2020-07-01
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Task 1
A) Read and translate the text, using a dictionary if necessary.
Do the task after it (true/ false/ not stated).
The Winter Olympic Games
Originated by the ancient Greeks, the Olympic Games are the leading international sporting event. The games were revived by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, and the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.
The Winter Olympic Games were not a part of the modern Olympics when they started. They were played separately as the Nordic Games. The Nordic Games were the first international sporting event that focused primarily on sports played in winter. A person called Victor Balck, a close friend of Pierre de Coubertin, organised the first Nordic Games. It was Victor’s idea to include winter games in the Olympics.
However, only in 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games were held as a separate event in Chamonix, France. Athletes competed in 16 events in six different sports. The Games were held from 1924 until 1936, after which they were interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and were arranged every four years.
In 1994, it was decided to hold the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in different years. So in fact, we can watch the Olympic Games once every two years. First, the Summer Games, then, in two years, the Winter Games, and two years after the Summer Games again. So one set of Olympic Games, summer or winter, is held every two years.
As time went on more sports were introduced to the Winter Olympiad. Nowadays there are fifteen sport disciplines, four of them are indoor sports: curling, figure skating, speed skating and ice hockey.
The Winter Olympics have been hosted in 19 cities in different countries. Some cities have arranged the main international winter sporting event several times: Lake Placid (the USA), Innsbruck (Austria), St Moritz (Switzerland). But the Winter Olympic Games have never been held in Africa, Australia, South America or Antarctica.
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In 2014, Sochi, Russia was the host of the XXII Winter Olympic Games. A total of 98 events in 15 winter sport disciplines were held during the Games. Lots of sporting records and unique results were recorded at the Olympic Games. However, there were several records which were set during the preparation and Olympiad organization. Sochi was the first sub-tropical city that has ever organized the Winter Olympic Games. Before the start of the XXII Games in Sochi, the Olympic torch travelled the longest distance in history to some amazing places, including the North Pole, the bottom of Lake Baikal (the world’s deepest lake), the top of Mount Elbrus (Europe’s highest mountain), and even into outer space. For the first time in Olympic history, a public vote was held to decide the mascots, symbols that bring good luck to the event, for the Olympics. It was decided that the mascots of the Olympic Games, would be a Leopard, a Polar Bear, and a Hare. They looked very cute and contributed to the success of the Games.
1. Pierre de Coubertin was a famous sportsman.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
2. Victor Balck proposed to add winter sports to the list of Olympic sports.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
3. There was more than a ten-year break in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
4. The Winter Olympic Games are held every two years.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
5. Several new sports were added to the list of the Winter Olympiad after 1924.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
6. According to the plans, the next Winter Olympic Games will be held in Australia.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
7. The Olympic torch visited several extreme places before the 2014 Games in Sochi.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
8. The mascots of the XXII Olympic Games were chosen by the Olympic Committee.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
Learn this rule and do the tasks.
Альтернативные вопросы (Alternative questions)
Альтернативный вопрос имеет значение выбора одного из двух лиц, предметов, действий, качеств и т. и может быть поставлен к любому члену предложения. Альтернативный вопрос может начинаться с глагола (как общий вопрос) или с вопросительного слова (как специальный вопрос) и обязательно содержит союз «or» — или. На альтернативный вопрос нельзя дать ответ, содержащий слово «yes» или «nо»: Do you take black or white coffee? I take white coffee. В разговорной речи возможен краткий ответ: «Black».
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Task 2
a) Read these texts, using a dictionary if necessary and do the tasks.
“The 2014 Winter Olympics”
The 2014 Winter Olympics were held in Februaryin two distinctly different, but notably scenic areas near the Black Sea resort.
Sochi is a resort city located along the Black Sea. The Olympics return to the region for the first time since 1980, when the Soviet Union hosted the Summer Games in Moscow.
A city of about 343,000 people, Sochi is situated on the eastern side of the Black Sea and in the southwestern corner of Russia. It borders Georgia to the southeast. Directly south across the Black Sea is Turkey; across the sea to the west are Bulgaria and Romania. Ukraine borders the northern portion of the Black Sea.
Sochi organizers called the event "the most compact Winter Games in the history of the
Olympic Movement." With two hubs of activity – the mountain cluster and the coastal cluster –
travel time between venues within each cluster was very short. A new train service made the trip between the two clusters in less than 30 minutes.
At the coast, where indoor sports such as figure skating, hockey and curling were contested, Sochi has a humid subtropical climate – the average high temperature in February is about 50 degrees, with a low of just under 40 degrees. The mountain cluster hosted skiing and snowboarding as well as the Nordic and sliding sports, and although it's colder at the higher elevations, organizers had 250,000 cubic meters of snow stored underground in case the weather didn't cooperate.
Competition kicked off with action in figure skating, snowboarding and freestyle skiing on Thursday, Feb. 6, ahead of the Opening Ceremony on Friday, Feb. 7. The Games ended on Feb. 23.
