Popular sports in Britain

SPORT IN GREAT BRITAIN

Britain is a country where leisure time and the sporting life are taken seriously. Sport is a form of physical and mental relaxation for the Englishmen. Many kinds of sport have taken the origin in England – football, cricket, rugby, golf, hockey, lawn tennis. English people are very fond of sport. They are called sport-lovers in spite of the fact that some of them neither play games nor even watch them.

Many kinds of sport are practiced in England: football, golf, rugby, swimming, rowing, cricket, fishing, foxhunting, sailing and different racings: motor-car racing, dog-racing, boat-racing, horse - racing and others. The English people also enjoy equestrian sports, such as horse-racing, riding and polo. Professional sport is widely spread in Great Britain, especially football, boxing, rugby, and hockey. The number participants and spectators shows that the most popular of the team games are football and cricket, and the most popular individual game is lawn-tennis.

Football is the most popular sport in Great Britain. It’s a team game. There are some amateur teams but most of the teams are professional ones in England. Professional football is a big business. The football Association holds an annual “Knock out” cup competition. The cup final match is played at Wembley Stadium, the biggest stadium in London. This match is always attended by the Queen, who presents the cup to the winning team.

In Great Britain football is called soccer to distinguish the game from American football, the game that has much in common with rugby.

Cricket is the most favourite summer sport, which is called by the English “the greatest game in the world”. Cricket is an open-air game played in a field of grass. Cricket is the most typically English game throughout Britain.

Golf is also a national game in Great Britain. Golf can be played all the year round. It is popular with the middle-aged people.

Rugby is a popular game in England. It is played with an oval ball. There are fifteen players per team in rugby union and thirteen in rugby league. Rugby league is played at top level in Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Wimbledon is the center of lawn tennis. All - England Tennis Club is there. Wimbledon is one of the world’s major tournaments.

Rowing is a popular sport in Great Britain, especially in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The first boat race between Oxford and Cambridge was held in 1829. Nearly every year since then there was a boat race between these two Universities.

English people began to go in for track-and-field athletics comparatively recently and produced many outstanding sportsmen in that kind of sport.

Sport is a compulsory subject at school. Swimming, track - and - field athletics, boxing, weightlifting, cycling, tennis, cricket are popular with the English students.

 

Active vocabulary

 

1. origin n ['ɒrɪdʒɪn]–  начало; происхождение; originator n [ə'rɪdʒɪneɪtə] – организатор, основатель

2. rugby n ['rʌgbi] – регби

3. golf n [gɒlf] – гольф 

4. lawn-tennis n [lɔ:n 'tenɪs] – большой теннис

5. to have much in common – иметь много общего

6. spectator n [spek'teɪtə] – зритель; очевидец; spectacular adj [spek'tækjʊlə] – захватывающий, эффектный, зрелищный

7. sailing n ['seɪlɪŋ] – парусный спорт; плавание под парусами

8. rowing n ['rəʊɪŋ] – (распашная) гребля

9. enjoy v [ɪn'dʒɔɪ] – получать удовольствие от чего-л.; веселиться

10.  riding n ['raɪdɪŋ] – верховая езда

11.  annual adj ['ænjuəl] – ежегодный; annually adv ['ænjuəli] – ежегодно  

12.  equestrian sports n [ɪ'kwestriən] – конный спорт

13.  participant n [pɑ:'tɪsɪpənt] –  участник

14.  leisure n ['leʒə] – свободное время; досуг

15.  amateur [ 'æmətə ] – 1. n любитель, 2. adj. любительский

16.  to attend v [ə'tend] – присутствовать; посещать

17.  to distinguish v [dɪ'stɪŋgwɪʃ] – различать

18.  outstanding adj [,aʊt'stændɪŋ] – выдающийся

19.  swimming pool n ['swɪmɪŋ pu:l] – плавательный бассейн

20.  boat race n [bəʊt reɪs] – гонка на лодках

21.  open-air game – игра на открытом воздухе

22.  compulsory n [kəm'pʌls(ə)ri] – обязательный

 

 

Exersices:

1. а) Give English equivalents:

Большой теннис, широко распространен, гонка на лодках, любительский, ежегодный, игра на открытом воздухе, люди среднего возраста, крупнейшие мировые турниры, охота на лис, легкая атлетика, велоспорт, иметь много общего, плавательный бассейн.

b) Find in the text words and expressions close in meaning to the following:

rest, to like, every year, tournament, to visit, obligatory, prominent, almost, remarkable,  lately, to differ, outdoor game.

 

2. Complete the following sentences using the appropriate words from the box below:

participant, originator, boat race, to distinguish, open-air game, spectator, amateur, spectacular, annually, equestrian, rowing, to attend

 

1. A _______ sport is characterized by the presence of watchers.

2. _________ sports are sports in which participants engage largely without remuneration.      

3. The United Kingdom is a ________ of International competitions.

4. ________ is a sport in which the boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water.

5. Every fan dreams ________ Word Cup final.

6. _________ sports combine the beauty and power of the horse with the skillful manipulation of the course by the rider.

