2015-04-01
996
Almost everybody likes sports, either to play or to watch. It’s common knowledge that sports are a good, healthy activity in either case. If you play sports, of course your health will improve and you will be a happier person for it. If you watch spectator sports like professional baseball or figure skating, you can enjoy it with your family or friends. Children will learn many good things from watching sports contests. They can learn the virtues of patience, hard work, teamwork, and fair play. Sports are an important part of society. Everybody agrees about that, but there is no agreement about which sports are best. For instance, some people like jogging. They say it’s the best personal sport because it gives your cardiovascular system an intensive workout. They say it is interesting to jog through the countryside, breathing the fresh air. Others say biking is the best because you can go farther and faster. Still others think swimming is best because it exercises the whole body and is easier on the joints, like knees. They say jogging is bad for your knees and doctors seem to agree. In any case everybody has their own favorite personal sport.
As for spectator sports, there might be an even bigger variety of tastes. Lots of people in the US swear that baseball is the best sport. They say it is a true gentleman’s sport. It is poetry in motion. Others criticize baseball as a boring sport with too little “action”. They say that the games take too long and there’s too much ”time out”. In America, people who hate baseball probably prefer American football. They say it is highly competitive, with lots of excitement. On the other hand, it is a brutal sport because the players always play dirty and hurt the other team’s players on purpose. In Europe lots of people prefer soccer. They say it’s better than American football because in soccer the players are fighting for the ball, not to hurt the other team. However, Americans don’t like soccer because they think there’s too much running and not enough scoring.
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Recently, auto-racing sport has become very popular. Exciting racing action attracts a lot of fans. They can see racing live and on television.
Basketball is a very common sport in many countries. It can be played indoors or outdoors at any time of a year. But it is usually played indoors during the winter. High schools, universities, and professional teams have exciting contests, and fans come to see great talent and skill. Do you know what softball is? It is a game similar to baseball, played with a ball called a softball. Most of the rules for this game are similar to those of baseball. This game is played by both men and women.
Golf, some historians say, was originated in the Netherlands. Maybe it is true. But now it is very popular in the USA, too. There are lots of golf clubs in the country. They say, more than 12,400 golf courses serve over 20 million people.
Tennis may be played indoors and outdoors. There are lots of tennis clubs in the USA. It is played by children and adults, by professionals and amateurs. Fitness clubs are a popular place to find good partners for playing tennis. If you are very good at this game you can find a professional player, and even if you are a rookie, you will meet your match, too.
Notes:
· virtue - добродетель
· cardiovascular – сердечно-сосудистый
· joint - сустав
· rookie – (амер.) новичок в спортивной команде
