SECTION 3 Popular Sports in Britain and in Russia 53 50 Listen to the text and complete Read the texts. Match them with the sentences. the photos. 1. Most British people enjoy ... A Tennis is very popular in Britain. This 2. The British national sports are ..., ..., game first appeared in England. Every cricket and racing. June the biggest competition in the world takes place at Wimbledon. This world cen- 51 Listen and repeat the words. Guess tre of tennis is located not far from the the meaning of the words that sound center of London. ... Lots of fans and similar in English and in Russian. tourists come there to watch games be- biking, swimming, skating, skiing, jog- tween famous players. Millions of people ging, boxing, motor racing, horse racing, watch the Wimbledon Championship on boat racing, football, volleyball, darts, TV. basketball, rugby, golf, cricket, tennis, ice hockey, badminton 52 Study the pie chart. Find out what B The English also like all kinds of racing. sports are more and less popular among Horse racing, motor racing and boat British people. racing are very popular in England. The most famous boat racing in England is Example: British people are fond of ... between Oxford and Cambridge. It first ... is not so popular in Great Britain. started in 1829 and has been held almost every spring since 1836. A lot of people Popular sports in Great Britain come to watch this competition between the two leading English universities. ... C Most people think that the British invent- ed football. ... The game is very popular there. Most British towns and cities have a foot- ball team. There are four football champi- onships: in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The strongest football team in the British Isles is Manchester United, although Arsenal and Chelsea in London are also very good. D The national English game is cricket. ... Football 35 % Cricket 7% Cricket is a summer game: it is usually Tennis 17 % Skiing 6 % played in schools, colleges and universi- ties. Cricket is a very long and slow Swimming 10% Golf 4 % game. There are two teams. Each team Boxing 9% Darts 2 % consists of eleven men. The ‘bowler’ throws the ball, and a ‘batsman’ hits it Motor racing 8% Badminton 2 % with his bat. 158 SECTION 3 UNIT 4 Section 3 1 2 3 4 54 Work in pairs. Decide which texts these sentences have been taken from1. Complete the texts. 1. But it is also popular in Australia, India, Pakistan and Southern Africa. 2. It is not true because similar games were played in different countries. The Eng- lish suggested the laws of the game in 1863. 3. It takes place on the River Thames and it usually lasts 15—20 minutes. 4. It is the oldest competition and the only one where the players still play on grass. 55 Complete the questions. Answer the questions. Use: What country? What kinds of? Where? When? What? How many? 1. ... is the birthplace of tennis? 2. ... does one of the largest world tennis competitions take place? 3. ... racing are popular in England? 4. ... did the most famous boat racing first start? 5. ... football championships are held in the UK? 6. ... are the best football teams in Great Britain? 7. ... is cricket played nowadays? 8. ... are the rules of cricket? 56 Work in pairs. Discuss what sports are more / less popular in Russia. Why? Use: I think / I believe, be popular among all age groups, become popular long ago, be popular throughout the world, children can develop their physical abilities, Rus- sian national sports, the biggest competition takes place, a lot of people come to watch it, people can do it all the year round. 1 have been taken from — были взяты 159 UNIT 4 Section 3 57 a) Rank the kinds of sports. Put numbers from one (the most popular) to 12 (the least popular). b) Work in groups. Share the information with your classmates. Find out and say which sports activities are the most popular in your class. basketball ice hockey skiing cycling karate swimming figure skating roller skating tennis football skateboarding volleyball 58 Listen to the interview with Oleg Petrov. Say what sports he does. 59 Work in pairs. Match the questions with the answers. Read Oleg Petrov’s interview and say what kind of winter / summer sports he likes. Correspondent 1. What sports games are popular in Russia? 2. What do you do to keep fit? Oleg 3. Is sport important for your family? A. Yes, it is. My family takes sport seri- B. Various sports. But I think football, ice ously. My father is fond of volleyball. hockey and figure skating are the most My mother likes swimming. My elder popular sports in Russia. Other popular sister is a student at medical college and sports are basketball, volleyball, car hasn’t got too much time for sport. racing and skiing. A lot of fans go to lo- That’s why she tries to get fit at home. cal stadiums to support their favourite She has a lot of books and CDs with in- teams and sportsmen. structions how to do home exercise C. Although I like sports, I do not want to programmes. My father and I like to go in for sport professionally. Besides watch football, ice hockey and chess swimming and karate. I like skating in championships on TV. My mother and winter. Skating is a popular activity my sister prefer to watch figure skating among my friends. There are a number competitions on TV. of skating rinks in our town. And we often go there at weekends. In summer and spring I often roller skate in the park. 160 UNIT 4 Section 3 60 Read the other questions WORD FOCUS from Tracey Stock, the correspondent 61 of the British Youth Sport magazine. Read, remember and use Answer the questions. the following phrases. 1. What sports are popular with you and Giving your opinion your friends? I think that ... 2. What sports can you play? I believe that ... 3. What sports competitions do you like Agreeing watching? Yes, I agree. 4. What sports facilities do you have in That’s an excellent idea. your school? Disagreeing 5. What do you like to do in your free Do you really think so? time? I’m not so sure about that. 62 Work in pairs. Imagine that one of you is from Britain, but now he / she is spending a term in a Russian school. Interview him / her about sports popular in Britain. Student 1 Student 2 (from Britain) Mike (Sophia), I’m doing a presentation about sports that are popular in the English- speaking countries. Could you help me? Of course. What do I need to do, Olga (Denis)? Just answer some questions. OK. I’m ready. Ask two questions about sports popular with British people. • Answer the questions using ‘I think that ... / I believe that ...’ . • Say that it is important to do sports no matter where you live. • Agree (or disagree) with your friend (Yes, I agree / I’m not so sure about that). • Say why you think so. • Invite your friend to take part in the football / volleyball match tomorrow. Agree to take part in the game. 161 UNIT 4 Section 3 63 a) Read the short texts. Match the games with the texts. Example: The first (second, third, fourth) rule is for ... basketball football volleyball rugby 1 The ball is usually controlled with the hands or arms, but players can legally push the ball with any parts of the body. 2 Players can carry the oval ball with their hands. The players can move forward only by running with the ball or by kicking it. 3 A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot where they received it. The ball must not be held in the hands. The arms and body must not be used for controlling it. 4 A player can’t use his hands to push or to throw the ball. He can play with his feet and head only. b) Listen and check if you were right. 64 Work in groups. Write an article for your school website about your last school sports event (a football / hockey match / a skating competition, etc.). Follow the plan. 1. When it took place. 2. Where it took place. 3. Who took part in it. 4. Whether it was interesting / exciting / boring. 162.