7. Knock-out competitions are held _________.

8. Great Britain was the _________ of football, hockey, tennis and other sports.

9. Football is one of the most __________ games.

10. It is necessary to ___________ lawn tennis from table-tennis.

11. The Oxford-Cambridge __________ is a traditional annual rowing race between teams from Oxford University and Cambridge University.

12. Rugby is an ________ played with an egg-shaped ball.

3. Match the following words and expressions with their definitions:

1	boat race	a	a person who watches at a show, game, or other event
2	golf	b	the act of sitting and controlling the movement of an animal (typically a horse)
3	rugby	c	a race between rowing crews
4	rowing	d	a person who takes part in something
5	lawn-tennis	e	the point or place where something begins, arises, or is derived
6	riding	f	the sport of operating or riding in a sailboat
7	spectator	g	to receive pleasure or satisfaction from smth.
8	participant	h	a game played on a large open-air course, in which a small hard ball is struck with a club into a series of small holes in the ground, the object being to use the fewest possible strokes to complete the course
9	origin	i	time when one is not working or occupied; free time
10	sailing	j	a game played with rackets by two or four players who hit a ball back and forth over a net that divides the court
11	enjoy	k	the sport or pastime of propelling a boat by means of oars
12	leisure	l	a team game played with an oval ball that may be kicked, carried, and passed from hand to hand

4. Translate into English:

1. Происхождение гонок на лодках между Кембриджем и Оксфордом датируется 1829 годом.

2. Футбол, регби, гольф и большой теннис произошли в Великобритании.

3. Зрители наслаждались теннисным турниром в Уимблдоне.

4. Парусный спорт особенно популярен в Великобритании.

5. Футбол – это очень зрелищный вид спорта.

6. Большой теннис отличается от настольного тенниса.

7. Много выдающихся теннисистов играют в Уимблдоне.

8. В Великобритании время досуга и спортивная жизнь воспринимаются серьезно.

9. Все получали удовольствие от матча между Арсеналом и Челси.

10. Регби и американский футбол имеют много общего.

Answer the questions:

1. What is sport for the Englishmen?

2. What sports and games are practiced in England?

3. What is the most popular sport in Great Britain?

4. In what teams do Englishmen play football?

5. Is professional sport widely spread in Great Britain?

6. What sports are professional in Great Britain?

7. What is the biggest stadium in London?

8. What games are national in Great Britain?

9. Is rowing a popular sport in Great Britain?

10. When was the first boat race between Oxford and Cambridge held?

11. Is sport a compulsory subject at the English school?

12. What kinds of sport are popular with the English students?

 

 

Texts for additional reading:

A NATIONAL PASSION

Sport probably plays a more important part in people's lives in Britain than it does in most other countries. For a very large number, and this is especially true for men, it is their main form of entertainment. Millions take part in some kind of sport at least once a week. Many millions more are regular spectators and follow one or more sports. There are hours of televised sports each week. Every newspaper, national or local, quality or popular, devotes several pages entirely to sport.

The British are only rarely the best in the world at particular sports in modern times. However, they are one of the best in the world in a much larger number of different sports than any other country. Think of any pastime (indoor bowling, darts or snooker), however trivial, which involves some element of competition, and somewhere in Britain, there is probably a 'national association' for it which organizes contests.

The British are a sporting nation. Like everyone else they love football – in fact, they invented it. Most British towns and cities have a football team. Every year, each team plays in the Football Association competition. The two best teams play in the Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in London. Some fans pay up to 250 pounds for a ticket for the Cup Final. It is one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

Sport plays such a large part in British life, that many idioms in the English language have come form the world of sport, for example "to play the game" means to be fair, and "that's not cricket" means that's not fair.

 

POPULAR SPORTS IN BRITAIN

Golf was probably invented in Holland but has been played in Scotland for at least 400 years. At first it was played with balls made of wood, then of leather stuffed with feathers. The earliest rules were drawn up in 1754 at the Royal and Ancient course in St. Andrews.

Golf courses are popular meeting places of the business community; it is, for example, very desirable for a bank manager to play golf.

Tennis is another popular game in Britain. Every summer, in June, the biggest international tennis tournament takes place at Wimbledon, a suburb of London. There are strawberries and cream7 for sale, and everyone hopes the rain will stay away.

Tennis was originally called “sphairistike”. The first rules were drawn up by the All-England Lawn tennis and Croquet club when it held its first tournament in the London suburb of Wimbledon in 1877. Wimbledon is still the world's most famous tennis event.

There are plenty of tennis clubs, but most towns provide tennis courts in public parks, and anyone may play tennis cheaply on a municipal court.

Many British people who live near the sea, a lake or a river enjoy sailing. If you are really enthusiastic, and rich enough to buy your own boat, you can take part in one of the annual sailing races or “regattas” at Cowes, near Portsmouth, for example, or at Henley on the river Thames.

Rowing is one Olympic sport which has a great history in Britain, beginning in some schools and universities. Some regattas on the Thames have been social events for well over a hundred years, and today's best rowers have had international successes.

 

Advanced Task:

 

Make a report or Power Point Presentation about the following sports, originated or popular in Great Britain:

1. soccer

2. cricket

3. rugby

4. golf

5. lawn - tennis

6. hockey

7. crocket

8. snooker