Text 5. То Watch or Participate in Sport Activity?

Vocabulary

to keep fit; to be in good shape — быть в форме

stamina — выносливость, запас жизненных сил

injury, to injury — вред, повреждение; ранить, повредить

mountaineering— альпинизм

in high spirits — в хорошем настроении

patient— терпеливый

I can call myself a couch potato. "Couch potato" means a person who spends time lying on the sofa and watching TV. It's difficult to say, what better is — to watch or participate. If you go in for some kinds of sport, you keep fit, make your body more flexible, increase your strength, stamina. Sport also unites people and helps them to become good friends. It teaches you about life. It makes men out

of boys.

But on the other hand, sport takes a lot of energy and time. You have to work very hard. You don't have too much time for something else. And, of course, sport causes a lot of injuries. Sportsmen break their legs and arms, people die from sporting injuries.

Some kinds of sports are very dangerous, for exam­ple mountaineering and air sports, racing, boxing etc. These kind of sport are of extreme character, they are very risky. But some people enjoy these sport activities, as they would like to be famous and known all over the world.

As for me I can't say that sport is a very important part of my life, though I try to do morning exercises every day and twice a week I go to the swimming pool. In our school we have two gyms and a sports ground. We play different sport games, such as football, hockey, tennis, etc. Also we have two PT lessons a week. And I like our teacher very much. He is always in good shape and in high spirits. He is very patient and teaches us many things. Looking at him I always think that if you want to have a healthy mind, you must have a healthy body.

I also like to watch some sports events and TV pro­grammes about famous sportsmen, how they became champions, what difficulties they had, their success and plans for future.

What is better to watch or participate?. To my mind it should be the combination of these both com­ponents. Sports help people to keep in good health and health is above wealth.

Answer the following questions:

1. What kinds of sport are popular in Russia? 2. Are you against or for sports? 3. What are the advantages of going in for sports? 4. What are the disadvantages of going in for sports? 5. Is sport important to you? Why? 6. Do you go in for sports? Why? 7. What is your favourite kind of sport? 8. Do you like to watch sports competitions? What competitions do you like to watch? 9. When outstanding sportsmen/women do you know? 10. Which do you prefer, to take part in sports or to watch it on TV? Why? 11. Why do some people prefer to watch sports competition and not to god for sports?

Text 6. Healthy Living Guide

Vocabulary

wise— мудрый

daily activity — повседневная деятельность

to be in good shape — быть в хорошей форме

obesity— ожирение

to skip — пропускать

to ride bike — кататься на велосипеде

to give up — отказаться

flexible — гибкий

There is nothing more important than health. "Health is above wealth", wise people say, because you can't be good at your studies or work well if you don't take care of your health. Sport helps people to keep in good health and to become strong, to develop physically and it makes then more organized and bet­ter disciplined in their daily activities.

We all need to exercise. Even if we don't plan to make a career in sport we still have to practice. Regular exercises give people more energy. Sport builds character, it makes us strong. It makes men out of boys. It helps to meet people and to become good friends. Sport teaches us to win and to lose. And, of course, those people who go in for different kinds of sports are in a good shape.

Sport is very important, but you shouldn't forget about healthy food and good sleep for seven or eight hours. Obesity and physical inactivity are known from ancient times. They are joined by the modern bad habits: smoking and drinking too much alcohol, sleeping too much or too little, eating between meals and skipping breakfast. In combination these bad habits can lead to different diseases and sometimes even worse than that.

As for me I try to take care of my health, though sometimes it's very difficult. In the morning I usual­ly do my morning exercises. In summer I ride bike a lot, play badminton, go hiking. In winter I ski in the forest, which is near by.

But I have some problems with the food. I like cakes and chocolate very much. And it's difficult for me to give up the sweets. Sometimes I'm too lazy to do morning exercises. But I can be proud of myself as this year I started to go to the swimming pool twice a week and never missed it. I enjoy it and think that any sports activity makes my body more flexible, helps me to feel better and to relax.

Text 7. Sport and Healthy Living Guide

Vocabulary

irrespective of —- независимо от

social classes — (зд.) сословие

to get skills and habits — приобрести навыки и привычки

track and field athletics — легкая атлетика

high-fat food — пища с большим содержанием жира

to gain the weight — набирать вес

to take drugs — принимать наркотики

All over the world people of different ages and nationalities are fond of sports and games. Sport makes people healthy, keeps them in good shape, teaches them to be more organized and better disci­plined. Sport builds character, it teaches people to win and to lose. It makes them strong and helps to work off extra energy. And of course sport unites people and makes them friends irrespective of their nationalities, social classes, religious.

