Popular British sports and games

I would like to give a talkabout popular British sports and games.

Well, the British people like everyone else like sports and games.

But if they are asked to name their favourite sport they will probably name football, cricket and tennis, though many of them go in for such sports as golf and hockey, athletics and climbing, horse-riding and boating, rugby and rowing.

Probably the most popular sport nowadays was first developed in England.It is spread all over the country — in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Their national teams compete with each other every year. They take part in different competitions. The two best teams play in the Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in London. It is one of the most importantfootball matches of the year. National teams of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland take part in European competi­tions and other international matches. There are many football clubs all over Britain.

Well, cricket is another popular summer sport. Nowadays this summer game, which is typically British, is played in schools, colleges and uni­versities and in most towns and villages of Britain. Teams play weekly games from late April to the end of September. Cricket is a very long game, and quite dangerous, it is a slow game too. International cricket matches can last for 5 days.

Moreover boxing, golf and tennis are known as developed in Great Britain. Boxing existed even in Saxon times. Golf was developed in Scotland and now is widely spread all over Britain. Tennis, or lawn tennis, is another popular game in Britain. It was first played in England in 1872 and the first championship at Wimbledon was in 1877. Nowadays every summer in June, the British hold their famous International Tennis Championship at Wimbledon, in west Loudon.

Besides, swimming, boating and sailing have always been popular in Britain and are enjoyed by thousands of people.

That’s all I wanted to say.

KEEPING FIT

 I would like to give a talk about what we should do to keep fit.

Of course, a healthy lifestyle is more popular nowadays, because peoplewant to live longer and better. More and more people eat healthy food anddon’t drink alcohol.

As for me, I try to take regular exercise though going in for sport professionally is not my cup of tea. I have never taken part in any sport competitions. I just walk a lot. But no jogging or playing indoor games. In summer I play volleyball, swim and ride a bicycle.

I think, sport helps me to keep fit and be healthy and strong. I hardly ever get a cold.I never suffer from headaches, backaches, pains in stomach, my legs and arms don’t hurt either.

Besides, taking exercises, I try to eat healthy food. I can’t say I keep to a diet. I like to eat fruit and vegetables, lots of salad. But I also enjoy fried food, meat, fish. And I like dairy products – milk, cream, sour cream, cottage cheese. I eat bread and I am fond of pancakes with caviar though I don’t like sweets. In fact I like neither bitter nor sweet things.

 So, I’d like to say that keeping fit is very important in our life.

SHOPPING

I’m going to talk about shopping.

Well, there are many kinds of shops in every town or city, but most of them have a food supermarket, a department store, men's and women's clothing stores, grocery, a bakery and a butchery.

As for me, I like to do my shopping at big department. They sell various goods under one roof and this is very convenient. A department store, for example, has departments: readymade clothes, fabrics, shoes, sports goods, toys, china and glass, electric appliances, cosmetics, linen, curtains, cameras, records, etc. You can buy everything you like there.

Besides department stores, I like to buy food in the supermarket, because we can buy many different things at once: sausages, fish, sugar, macaroni, flour, cereals, tea. At the butcher's there is a choice of meat and poultry. At the bakery you buy brown and white bread, biscuits. At the greengrocery you can find cabbage, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, carrots, beetroots and what not. Everything is sold here ready-weighed and packed. If you call round at a dairy you can buy milk, cream, cheese, butter and many other products.

I think, there are different ways of shopping. It may be a selfservice shop where the customer goes from counter to counter selecting and putting into a basket what he wishes to buy. Then he takes the basket to the check-out counter, where the prices are added up. If it is not a self-service shop, and most small shops are not, the shop-assistant helps the customer in finding what he wants. You pay money to the cashier and he gives you back the change.

So, for me shopping is an interesting way of entertainment and I like shopping.

 

ANIMALS IN DANGER

 

I would like to give a talk about animals in danger.

Well, people have lived on different continents and countries for many years. They hunted and killed wild animals. Now many of them are disappearing.

 For example, tigers in India and elephants in Africa are among them. They are often dangerous animals. Tigers can kill cows, sheep, other domestic animals and sometimes they can also kill men. Some people are afraid of tigers and kill them to save their domestic animals and their lives. But some peo­ple have often hunted tigers for fun and for their beautiful skin. The result is very sad. There are few Indian tigers left on the Earth now. Or they rather hid there earlier, because there aren’t many forests for tigers nowadays. African elephants are wonderful animals. They can help men. In the 19th centu­ry Africa was full of elephants. But these days there are not many of them except in African parks.

Besides this sad story of Indian tigers and African elephants there are many less dangerous wild animals and birds are also dis­appearing from the Earth. Modern life is bad for them. The air is not fresh. The water is not clean. They don’t often have good things to eat and space to live. You can find their names in the Red Book. You can find the names of some fish there too.

I think that people must take special care of animals, save forests and try to find the right balance between plants, people and animals.

That’s all I wanted to say.