A) Read the text “The 2012 Summer Olympics” and do the tasks after it

Task 1

Read, translate, make up 10 questions (general and special) to the text.

Modern Olympics comprise Summer Games, held in a large city, and Winter Games, held at

a resort. Since 1994, the games are still on a four-year cycle, but two years apart: Winter Games in 2002, 2006, 2010, etc., and Summer Games in 2000, 2004, 2008, etc. There are 28 approved sports for the Summer Games. The Winter Games consist of seven approved sports.

Today, the opening ceremonies highlight a parade of the athletes led by those from Greece,

in honor of the original Games, followed by the athletes from the other nations, in alphabetical

order according to the spelling in the country's language; the host country enters last.

After the Games are declared open, the dramatic lighting of the Olympic flame occurs. A

cross-country relay runner carries a torch first lit in Olympia, and ignites the flame that burns for the 15-16 days of the games. Thousands of runners, representing each country between Greece and the host country, take part in the four-week torch relay. This is followed by a spectacular production of fireworks, strobe lights, flyovers, music, dance, and assorted entertainment.

The number and types of events may change slightly from one Olympiad to another. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation (IF). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishes a hierarchy of sports, disciplines, and events. According to this hierarchy, each Olympic sport can be subdivided into multiple disciplines, which are often mistaken as distinct sports. Examples include swimming and water polo, which are in fact disciplines of the sport of aquatics (represented by the International Swimming Federation), and figure skating and speed skating, which are both disciplines of the sport of ice skating (represented by the International Skating Union). In turn, disciplines are subdivided into events, for which Olympic medals are awarded. A sport or discipline is included in the Olympic program if the IOC determines it to be widely practiced around the world, that is, the popularity of a given sport or discipline is indicated by the number of countries that compete in it. The IOC's requirements also reflect participation in the Olympic Games – more stringent conditions are applied to men's sports/disciplines (as men are represented at the Games in higher numbers than women) and to summer sports/disciplines (as more nations compete in the Summer Olympics than in the Winter Olympics).

Task 2

The 2012 Summer Olympics

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.

1. When did the 2012 Summer Olympics take place?

2. How many athletes took part in the 2012 Summer Olympics?

3. What did The 2012 Summer Olympic programme include?

4. What women’ sport was included in the programme for the first time?

5. What two sports dropped from the 2012 Games?

6. How many world records did the Olympic Games feature?

7. What kind of sport had the largest number of records?

8. What countries had the largest number of world records? Could you name Top Ten countries of the 2012 Summer Olympics?

 

Task 3

a) Read the text “The 2012 Summer Olympics” and do the tasks after it.

The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also more generally known as London 2012, was a major international multi-sport event, celebrated in

the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that took place in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12 August 2012.

The first event, the group stages in women's football, began two days earlier, on 25 July. More than 10,000 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated.

Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the former

Mayor of London (2000-2008) Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city on 6 July

2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, defeating bids from Moscow, New York City,

Madrid and Paris. London was the first city to officially host the modern Olympic Games three

times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948.

Construction in preparation for the Games involved considerable redevelopment,

particularly themed towards sustainability. The main focus was a new 200-hectare Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site in Stratford, East London. The Games also made use of venues which were already in place before the bid.

The Games received widespread acclaim for their organization, with the volunteers, the

British military and public enthusiasm praised particularly highly. The opening ceremony, directed by Danny Boyle, also received near-universal acclaim. During the Games, Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, winning his 22nd medal. Great Britain achieved its highest tally of gold medals since 1908, finishing third in the medal table. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time, meaning every currently eligible country has sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games.

With women's boxing included, the Games became the first at which every sport had female competitors.

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 27 July and called "Isles of Wonder ". The Games were officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince

Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was the second Games the Queen had opened personally, the first

being the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. All successive Olympics held in Canada or

Australia have been opened by their respective governors-general.

The official BARB (The Broadcasters ' Audience Research Board) ratings give the opening

ceremony a rating of 24.24 million viewers, the highest audience for any British television

broadcast since 1996.

The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics was held on 12 August 2012.

In addition to protocol, the ceremony featured a flashback fiesta to British music with The Who

finishing out the performance. The ceremony also included a handover of the Olympic flag by

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London to Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, the host city of the

2016 Summer Olympics.

 

b) Fill in the correct preposition and particles from the box.