Read the letter and answer it.
Dear Sergei,
How are you? I have received your letter of 10-th June for which I thank you very much. I am sorry I haven't written to you sooner, but I have had many things to do. You know it was a very hard year for me. I spent my time getting ready for my exams and I was doing well in many subjects. After passing the exams I was enroled into the University. The whole course of study is four years. My major subject is mathematics. It is my favourite and my hobby. I am good at it and do maths whenever I have a chance. I take many courses in this subject. I like to take part in mathematical competitions organized at our department and at the University. I think that mathematics is «the language of science» and plays an important part in many sciences. We are lucky to have a brilliant lecturer in mathematics this term. He has a talent to take a difficult subject and make it simple. You leave the lecture hall with a feeling that mathematics is the most interesting subject under the sun. Next term I'll do research in the field of computer engineering.
And how do you feel about maths? Please, write to me, I am especially interested in your life in students' hostel.
Good-bye for the present, your friend Mike
1. Read and translate the texts given below:
SPORTS IN GREAT BRITAIN
England is a sports-loving nation. Sports in England take many forms: organized sports, which attract huge crowds to cncourage their favourite team to victory, athletic games played for recreation and others.
Some sports are called spectator sports, when the number of spectators is greater than the number of people playing in the game. Other sports are called participant, sports attracting large crowds only on special occasions such as tournaments.
The game peculiarly associated with England is cricket. Many other games too are English in origin, but have been accepted with enthusiasm in other countries; cricket has been seriously and extensively accepted only in the Commonwealth, particularly in Australia, India, Pakistan.
Cricket is slow, and a spectator, sitting in the afternoon sun after his lunch, may be excused for having a little sleep for half an hour. Cricket is making no progress in popularity. Association football or soccer is, very popular. Nearly 49 million spectators each year attend matches between the great professional teams organized by the Football League, The biggest event in England is the Cup Final played at the Empire Stadium, Wembley, in a London suburb.
Rugby football is played with an egg-shaped ball which may be carried and thrown (but not forward). Rugby is played mainly by the amateurs.
The games of golf and tennis are played by great numbers of people. Golf is played in the countryside. It consists in driving a small b.all towards and into holes separated by considerable distances, by means of special "golf clubs" Th,e aim is to go round using as few strokes as possible. There are many tennis clubs, but every town provides tennis courts in public parks. The world championship tennis matches are held nt Wimbledon in London, during June and July.
Next to football, the chief Spectator sport in Britain is horse-racing. A lot of people are interested in the races and risk money on the horse which they think will win. Britain is also famous for motor-car racing, boat-racing, dog-racing, and even races for donkeys. The famous boat-race between the teams of Oxford and Cambridge attracts large crowds of people.
Various forms of athletics, such as running, boxing, jumping, swimming are wide-spread in England. The English weather is not always cold enough to ski, skate, or toboggan, but winter is a good season for hunting and fishing.
Indeed sport in one form or another forms an essential part of daily life in Britain.
Learn the vocabulary.
to encourage one's favourite team to victory - болеть за любимую команду
an athletic game - спортивная игра
a spectator sport - «зрительский» вид спорта
participant sport - массовый спорт
a tournament - турнир
cricket - крикет
association football (soccer) - традиционный футбол
the Cup Final - финал Кубка
rugby football (rugger) - регби
an amateur - любитель
golf - гольф
a stroke - удар
horse-racing скачки
motor-car racing авторалли
boat-racing гонки на лодках
dog-racing собачьи бега
athletics атлетика (часто — легкая атлетика)
to toboggan кататься на санях, санках
3. Give Russian equivalents:
A sports-loving nation, to be organized by the Football League, а world championship match, to be held, to risk money on the horse, to be wide-spread, to form an essential part of daily life, to attract crowds, to play a game for recreation.
4. Translate into English:
Oрганизованный спорт, посещать матч, профессиональная команда, быть английским по происхождению, приниматься с энтузиазмом, Британское Содружество, не становиться более популярным, существенная часть повседневной жизни.
5. Answer the questions:
1. What forms does sport in England take?
2. What game is associated with Great Britain?
3. What is the difference between the two kinds of football played in the United Kingdom?
4. What kind of game is golf?
5. What are other spectator sports popular in England? '
6. What forms of athletics are wide-spread in England9
6. Translate into English:
1. В Англии, стране любителей спорта, получили распространение различные виды спорта и спортивные игры.
2. Крупные соревнования по многим видам спорта привлекают огромное число зрителей.
3. Крокет — чисто национальная английская игра, она получила широкое распространение только в странах Со-' дружества.
3. Популярность клубного футбола быстро растет.
4. Регби — в основном непрофессиональный вид спорта.
5. Многие англичане любят скачки и ставят деньги на лошадей.
