the city hold the Olympic Games?

2. What is the main thing in choosing the location of the Olympics?

3. When were the Games revived?

4. When and what city were women officially admitted to the Olympics?

5. Were women allowed to watch the ancient games in Greece?

6. When was the Olympic torch reinstated?

7. When was the Olympic emblem designed? What does it represent?

8. How many runners did the torch relay from Greece to Germany include?

9. Who sang an Olympic anthem during the opening ceremony of the Barcelona games in 1992?

10. What city hosted the Olympics in 1996, in 2000, in 2004?

11. Why is it becoming much more difficult to host the Olympic Games now?

12. What city will host the Winter Olympic Games in 2014?

5. Complete the chart with information from the text above.

Date	City	Its story
		The first modern Olympic games took place
1912
		First Olympic emblem designed
	Amsterdam
	Berlin
1992
		Approximately 2.3 billion people watched the games on TV daily
2000

6. Read the dialogue and learn it by heart:

Ken and Josie are talking during the meal at the Panama Hat in San Diego.

Josie: Tell me, Ken, what do you like doing in your free time?

Kenji: What free time? We don’t have much free time in this job!

Josie: Oh, come on! I mean, do you like playing tennis?

Kenji: Well, yes it’s my job, but I enjoy playing tennis outside work, too. What about you?

Josie: I like doing aerobics, and I like dancing, and I love swimming!

Kenji: And tennis?

Josie: I like playing, but I’m not very good at tennis. I like watching it though.

Kenji: I can give you some lessons, if you like.

Josie: Really? That’s very kind of you.

Kenji: No problem.

7. Read the text and translate it with the help of the dictionary.

8. Read the text and translate it with the help of the dictionary.

9. Complete the texts with but, however or whereas.

1. Cross-country skiing is considered one of the best all-round sports workouts. It exercise all the main muscle groups and (a) … jogging can cause stress injuries, cross-country skiing doesn’t as the action involved is one of gliding. Swimming of course, is also considered to be a good all-round workout, (b) … it tends to overwork arm and shoulder muscles and can result in a ‘”triangular” physique. (c) … , if what you are looking for is a slim, toned silhouette, then look no further. Cross-country skiing is the sport for you.

2. My family is pretty competitive. We love playing all sorts of games, and coming first is really important. My favourite is probably Monopoly (d) … my brother prefers Risk, (e) … mum’s favourite game is Trivial Pursuit and I always want to be in her team as she always knows all the answers.

10. Read the article about Lance Armstrong. How many times did he win the Tour de France?