Sport is very popular in Russia. More than 30 mil­lion people go to sport centres, among them there are teenagers. All schoolchildren have at least two PT lessons a week. Most schools have well-equipped gyms, swimming pools and tennis courts where stu­dents can develop physically and get all the necessary skills and habits.

Teenagers as well as adults participate in a great number of sport events. They include indoor and out­door sports such as football, ice hockey, volleyball, basketball, track and field athletics, etc,

One of the most popular kinds of sport is football. According to official figures, nearly 5 million people go in for it. Ice hockey is one of the most popular win­ter sports. Russian players have been taking part in world championships since 1954 and have won the world title on many occasions. In 1988 it was the hundredth anniversary of athletics. Track and field athletics are participated by more than seven million people now. Russian sportsmen are the European, World and Olympic records holders in different dis­ciplines. Other popular team games are basketball and volleyball. More than six million people play volleyball in physical culture teams and sporting clubs. The men's and women's teams won Olympic, European and World Champions titles for many times. A little less people play basketball. Since 1952 our volleyball -teams have been among the Olympic prize winners for several times.

So sport is a very important part of our life. It helps people to be in good health. But some people don't think about their health very much. They eat a lot of high-fat food, such as bread, sweets and so on and gain the weight. They are not active physically. They sleep too much or too little. The worst habits some people have are smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs. All these things destroy their health. They don't look, attractive-at all and their future isn't clear. So if people want to feel and look great it's very important for them, to go in for sports, .to have good healthy food, to sleep seven or eight hours, give up smoking and alcohol.

There is nothing more important than health, because you can't be good at your studies or work well, it's difficult to be happy in your private life if you don't take care of you health.

Text 8. Healthy Lifestyle

Vocabulary

life expectancy –средняя продолжительность жизни

to increase –увеличиваться

average figures -средние цифры

medical research –медицинское обследование

to be eliminated– быть уничтоженным

to be endangered by smth –подвергаться опасности

increasing pollution of the environ­ment –нарастающее загрязнение окружающей среды

sedentary lifestyle –сидячий образ жизни

the majority of the population –большинство населения

to lead to epidemics –привести к эпидемии

to be overweight –иметь лишний вес, быть полным

to preserve one's health –охранять здоровье

healthy way of life –здоровый образ жизни

to keep fit –поддерживать хорошую физическую форму

balanced meals –сбалансированное питание

to give up unhealthy habits –отказаться от вредных привычек

drugs –наркотики

physical fitness –физическая подготовленность, хорошая физическая форма

to become an integral part of one'slife -стать неотъемлемой частью жизни

fitnessboom –бум фитнеса

to participate in sports and sports activities –заниматься спортом и физкультурой

moderate physical activity –умеренная физическая активность

to protect smb from heart diseases and strokes –защищать кого-либо от заболеваний сердца и инсультов

obesity and influenza –ожирение и грипп

health and fitness club –оздоровительный клуб

public leisure centre –оздоровительный центр

indoor water park –крытый аквапарк

to design exercises –разработать упражнения

to do aerobics or yoga –заниматься аэробикой и йогой

weight training –силовые тренировки

gym –спортивный зал

Jogging –бег трусцой

accessible sport –доступный спорт

to do a sport on a regular basis –регулярно заниматься спортом

to be popular among the old and the young –быть популярным среди стариков и молодежи

mass running competition –массовые соревнования по бегу

to gain popularity with smb –завоевать популярность среди кого-либо

city marathon – городской марафон

to become sportiang events reported on the radio, television and in the press –стать спортивными событиями, которые освещаются на радио, телевидении и в прессе

healthy diet –здоровая диета

to contain reduced amounts of cholesterol –содержать небольшие количества холестерина

fat -жир

to protect one's body from smth –защищать тело от чего-либо

heart disease –сердечное заболевание

liver disease –заболевание печени

cancer -рак

to abstain from smoking –воздерживаться от курения

to be hazardous for smb's health –быть вредным для чьего-либо здоровья

to lead to fatal diseases –привести к смертельной болезни

to be banned in all public places –быть запрещенным во всех общественных местах