Задания.
1. Переведите письменно текст.
2. Выпишите 20 незнакомых слов из текста с переводом и выучите их наизусть.
3. Ответьте устно на вопросы по содержанию текста.
1) What are three major organized sports in the USA?
2) What do organized sports contain?
3) Do critics think that sports should be replaced by noncompetitive kinds of recreation?
4) What do competition mean in sports?
5) Can you name the most popular recreational sports?
6) How many people are involved in jogging?
7) What do Americans enjoy to do except sports?
The three major organized sports in the USA are football, basketball and baseball. The idea of competition is at the very heart of organized sports, learning how to win in sports helps to develop the habit necessary to compete successfully in later life, because organized sports contain some elements of hard work.
Violence in American sports has been criticized in recent years by those, who approve of sports generally, who believe that violence is corrupting it. Most of the criticism has been directed toward football, perhaps America's favorite popular sport.
A few critics believe that sports should be completely replaced by noncompetitive kinds of recreation, but Americans generally are not sympathetic to this criticism of organized sports. Competition, they believe, strengthens the national character rather than corrupt it. They believe that eliminating competition in sports and in society as a whole would lead to laziness and vice rather than hard work.
Unlike organized sports, recreation in the USA is not expected to encourage competition. Many Americans prefer recreation that require a high level of physical activity. The most popular recreational sports are: jogging, tennis, and snow skiing.
Over the last fifteen years, for example, jogging has become a popular pastime for 30 million people of all ages.Interest and participation in cultural activity have been growing rapidly in recent years. According to a report in US News and World Report Magazine, in one year 78 million Americans visited museums, 62 million attended at least one live theatre performance, and 78 million participated in some forms of artistic activity: painting, performing music, handicrafts and the like.
Americans, like people everywhere, enjoy such forms of recreation as watching television, going on picnics, visiting friends, or some other enjoyable ways of passing the time.
SPORTS IN GREAT BRITAIN
Задания.
1) Прочитайте и переведите текст на русский язык.
2) Ответьте устно на предложенные вопросы.
1. Englishmen love sport, don't they?
2. What kind of traditional sporting contests in England do you know?
3. Are there any cricket clubs in England?
4. Do the Englishmen play cricket in winter or in summer?
5. What is the most popular game in Britain?
6. Is the ball oval or round in rugby football?
7. What do you know about the International Table Tennis Association?
8. Is table tennis played by men or by women?
9. Do Englishmen like to watch games?
10. What kinds of racing are popular in England?
11. Have you read any books about sports in Great Britain?
National sports in Great Britain. This is a very interesting question, because many kinds of sport have taken their origin in England. Englishmen love sports, they are called sports-lovers in spite of the fact that some of them neither play games nor even watch them. They only like to talk about sports.
Some kinds of sport are professional in England. Popular and famous players have a lot of money. Many traditional sporting contests take place in England, for example, cricket. It is played from May till September. This game is associated with England. There are many cricket clubs in this country. English people like to play cricket. They think that summer without cricket isn't summer. Cricket is the English national sport in summer. If you want to play cricket you must wear white boots, a white shirt and long white trousers.
There are two teams. Each team has eleven players. Cricket is popular in boys' schools. Girls play cricket too.
Football. It has a long history. Football was played by the whole village teams in the Middle Ages in England. Now football is the most popular game in Britain. It is a team game. There are some amateur teams but most of the teams are professional ones in England. Professional football is a big business. Football is played at schools too. If we are talking about football we can mention an interesting fact about football in America, called soccer. The captain of the team must be the oldest or best player.
Rugby football. You can see a ball in this game but it is not round. It is oval. This is a team game. There are fifteen players in each team. It is a popular game in England. There are many amateur rugby football teams.
Table tennis. Englishmen heard about table tennis in 1880. The International Table Tennis Association was formed and international rules were worked out. Many people like to play table tennis. This game is played by men and women too. There are many tennis clubs in England but if you go and play there it is necessary to pay money for it. Englishmen like playing tennis but many of them prefer to watch this game.
Wimbledon. This is the centre of lawn tennis. Many years ago Wimbledon was a village, now it is a part of London and you can see the All-England Tennis Club there. Englishmen pay a lot of attention to swimming, rowing and walking. Usually the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race takes place at the end of March or at the beginning of April. It is an interesting contest between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It is usually held on the Thames River. The first such race was held in 1820. There were a lot of people watching this race.
There are several racing competitions in England. They are motor-car racing, dog-racing, donkey-racing, boat-racing, horse-racing. All kinds of racing are popular in England. It is interesting to see the egg-and-spoon race. The runner who takes part in this competition must carry an egg in a spoon. He is not allowed to drop the egg.
We must mention the Highland Games in Scotland. All competitors wear Highland dress. There are such competitions as putting the weight, tossing the caber and others. The British are great lovers of sports.
Задания.
1) Прочитайте и переведите текст на русский язык.
2) Подготовьте устный пересказ текста 10-12 предложений.
SPORTS IN RUSSIA
Sport has always been popular in our country. There are different sporting societies and clubs in Russia. Many of them take part in different international tournaments and are known all over the world. A great number of world records have been set by Russian sportsmen: gymnasts, weightlifters, tennis players, swimmers, figure skaters, runners, high jumpers. Our sportsmen take part in the Olympic Games and always win a lot of gold, silver and bronze medals.
Millions of people watch figure skating competitions, hockey and football matches, car races, tennis tournaments and other sports events. Certainly watching sports events and going in for sports are two different things.
In the past it was never admitted that professional sport existed in our country. The official point of view was that our sport was totally amateur. Now everybody knows that sport can be a profession and a business.
But sport can be fun as well. Besides, it helps to stay in good shape, to keep fit and to be healthy.
Doing sports is becoming more and more popular. Some people do it occasionally — swimming in summer, skiing or skating in winter — but many people go in for sports on a more regular basis. They try to find time to go to a swimming pool or a gym at least once a week for aerobics or yoga classes, body building or just work-out on a treadmill. Some people jog every morning, some play tennis.
For those who can afford it there are clubs where they give lessons of scuba diving or riding. In spring and summer young people put on their roller-skates and skate in the streets and parks.