1. Read and translate the texts given below:
SPORTS IN THE USA
In the USA many sports and sports activities attract million! of active participants. One reason of the popularity of sport in America may be the variety and size of America, providing Americans with a large choice of summer and winter sports. I n addition, public sports facilities have always been available in great number for participants. Another reason might be that Americans like competition, by teams or as individuals, of any type. Others point out that American schools and collegei follow the tradition of all English-speaking societies in using sports activities as a way of teaching "social values".
In the USA much attention is given to organized sports. Hockey, football, baseball, basketball and volleyball are thf five major sports.
Football is the most popular spectator sport. What makci football in the USA so different from its European cousins, rugby and soccer, is not just the size, speed and strength of its players, Rather, it is the most "scientific" of all outdoor team sportr. Specific rules state what each player in each position may and may not do, and when. There are hundreds of possible "plays* (or moves) for teams on offence and defence. Baseball is now in second place among the sports people most like to watch. Baseball is still very popular as an informal, neighbourhood sport.
Baseball and football have the reputation of being "typically American" team sports. This is ironic because the two mosl popular participant sports in the world today are indeed American in origin- basketball and volleyball. Both games were invented and first played at a YMCA in Massachusetts. Basketball wal invented as a game that would fill empty period between th# football season and the baseball season. Today, of course, both basketball and volleyball are played everywhere by mm and women of all ages. They are especially popular as schoolsports. Professional and collegiate basketball games in the USA attract large numbers of fans. Most of the important games are televised live.
Sporting activities are a part of daily American life.There are many other sports and sports activities in America which attract millions of active participants. Among them are golf, swimming, tennis, marathon, track-and-field, bowling, archery, skiing, skating, squash and badminton, rowing and sailing, weight-lifting, boxing and wrestling. 45% of all Americans take part in some athletic activity once a day. Swimming, bicycling, fishing, jogging, callisthenics or gymnastics, and bowling are American's favourite participatory sports. Skating and tobogganing are wide-spread activities, too. Fishing and hunting are extremely popular in all parts of the country and have been since the days when they were necessary activities among the early settlers. As could be expected, all water sports and activities are very popular, including diving, sailing, white-water canoeing, water-skiing.
There are also several sports in the US which were once (bought of as being "strange", but have now gained international popularity. Among these is skate-boarding, wind-surfing and triathlon.
Learn the vocabulary.
rugby - регби
socce - футбол
on offence and defence - в нападении и защите
a collegiate game - «университетская» спортивная игра
to be televised live - передавать по ТВ в прямой трансляции
marathon - марафон
track-and-field - легкая атлетика
bowling - игра в кегли
archery - стрельба из лука
squash - сквош
rowing - гребля
sailing - парусный спорт
weight-lifting поднятие тяжестей, тяжелая атлетика
wrestling - борьба
jogging - бег трусцой
callisthenics - художественная гимнастика
a participatory sport - массовый вид спорта
tobogganing - катание на санках
diving - прыжки в воду
white-water canoeing - спуск на каноэ по горным рекам
water-skiing - катание на водных лыжах
skate-boarding - катание на скейте
wind-surfing - виндсерфинг
triathlon - триатлон
3. Give Russian equivalents:
A participant sport, sports and sports activities, to provide smb. with a large choice of smth., public sports facilities, to give much attention to smth., a collegiate game, to attract fans, a wide-Spread activity, competition by teams or as individuals, to be available.
4. Translate into English:
Организованный спорт, «зрительский» спорт, Христианский союз молодых людей, быть особенно популярным в учебных заведениях, игра, в которой участвуют профессионалы, массовый вид спорта, спортивная игра, в которую играют на открытых площадках, способ привить систему социальных ценностей чему-либо.
5. Answer the questibns:
1. What are the reasons of popularity of sports in America?
2. What makes American football different from European soccer and rugby?
3. What games have the reputation of "typically American" team sports?
4. What two participant sports originated in America?
5. What other sports and sports activities attract millions of participants?
6. What "strange" sports originated in America and gained international popularity?
6. Translate into English:
1. Существует несколько причин, по которым спорт в Америке привлекает миллионы активных участников.
2. Вот эти причины: размеры страны, наличие спортивных сооружений, любовь к соревнованиям любого рода и т. д.
3. В Америке популярны такие спортивные игры, как хоккей, бейсбол, волейбол, футбол и баскетбол.
4. Самые популярные из зрительских видов спорта — футбол и бейсбол. Самые популярные массовые спортивные игры — баскетбол и волейбол — возникли в Америке.
5. «Университетский» спорт в США собирает большое количество болельщиков.
6. Особенно популярны матчи профессионалов: часто ведется Их прямая трансляция.
7. Многие виды спорта составляют часть повседневной жизни в Америке: гольф, теннис, марафон, легкая атлетика, стрельба из лука, борьба, тяжелая атлетика и т. д.
8. Широко распространены катание на санях, прыжки в воду, водные лыжи, гребля на каноэ, художественная гимнастика, бег трусцой.
9. Некоторые «странные» виды спорта, такие как катание на скейте, виндсерфинг и триатлон, возникли в Америке и завоевали популярность в других странах.
1. Read and translate the texts given below: