Тема / Топик по английскому языку:
Sports in Great Britain

England is a sports-loving nation. Sports in England take many forms: organized sports, which attract huge crowds to encourage 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 ball towards and into holes separated by considerable distances, by means of special «golf clubs». The 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 at 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.

Topical Vocabulary

- a sports-loving nation
нация любителей спорта
organized sports
организованный спорт
to attract crowds
зд.: привлекать большое количество зрителей
to encourage one’s favourite team to victory
болеть за любимую команду
an athletic game
спортивная игра
to play a game for recreation
играть во что-либо ради отдыха
- a spectator sport
«зрительский» вид спорта
participant
массовый (о виде спорта)
a tournament
турнир
- cricket
крокет
to be English in origin
быть английским по происхождению
to be accepted with enthusiasm
приниматься с энтузиазмом
the Commonwealth
Британское Содружество
- to make no progress in popularity
не становиться более популярным
association football (soccer)
традиционный футбол
to attend a match
посещать матч
a professional team
профессиональная команда
to be organized by the Football League
организовываться Лигой футбола
the Cup Final
финал Кубка
- rugby football (rugger)
регби
an amateur
любитель
- golf
гольф
a golf club
клюшка в гольфе
a stroke
удар
a world championship match
матч чемпионата мира
to be held
проводиться
- horse-racing
скачки
to risk money on the horse
поставить деньги на лошадь
motor-car racing
авторалли
boat-racing
гонки на лодках
dog-racing
собачьи бега
- athletics
атлетика (часто - легкая атлетика)
to be wide-spread
быть широко распространенным
to toboggan
кататься на санях, санках
- to form an essential part of daily life
составлять важную часть повседневной жизни

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 England?

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 Содружества.
  4. Популярность клубного футбола быстро растет.
  5. Регби - в основном непрофессиональный вид спорта.
  6. Многие англичане любят скачки и ставят деньги на лошадей.
  7. Среди англичан популярность завоевали как спортивные игры, так и различные виды спорта, в том числе различные виды легкой атлетики.
  8. Спорт, в той или иной разновидности, играет важную роль в повседневной жизни англичан.