Listening At last they've won
It was the football match of the year. Bill's team had to win to become the champions. Some people had queued all night to see the game, much to the surprise of the stadium staff when they arrived in the morning. Bill was a bit late because of the traffic and arrived about five minutes after the match had begun. He found his reserved seat, sat down and looked at the electronic Scoreboard. His team had scored and were leading 1:0. Then, as Bill made himself comfortable, the other team scored. Bill groaned. Nothing much happened for the next 25 minutes. Bill took out his pipe. Suddenly his team scored again. Bill jumped up and cheered. He sat down and lit a match but the front of his pipe had vanished. He had bitten it in half in his excitement. The score remained 2:1 until the end of the game. As soon as the final whistle blew, thousands of supporters ran onto the pitch. "At last
they've won," Bill said to the man next to him. "And they've been playing good football for years without winning anything."
A. Questions
I. Why was the match so important for Bill's team? 2. Were there many football fans at the stadium? 3. Why was Bill late? 4. What was the score when Bill arrived? 5. What happened when Bill arrived? 6. What did Bill do in his excitement? 7. What was the final score?
B. Write about a football match that impressed you greatly.
We May Get Wet
The telephone rang down in the hall. Ann thought it might be Jack.
She ran down and answered the phone. Jack told her they were going to a football match. She said nothing and suddenly put down the receiver. She got angry. She wanted to go somewhere nice: what girl would want to watch football? Jack ought to know better. But then she felt sorry for Jack — he was trying to be kind.
At that moment the bell rang and she ran back to the telephone. "I think we were cut off," said Jack and she felt very grateful to him. "But do put on proper clothes, because it will very likely rain." She agreed. But when she dressed she decided not to put on her heavy shoes and thick clothes. She wanted to look especially nice to please Jack.
When he saw her he didn't seem to notice how nice she was looking. All he said was, "Do you call that proper clothes?"
They were going to the match by boat. Soon it began to rain. "I'm getting wet," Ann said. "Here you are. You must wear this," Jack said putting his raincoat round Ann's shoulders. "Certainly not!" she said and gave the coat back to him.
By the time they got to the football ground Ann was wet through. She was so unhappy that she hardly saw the match at all. She didn't even know who was playing. At half-time Jack saw she was not enjoying it, so he took her home. "I've learnt my lesson. You ought never to take a girl to a football match," Jack thought on his way back.
A. Questions
1. Why did Ann get angry with Jack? 2. Why was she grateful to Jack? 3. What did Jack warn her about? 4. Did Ann follow his advice? 5. What happened some time later? 6. Why was Arm unhappy? 7. What dicj Jack have to do? 8. What lesson had Jack leamt?
Reading
English Games: Squash
Squash is another of those peculiarly English ball games. It was once confined to Britain and her colonies and played almost exclusively by members of the upper classes, but it must now be one of the world's fastest-growing sports, for the number of participants has increased three or fourfold in the last few years, and new courts are Springing up in almost every comer of the world.
The court consists of a square room in which two players, equipped with rackets similar in shape to tennis rackets, have to strike a small rubber ball. When a player strikes the ball, it may rebound from any of the four walls, but it must strike the front wall of the room before it touches the ground. His opponent then has to hit the ball in his turn. The ball must not bounce on the floor more than once before each player hits it; if a player fails to return the ball to the front wall or to hit the ball before it bounces twice, he loses the point.
One advantage of the game is that, since the court is covered, you don't have to rely On the weather. Moreover you needn't be a great athlete and it isn't necessary to possess exceptional coordination to play the game competently. At top levels players have to be extremely fit and talented, but the average person can get good exercise and enjoy himself thoroughly even at his first attempt.
A. Speak about sports and games in your country.
B. Speak about sports in Great Britain.
C. Sum up the specific vocabulary on the topic "Sports and Pastimes. " Name a) the nouns b) the verbs c) the expressions.
Tke Perfect Pair Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Champions of ice dancing
The place: The Olympic ice rink in Helsinki
The event: World Ice Dance
Championship: (free dance section)
The people: Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean
The crowd stands and shouts with excitement. Flowers fall like showers of rain onto the ice. The young couple hug and kiss each other as they wait for the judges' marks. And suddenly, there
they are!
What an incredible result—nine marks of 6.0! The maximum
score!
"Unbelievably brilliant!" writes one journalist. "Who can beat them now? They are not just the best, they are the best ever!"
Where did it all start? Once upon a time Jayne Torvill was a clerk in an insurance office in Nottingham. Christopher Dean was a trainee policeman. Jayne started skating when she was nine. At twelve she was the British Junior Pairs champion.
Ice skaters who take their sport seriously must give up their whole lives to their training. They start practising early, sometimes before 6 o'clock in the morning, and often do not stop until the early hours of the following morning.
When Jayne and Christopher were young, they didn't do any of the things that ordinary teenagers do. They didn't go to parties or discos. They didn't even have friends or hobbies outside the world of skating. "You have to practise all the time," says Jayne
simply.
The families of the young skaters didn't have enough money for the expenses of ice dancing competitions. Travel, hotel bills, training costumes and skates all amount to a lot of money.
As amateur skaters, Jayne and Christopher could not earn the large sponsorship fees from big companies, but they desperately wanted to take part in major championships.
To their surprise, Jayne and Christopher received a grant of £14,000 from Nottingham City Council. With that money they were able to stop work and give their lives to skating. They began to win medal after medal.
Everyone agrees that Jayne and Christopher are two nice people. They are quiet, shy, polite and not at all spoilt by their success. "Our aim in life is not to own a house and a car and to bring up children. It is to do something different, to achieve something special."
The crowd of 4,000 who stood and cheered at Helsinki, and the millions of people who watched on TV think that this is what Jayne and Christopher have already done.
A. Are you fond of figure skating? Who are your favourite figure-skaters? What do you know about them?
Self check
I. Fill in the blanks with articles if necessary.
In 1988, at (1) age of nineteen, Steffi Graf could finally say, "I am (2) best woman tennis player in (3) world." In that year she won all (4) Grand tournaments : (5) French Open, Wimbledon, (6) US Open and Australian Open.
Steffi started young. When she was only four years old her father, Peter, gave her (7) small tennis racket. They played together in (8) living room, and they used (9) sofa as (10) net. If Steffi could hit (11) ball back ten times, she got (12) bread stick. If she hit it back twenty-five times, she got (13) strawberries and (14) ice-cream!
Steffi started winning (15) competitions when she was six. At (16) age often she could play very well, and her father gave up his job and became her tennis teacher.
Today Steffi is (17) brilliant and confident player — (18) true champion, but she still enjoys being at home with her family, with her mother, Heidi, her brother, Michael (who is two years younger than she is) and of course, her father, Peter. She also has two dogs, Max and Ben.
When she isn't playing (19) tennis, Steffi likes (20) shopping, (21) playing (22) cards and listening to (23) music. She can't drive yet but she's already got three cars. She won them as (24) prizes in (25) competitions. Steffi travels a lot and she speaks very good English.
II. Translate from Russian into English.
1. Когда я был студентом, я занимался спортом. Я хорошо бегал и прыгал. Но когда я стал старше, я забросил спорт и очень жалею об этом. Этой зимой я собираюсь ходить на лыжах и кататься на коньках, а когда придет лето, буду плавать и заниматься греблей. 2. Я очень люблю фигурное катание и всегда смотрю по телевизору международные соревнования по фигурному катанию. 3. Я учусь в лингвистическом университете. У нас прекрасный спортзал и все возможности для хорошей физической подготовки. 4. Мой брат мечтает поставить рекорд по плаванию. Он много тренируется. 5. Я предпочитаю легкую атлетику боксу и борьбе. 6. Альпинизм — опасный вид спорта. 7. Моя дочь увлекается спортом. Ей хорошо дается фигурное катание, она хорошо плавает и бегает. 8. Вы собираетесь участвовать в лодочных гонках? — Нет, я сейчас не в форме. 9. Я, кажется, знаю этого человека. Он был когда-то отличным бегуном, а теперь он тренирует молодых спортсменов. 10. Кем был установлен последний мировой рекорд по прыжкам в высоту? — Не знаю. Я не увлекаюсь легкой атлетикой. Я предпочитаю футбол. 11. В прошлую субботу я и мой друг ходили на стадион. Играли московский "Спартак" и минское "Динамо". Мой друг — москвич, и он болеет за московский "Спартак", а я болельщик минского "Динамо". Игра была захватывающей. Обе команды были в хорошей спортивной форме. Первым забил гол нападающий минского "Динамо". Несколько минут спустя спартаковский полузащитник сравнял счет. Первая половина матча закончилась вничью. Во второй половине матча динамовцы были сильнее своих соперников и забили еще один гол. Они победили со счетом 2:1. Я был доволен, а мой друг расстроен.
UNIT 13