Winter Youth Olympic Games 2020 Listening Comprehension

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Worksheet with listening comprehension by Marcus Lachmund

Winter Youth Olympic Games 2020

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Listening comprehension

1. Listen to the first part of the text. It contains 12 mistakes. Underline each wrong word, and write your corrections in the right column. You will hear the text twice.

The city of Lausanne in Switzerland is welcoming 1,818 young athletes (01)

to the Winter Youth Olympic Games from January 9 to 22. Representing (02)

more than 70 countries, teenagers between 15 and 18 years old will vie (03)

for medals in winter sports like Alpine skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, (04)

snowboarding, and bobsleigh. In fact, the young athletes also have the (05)

opportunity to be mentored by Olympic champions. (06)

The Youth Olympic Games were created to motivate more young people (07)

to start competing at an elite level. As the regular Olympic Games, the (08)

Youth Olympics Games (YOG) take place every four years. The first (09)

Summer Youth Olympics were held in Singapore in 2010, the worst (10)

Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria in 2012. (11)

The youth games are always meant to help young athletes prepare for (12)

the regular Olympics. They get to improve their skills and experience (13)

competing at a big and prestigious international sports event – and learn (14)

how to handle the pressure which goes along with it. Many of the (15)

Lausanne Olympians are hoping to qualify for the regular Winter (16)

Olympics in Beijing in 2022. (17)

This is the aim of 16-year-old Van Ledger who is competing for the US (18)

biathlon team. Biathlon is a sport that combines cross-country skiing (19)

and rifle shooting. The number of biathletes is relatively small in the (20)

US, so Van is eager to try out where he stands internationally, especially (21)

against countries where the sport is much more popular. He plans to (22)

qualify for the US World Cup and, of course, the American Olympic (23)

team, either for 2022 or 2026. (24)

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2. Listen to the second part of the text (paras. 5 – 7), and then answer the following questions by taking notes. a) In what ways do former champions help young Olympians (name two aspects)? ______

______b) What purpose has the Culture and Education Programme? ______c) Two topics the programme deals with? ______d) Who also benefits from the programme (besides athletes)? ______

Reading comprehension

1. Read the first part of the text (paras. 1 – 4), and decide whether the following statements are true (T), false (F), or not mentioned (N). Check the correct box.

Statement T F N a) The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games are taking place in Switzerland for

the very first time. b) The YOG are held as often as the regular Olympics. c) There haven´t been any Youth Olympics in the US so far. d) There is no connection between the regular Olympics and the youth games. e) Van Ledger’s sport is rather exotic in his home country. f) In biathlon, you need skis and a bow.

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2. Lies den zweiten Teil des Textes (5 – 7) und beantworte die folgenden Fragen stichpunktartig auf Deutsch. a) Welche Rolle spielt Lindsey Vonn als YOG-Botschafterin? Nenne 2 Aspekte. ______

______b) Worauf wird im „Culture and Education Programme“ Wert gelegt? ______

______c) Wofür steht der olympische Geist? Nenne Beispiele. ______

______

Vocabulary

1. Find a word or expression that means the same as each of the words (a – k) below. The paragraphs where you can find the words in the article are indicated in brackets.

a) chance (para. 1)

b) to design (para. 2)

c) best (para. 2)

d) to get ready (para. 3)

e) to unite (para. 4)

f) enthusiastic (para. 4)

g) liked (para. 4)

h) aid (para. 5)

i) to control (para. 7)

j) to provide (para. 8)

k) main (para. 8)

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2. Look at the text again. Match the following words (a – h) with their definitions (A – J). There are two definitions that you will not need.

Definition Verb a) to mentor (para. 1) A to become a member of something b) to compete (para. 2) B to win a victory over (someone) in a battle or other contest C to make two or more things have equal weight or value c) to improve (para. 3) D to train or advise someone, especially someone younger d) to handle (para. 3) E to tell or give someone information about something e) to receive (para. 5) F to make or become better G to succeed in surviving or in achieving something f) to join (para. 6) H to manage or take care of a situation or problem g) to share (para. 6) I to be given or presented with something h) to balance (para. 7) J to participate in a contest

a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h)

Grammar

1. Complete the text. Use the right form of the words in brackets, and find suitable words to replace the question marks.

The first international event (1) ______(focus) on sports (2) ______(???) are practised on snow and ice were the Nordic Games. The first Nordic Games (3) ______(hold) in

Sweden in 1901. With the first Winter Olympics in 1924, the Nordic Games (4) ______(lose) their standalone position. Furthermore, the Winter Olympics were

(5) ______(enormous) successful from the very start and

(6) ______(only, not appeal) to Scandinavian countries, such

(7) ______(???) Sweden, Norway, and Finland, but also had a worldwide and therefore more attractive appeal. In 1926, the last Nordic Games took place, and the Winter Olympics took over.

The Winter Olympic Games (8) ______(hold) every four years, just like their summer equivalent. Since the beginning of the Winter Olympic Games, there

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(9) ______(only, be) one interruption. The games of 1940 and 1944

(10) ______(cancel) because of World War II.

At the beginning, there were only nine disciplines, including ski jumping, Nordic combined, speed skating, and military patrol. Over the years, many disciplines

(11) ______(add) and some

(12) ______(disappear, complete). For example, there´s no military patrol today, but the (13) ______(well, know) and popular discipline of biathlon is quite similar. Nowadays, the Winter Olympics (14) ______(be) a huge media event all over the globe. Until now, only twelve countries

(15) ______(participate) in every Winter Olympic Games, including Austria, Canada, Finland, and France. But the United States is the only country that

(16) ______(always, gain) at least one gold medal. The leader of the All-time Olympic Games medal table, however, is Norway. And there is another interesting fact: when the results of the former GDR and FRG (17) ______(combine),

Germany is in the top spot.

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Answer key

Listening comprehension

1. (1) 1,818 → 1,880 • (3) countries → nations • (5) fact → addition • (7) motivate → encourage (8) as → like • (10) worst → first • (12) always → also • (15) which → that • (18) aim → goal (20) relatively → rather • (21) try → find • (24) plans → hopes

2. a) promote the games, are a part of youth projects (para. 5); give advice to young athletes, share their experiences (para. 6) b) helps young athletes improve in life and sport (para. 7) c) healthy food, stress management (balancing sport and education), injury prevention (para. 7) d) young journalists and non-athletes (the Olympic spirit) (para. 8)

Reading comprehension

1. a) N • b) T (para. 2) • c) N • d) F (para. 3) • e) T (para. 4) • f) F (para. 4);

2. a) wirbt für die Spiele und ist in Jugendprojekte involviert (para. 5) b) jungen Leuten helfen zu verstehen, wie man in seiner sportlichen Karriere aber auch im Leben voran kommt (para. 6) c) Werte wie Selbstrespekt, Respekt für Andere und interkulturelle Freundschaft (para. 6)

Vocabulary

1. a) opportunity • b) created • c) elite • d) prepare • e) combine(s) • f) eager • g) popular h) support • i) to manage/managing • j) offer(s) • k) important

2. a) D • b) J • c) F • d) H • e) I • f) A • g) E • h) C

Grammar

1. (1) focusing • (2) that • (3) were held • (4) lost • (5) enormously • (6) not only appealed (7) as • (8) are held • (9) has only been • (10) were cancelled • (11) have been added (12) have disappeared completely • (13) well-known • (14) are • (15) have participated (16) always gains • (17) are combined

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