Marathons
Many Americans enjoy running marathons – a forty-two kilometer race. More than three hundred marathons were held in the United States last year and that number is expected to grow.
The New York City marathon is held every year on the first Sunday of November. It is a big sporting event with thousands of participants. One can see celebrities and famous sportsmen among the marathon runners. A famous cyclist, whose excellent physical condition helped him complete the marathon in less than three hours, admitted that the race was ‘the hardest physical thing he had ever done’.
While the New York City marathon is the biggest, the Boston Marathon is the oldest one. Boston’s is held in April. Boston is famous for the fact that Roberta Gibb became the first woman to unofficially run that marathon in 1966. At that time, people did not believe women could run marathons. The Olympics did not hold a women’s marathon event until 1984 in Los Angeles, California.
Today’s marathons welcome everyone. The popularity of the sport has spread among people who are interested in health and fitness. Many middle-aged people like to spend a weekend visiting a new city and running a marathon there. Some magazines call the middle-aged people of today the ‘marathon generation’. Forty-three percent of marathon runners in the United States are 40 years old or older. There are many organisations for marathoners. Nowadays many local running clubs offer training programmes that can prepare runners for the big race.
A marathon really starts several months before the race. You need to run about five days every week to prepare. Most runs should be for half an hour. You should also try to run for an hour or more each Sunday. This is a very basic way for an average runner to prepare.
What you can’t prepare for is running in a big marathon with thousands of other participants. A marathon is in many ways a social event. There is a sense of community. The spectators are as much a part of the race as the runners. Almost every age group is present. At the start of the race there is a lot of shouting as the runners want to release some tension. They have three to five hours of hard running ahead of them.
However, there are people who want to run farther. For them ultra-marathons are organised that take running to a different level. An ultra-marathon is any race longer than a marathon. One of the oldest ultra-marathons is held annually in California, USA. It is 160 kilometers long. Last year, 210 people finished the race. The winner, Graham Cooper, finished in eighteen hours and seventeen minutes.
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| Marathons in the USA are held in different seasons. | |||||||||
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| In the 20th century doctors believed that marathons were harmful for women. | |||||||||
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| People who are over forty are not allowed to take part in marathons. | |||||||||
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| The best way to prepare for a marathon is to join a running club. | |||||||||
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| Training for a marathon includes special diets. | |||||||||
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| At the start of a marathon the runners keep silent to save energy. | |||||||||
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| A marathon with a large number of participants is called an ultra-marathon. | |||||||||
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# 21 (3D4ABC)
Nike
Take a look around. How many people are wearing Nike right now? There is at least one, trust me. Nike is the number one manufacturer of footwear and clothes, and it has become a world famous brand on the same level as Coca Cola, McDonald’s, and Apple.
Nike was originally known as Blue Ribbon Shoes. It was founded in 1964 by the runner Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman. They established the company to import cheap Japanese running shoes for sale in the U.S. At the very beginning they had no room or shop, so Philip Knight sold the shoes out of the back of his car. Meanwhile Bill Bowerman worked on improvements to the footwear. He tore the shoes apart to see how he could make them lighter and better.
In 1967 a third person joined Blue Ribbon Shoes. It was Jeff Johnson. A runner himself, Johnson became the first full-time employee of Blue Ribbon Shoes. His contribution to the company is so great that it's hard to estimate. Johnson created the first product brochures, print adverts and marketing materials, and even took the photographs for the company’s catalogues. He established a mail-order system and opened the first company shop.
At about the same time the company became ready to take a big move forward. They no longer wanted to be distributors, but wished to start designing and manufacturing their own brand of athletic shoes. Here again Johnson made an enormous contribution to the company. One night, he dreamed of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, and suggested the name to his bosses.
Yet, another thing was missing – a memorable logo. One was created by a graphic design student Carolyn Davidson. She had become acquainted with Philip Knight who asked her for her design ideas and Carolyn agreed to do some freelance work for his company. Soon she presented a number of designs to Philip Knight and the other company managers, and they finally selected the mark which today is the Swoosh. That has been the Nike logo ever since then. Amazingly, Carolyn asked just $35 for her work.
In 1988 Nike started an advertising campaign with its world famous slogan 'Just Do It'. The slogan was born during a Nike meeting with the advertising agency. The slogan has become so closely associated with Nike that as soon as most people hear or see those three words, they remember Nike, even if the company name is not mentioned. Today, the words 'Just Do It' and the Nike "swoosh" brandmark are all that are needed to identify something as a Nike product.
Isn't it amazing how a small symbol we call a logo can make a company into a huge success!
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| The business was founded by Japanese businessmen. | |||||||||
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| The business started with renting a large shop. | |||||||||
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| P.Knight, B.Bowerman and J.Johnson were responsible for different spheres of the business in the company. | |||||||||
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| Famous athletes were employed to advertise the company’s shoes. | |||||||||
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| The company Nike was called after a character from an ancient myth. | |||||||||
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| Nike’s logo was created by a famous advertising company. | |||||||||
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| The Nike company paid a large amount of money for creating the slogan ‘Just Do It’. | |||||||||
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# 29 (A27356)
Running the Thames
Three friends Alan, Tom and Martin decided to run 184 miles along the most famous British river – from the beginning of the Thames down to its mouth, where the river runs into the sea.
Their preparations for the marathon didn’t take long and they set out. It was not easy to find the place marked on the map as the official source of the river Thames. In reality, it was an old stone under a big tree. Surprisingly, there was practically no water at the source, just a small pit. However, at the end of the first day they came to a narrow stream running under a wooden bridge.
The runners were lucky with the weather; it was cool and bright for the whole week. Soft winds blew and the sun shone. In spite of the weather, the start of the marathon was not very promising. On the first day, Martin accidentally fell over a tree root and hurt his foot. In addition to that, Alan said he had damaged his rucksack during their preparation. However, the friends went on running.
They passed lovely houses and some wonderful nature. The Thames had grown from a small river into a strong stream. Hypnotised by the view of the river, Tom missed the path and fell into the mud. Cold and angry, he was a real trouble the first day. In the evening, the runners reached the point where the river became possible to navigate. The friends were so tired that they stopped at a cheap hotel for food, drink and sleep.
The second day they ran along arched stone bridges and through forty-five river locks1, each one having its own history. The runners stopped at the first lock to take a photo by the 19th century statue of Old Father Thames. The other locks and the bridges, dating from the 13th century, could have told much about British royal families, writers and inventors, battles and victories. So the runners spent the second day exploring the locks and the old bridges and taking photos.
The next few days Alan, Tom and Martin ran through quiet and peaceful places in Oxfordshire. The calm river occupied all their thoughts and they left their troubles behind them. They spent nights at small Bed-and-Breakfasts with unusual foreign guests who were discovering the old British towns, castles and churches.
Closer to London the Thames changed its character. It became wide and busy with numerous boats and ships. The banks were full of grand houses with green lawns, street markets and modern walkways.
On the seventh day the runners followed the river as it cut the capital in two. The friends made their way past famous London sights such as The Tower, The London Eye and Greenwich.
Finally, the friends got to The Thames Barrier, where the river ran into the sea. The marathon was over.
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| There was a natural mark which indicated the start of the river Thames. | |||||||||
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| During the marathon the weather was fine. | |||||||||
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| After the accident with Martin’s leg, Tom carried his rucksack. | |||||||||
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| The friends spent all their nights in the tent. | |||||||||
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| The friends learnt lots of historical facts from the lock-keepers. | |||||||||
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| Near London the Thames was closed to navigation. | |||||||||
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| Their marathon route went through the centre of London. | |||||||||
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# 47 (200A06)
Sports in Great Britain
It is interesting how many of today’s sports games originated in Britain – football, rugby, tennis, boxing, rowing and horse racing among them. Of course, horse racing was popular with the Greeks and Arabs long before the British began to put them into practice; and people had been playing football in one form or another for thousands of years all over the world. But it was the British who created special rules for these sports and sports games.
