2. Make up your own dialogues, discussing the read texts in pairs. Use the following notes:

–  the similarities and differences of British and American systems of education;

–  the difference between civil and military education;

–  the pros and cons (за и против) of study at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Unit 4. Sport and health

4.1. Sport in Great Britain

Reading and Writing

1. Scan the text "Sport in Great Britain" to get the full idea of it. Find the paragraphs about:

• Britons attitude (отношение) to sport;

• British national kind of sport;

• the other popular kinds of sport in the UK.

2. Find in the text the English equivalents to:

• известно, что британцы – большие любители спорта;

• одна из наиболее популярных спортивных игр;

• являться как игрой, так и стандартом поведения;

• профессиональные и любительские футбольные клубы;

• самый зрелищный вид спорта;

• привлекать большие массы зрителей.

3. Read and translate the text for getting the detailed content.

Before reading study some kinds of sport and sports games:

athletics [əθ`letiks] – атлетика, лёгкая атлетика

artistic gymnastics [a:`tistic gim`næstiks] – спортивная гимнастика

baseball [`beisbəl] – бейсбол

badminton [`bædmintən] – бадминтон

boxing [`boksiŋ] – бокс

broad jumping [`bro:d `jΛmpiŋ] – прыжки в длину

cricket rugby [`krikit `rΛgbi] – регби (разновидность футбола)

discus throwing [`diskəs ,θrəuiŋ] – метание диска

golf – гольф

high jumping [`hai `d3Λmpiŋ] – прыжки в высоту

hockey, grass-hockey [`gra:s `hoki] – хоккей, хоккей на траве

horse-racing [`ho:s `reisiŋ] (motor-car [`motəu ,ka:] racing, dog-racing, boat-racing [`bəut ,reisiŋ]) – лошадиные скачки (гонки на спортивных машинах, собачьи бега, соревнования по спортивной гребле)

pole vault [`pəul ,vo:lt] – прыжок с шестом

running, jumping, swimming and boxing – виды лёгкой атлетики: бег, конкур (преодоление препятствий на лошади), плавание, бокс

skating (figure [`figə] skating, speed skating) – катание на коньках (фигурное катание, конькобежный спорт)

skiing (ski jumping, snowboard [`snəubo:d], cross-country skiing, biathlon) – катание на лыжах (прыжки с трамплина, сноуборд, лыжные гонки, биатлон)

soccer ['sokə] – футбол (по правилам Национальной ассоциации футболистов Великобритании)

tennis (table tennis) – теннис (настольный теннис)

tobogganing [tə`bo:gəniŋ] – санный спорт

weightlifting [`weitliftiŋ] – тяжёлая атлетика

wrestling [`restliŋ] (free-style [`fri:stail] wrestling, Greco-Roman style [`grikəu `rəumən]) – борьба (вольная борьба, греко-римская борьба)

Sport in Great Britain

The British people are known to be great sports-lovers, so when they are neither playing, nor watching games, they like to talk about them. One of the most popular sports games in the UK is cricket. It is often played in schools, colleges, universities and by club teams all over the country. To many Englishmen cricket is both a game and a standard of behaviour. When they consider something unfair, they say: "that's not cricket", that means "that's not fair"; the idiom "to play the game" has the opposite meaning "to be fair".

But as almost everywhere else in the world, the game which attracts the greatest attention is football, or soccer. It should be noted that the game of football was first played in Britain¹. Today there are plenty of professional and amateur soccer clubs all over the country. International football matches and the Cup Finals take place traditionally at Wembley.

Rugby (rugby football), the other kind of football, is also very popular in the UK. There are two forms of rugby football: the amateur game and the professional game. The two games have different rules.

Next to football, the most spectacular sport in Britain is horse-racing. A lot of people are interested in races and risk money on the horse which they think will win.

Britain is also famous for motor-car racing, dog-racing, boat-racing, and even races for donkeys. The famous boat-race between the teams of Oxford and Cambridge attracts large crowds of spectators.

A great number of Britons play and watch tennis. Tennis tournaments at Wimbledon are known all over the world. Such games as golf, baseball, hockey, and grass-hockey are also popular in the UK, as well as various forms of athletics, such as running, jumping, swimming, and boxing.

As for winter sports, they are not very popular in England because of the weather that is not cold enough.

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¹ football was first played in Britain – в футбол впервые стали играть в Великобритании

Names:

Cup Final [`kΛp `fainl] – финал розыгрыша кубка

Wembley [`wembli] – стадион Уэмбли в Лондоне

Wimbledon ['wimbldən] – Уимблдон (предместье Лондона)