Sport in Britain

The British are mad about sports. In fact they like watching sports more than playing them. The British are spectators and the most popular spectator sports are cricket and football.

Football is the most popular game. Football or soccer is an example of a professional game. The game of football was first played in Britain and later people began to play it in other countries.

There are many amateur soccer players in Britain who play the game on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Amateur clubs often play against professionals.

Almost every school has its football team and every boy in Britain knows a lot about the game. He can tell you the names of the players in the most important teams, he has pictures of them and knows the results of many matches.

Rugby is another popular British sport which is played in other countries. It is also called rugby football. The story is told that in 1823 boys at Rugby school in England played football in the normal way when suddenly one boy picked the ball up and ran with it. That was how a new game was born. There are two forms of rugby football: the amateur game and the professional game. The two games have different rules.

Football is the favourite winter game in Britain and cricket is the favourite summer sport. Amateur cricket has the same rules as the professional game. A typical amateur cricket match takes place on a village green, an open space in the centre of the village. It is played between two teams – the “home”team and the “visitors”who come from another village.

Vocabulary:

to be of mad sports – дуже любити футбол

spectators – глядачі

soccer – футбол

amateur soccer – аматорський

to pick up – піднімати

different rules – різні правила; правила, що відрізняються одне від одного

favourite game – улюблена гра

to take place – мати місце, відбуватися

village green – сільська лука

open space – відкрите місце

I. Answer the following questions:

1. What reputation do the British have as for sports?

2. What do they like more: to watch or to play sports?

3. What country was football played first?

4. What can you say about almost every English boy?

5. What does the story tell us about rugby?

6. How many forms of rugby are there in England?

7. What is the favourite summer game among the British?

8. Where do they play it?

II. Insert prepositions where necessary:

1. We are ____ lesson now. 2. ____ winter we go in for skating. 3. He gave her a big bunch ____ flowers. 4. He was devoted _____ his friends. 5. Many pages ____ this book are torn. 6. He was cured ____ a very skillful ____ the most beautiful picture. 9. ____ ten minutes everybody was ____ desks. 10. We are proud _____ our sportsmen.

III. Insert articles where necessary:

1. He plans to go abroad by ___ train; I’ll go there by ___ plane. 2. There were many foreign guests at ____ congress. 3. He came into _____ room and stopped at ____ desk. 4. We planted ____ tree at ____ corner of ____ house. 5. The fruit is three for ____ dollar. 6. He painted _____ picture with ____ brush. 7. I haven’t seen ____ parents for 2 years. 8. We listened to ____ lecturer with great attention. 9. We didn’t translate ____ text into ____ Ukrainian. 10. Don’t divide ___ text into ____ two parts.

IV. Fill in the blanks with the required forms of the verb to have.

1. Alice (to have) a lot of friends. 2. We (to have) English classes twice a week. 3. My parents (to have) a lot of books. 4. My cousin (to have) a new car. 5. My brother and my sister (to have) children. 6. Her friend (to have) a big family. 7. Our city (to have) many big metallurgical plants. 8. In the modern life money (to have) various uses. 9. My grandparents (to have) a comfortable three – room flat. 10. Our family (to have) a lot of relatives.

V. Fill in the blanks with the required forms of the verb to be in the Past Indefinite Tense.

1. I ___ at home yesterday. 2. You ___ twenty a year ago. 3. We ___ young and happy. 4. My aim ___ to win the competitions. 5. My friends ___at the party last week. 6. My parents ___ at the theatre yesterday. 7. Our father ___ at the stadium last Sunday. He saw the football match. 8. They ___ happy to see him again. 9. His name ___ Frankenstein. 10. It ___ the best day in my life.