Football is a good example. In the Middle Ages people in Europe, Japan and Asia all played some forms of the game. A sort of football was also very popular in England, especially as a contest between villages. But at that time there were very few rules. When the students of English schools started to play football, rules then became necessary. They were changed several times and by the middle of the 19th century football had become very much the game that we know and like today. By the way, the first serious football rules were written at Cambridge University.
A similar story can be told about some other sports. Why did this happen in Britain before other countries? There are some possible explanations: after the Norman invasion of 1066, Britain was quite a peaceful country. As a result people had time to develop sports. Later, after Britain’s industrial revolution, English factories were based on highly organized work and strict time keeping. The same discipline was applied to sport. So uniforms, referees and punishments were introduced to football and other games. British authorities thought that team games were good training for future military and industrial careers.
Every country has its own list of favourite sports. What is the British list? There are lots of games apart from football. Schoolgirls, for example, play a game which seems a lot like basketball. It is called netball. Netball is different from basketball in many details: for example, the ball is lighter, the court is bigger and netball has seven players in each team (not five). There is something very strange about netball – it is never played by boys. There is no biological reason for this, it is simply a tradition. It is popular throughout the English-speaking world, and the Australians and New Zealanders usually win the competitions.
But the most famous and popular British sport is cricket. Cricket is an important part of English summer life. You can watch it all day on TV or even listen to it on the radio. News programmes keep you up-to-date with the score. Men, when they meet, always exchange a few words about the state of the game.
One of cricket’s distinguishing features is that the games are very long. In an ordinary game at a boys’ school it takes up to a whole afternoon. But the big international games are up to five days long.
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| The rules for modern football were created in Great Britan. | |||||||||
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| All the students had to play football and other team games at British schools. | |||||||||
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| Basketball and netball are the same game under different names. | |||||||||
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| Netball was invented in a British boarding school for girls. | |||||||||
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| Teams from Great Britain always win the international netball competitions. | |||||||||
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| The British mass media pay lots of attention to cricket. | |||||||||
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| According to the rules, a game of cricket lasts no longer than an hour and a half. | |||||||||
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# 58 (4E23E2)
David Beckham
David Beckham – is there a more famous and lovable celebrity? The footballer who played for such famous teams as Manchester United and Real Madrid is also a fashion model and a successful businessman.
David Beckham was born on May 2, 1975, in London, England. His father Ted Beckham was a kitchen fitter and his mother Sandra, a hair stylist. David Beckham was the family's only son. A middle child between two sisters, David grew up with parents and relatives who were great fans of Manchester United, England's legendary football club. From childhood, David was a promising footballer. At 11 he won the prestigious Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools National Skills Competition. David was noticed by Manchester United team officials, who asked him to try out for the club's youth league. By the age of 16, Beckham had to drop out of school. He left home to play for his favourite team. Two years later he became a full-time player for Manchester United and one of its leading figures.
From 1992 to 2003, playing for Manchester United, David Beckham scored 85 goals. Every time he had a game, he wore different football boots – it was a sort of ritual for good luck. In 2003, David unexpectedly left his beloved team for Real Madrid. The reason was the growing conflict between David Beckham and Manchester's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Once Sir Alex Ferguson fined David for babysitting with his sick child, while his wife Victoria, a designer, was at a London Fashion Week Event. The fine was really large. The incident caused a serious personal tension between the two men and ended in Beckham moving to the other club.
In Real Madrid, David Beckham was not allowed to wear his favourite number seven, because the right to wear it was written into the contract of another player. Instead, David decided to wear a shirt with number 23, which was the number of his favourite basketball player Michael Jordan. Though David Beckham immediately became very popular with the Real Madrid fans and his shirt sales made a lot of money for the football club, the team didn’t win any serious tournaments. Perhaps, it was one of the reasons why in 2007 Beckham signed a five-year contract to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy and moved to America. However, his career in America was a rocky one – numerous injuries affected him. In May 2013, David Beckham announced his plans to retire.
It’s important to say that David Beckham has always been a devoted husband and a loving father. David and his wife Victoria have three sons and a daughter. They say the boys are being trained as ‘bodyguards’ for their little sister Harper. The youngest, Cruz, has been practicing Taekwondo, Brooklyn is interested in boxing, and the oldest, Romeo, does karate. They are preparing early so that when Harper is older, “they will all be ready to protect her from noisy fans,” David says.
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| David Beckham promised his sisters he would become a great footballer. | |||||||||
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| David Beckham started his career in the club his parents supported. | |||||||||
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| When he was with Manchester United, David Beckham played all the games in the same lucky boots. | |||||||||
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| David Beckham left Manchester United because he had problems with the team manager. | |||||||||
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| David Beckham wore the same number in Manchester United and Real Madrid. | |||||||||
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| David Beckham left Real Madrid for an American football club. | |||||||||
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| The Beckhams’ sons want to become professional sportsmen. | |||||||||
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# 73 (6C5535)
The Winter Olympic Games
Originated by the ancient Greeks, the Olympic Games are the leading international sporting event. The games were revived by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, and the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.
The Winter Olympic Games were not a part of the modern Olympics when they started. They were played separately as the Nordic Games. The Nordic Games were the first international sporting event that focused primarily on sports played in winter. A person called Victor Balck, a close friend of Pierre de Coubertin, organised the first Nordic Games. It was Victor’s idea to include winter games in the Olympics.
However, only in 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games were held as a separate event in Chamonix, France. Athletes competed in 16 events in six different sports. The Games were held from 1924 until 1936, after which they were interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and were arranged every four years.
In 1994, it was decided to hold the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different years. So in fact, we can watch the Olympic Games once every two years. First, the Summer Games, then, in two years, the Winter Games, and two years after the Summer Games again. So one set of Olympic Games, summer or winter, is held every two years.
As time went on more sports were introduced to the Winter Olympiad. Nowadays there are fifteen sport disciplines, four of them are indoor sports: curling, figure skating, speed skating and ice hockey.
The Winter Olympics have been hosted in 19 cities in different countries. Some cities have arranged the main international winter sporting event several times: Lake Placid (the USA), Innsbruck (Austria), St Moritz (Switzerland). But the Winter Olympic Games have never been held in Africa, Australia, South America or Antarctica.
In 2014, Sochi, Russia was the host of the XXII Winter Olympic Games. A total of 98 events in 15 winter sport disciplines were held during the Games. Lots of sporting records and unique results were recorded at the Olympic Games. However, there were several records which were set during the preparation and Olympiad organization. Sochi was the first sub-tropical city that has ever organized the Winter Olympic Games. Before the start of the XXII Games in Sochi, the Olympic torch travelled the longest distance in history to some amazing places, including the North Pole, the bottom of Lake Baikal (the world’s deepest lake), the top of Mount Elbrus (Europe's highest mountain), and even into outer space. For the first time in Olympic history, a public vote was held to decide the mascots, symbols that bring good luck to the event, for the Olympics. It was decided that the mascots of the Olympic Games, would be a Leopard, a Polar Bear, and a Hare. They looked very cute and contributed to the success of the Games.
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| Victor Balck proposed to add winter sports to the list of Olympic sports. | |||||||||
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| There was more than a ten-year break in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. | |||||||||
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| The Winter Olympic Games are held every two years. | |||||||||
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| Several new sports were added to the list of the Winter Olympiad after 1924. | |||||||||
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| According to the plans, the next Winter Olympic Games will be held in Australia. | |||||||||
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| The Olympic torch visited several extreme places before the 2014 Games in Sochi. | |||||||||
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| The mascots of the XXII Olympic Games were chosen by the Olympic Committee. | |||||||||
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