Lesson 14
What Sports Do They Enjoy?
Text A
Not all people like to wnrk but everyone likes to play.
All over the world men and women and boys and girls enjoy sports. iends
the days of long ago, adults and children have called their friends
together to spend hours , even days , playing games.
Sports help people to live happily. They help to keep
people healthy and feeling good. When they are playing games, people move
a lot. This is good for their health. I-Iaving fun with their friends
makes them happy.
Many people enjoy sports by watching others play. In
small towns , crowds meet to watch the bicycle races or the soccer game.In
the big cities, thousands buy tickets to see an ice-skating show or a
baseball game.
What games have you played? What are your favorite
sports now? You probably play the games that people in your town or city
play. Is the climate hot where you live? Then swimming is probably one of
your sports. Boys and girls in Australia love tc swim. There are wonderful
beaches there and the weather is good for swimming.
Or do you live in
a cold climate? Then you would like to ski. There are many skiers in
Austria where there are big mountains and cold winters. Does it rain often
where you live? Then kite flying would not be one of your sports. It is
one of the favorite sports of Thailand.
Surfing is an important sport in Hawaii. The Pacific
Ocean sends huge waves up on the beaches, waves that are just right for
surfing . But you need to live near an ocean to ride the waves and enjoy
surfing.
People in Switzerland love to climb the wonderful
mountains of their country. Mountain climbing and hiking are favorite
sports there. But there can be no mountain climbing where tlmc re are no
mountains.
Sposts change with the season. People often do not play
the same games in winter as in summer. Sailing is fun in warm weather, but
when it gets cold it's time to change to other sports. People talk about
sports' seasons. Baseball is only played for a few months of the year.
This is called "the baseball season".
Text B
Have you ever wondered how some people can break bricks
wi th their bare hands'? People who can do this kind of thing are experts
in Karate. They are called "Karatekas". Let's try to f ind out
how karatekas could do such things. We wanted to learn i f they were
especially strong and we got some surprising answers!
Believe it or not
, Karatekas aren't stronger than ordinary nary people - they just have
more courage! A Karate expertstrikes hard objects like bricks or plates
with the small bone in his wrist , opposite the thumb. Speed is the
essence of this sport. But the strange thing is that untrained men can
break hard objects in the same way just as well as Karatekas.
Of course,
Karatekas practise a lot and they have a layer of hard skin round their
wrists. Though they have this advantage over ordinary people, it's
basically lust a question of willpower-at least , that's what you can tell
your mother afer you've experimentedon a few dinner plates !
Additional Information
The Football Match
Thi's is John Roberts reporting from Cardiff. The
result of the match which finished at four this afternoon between France
and Wales was a draw. Neither side scored. The Dutch referee did not allow
the one goal which France managed to kick. The reason for this was that a
French player was unfortunately off side. So both teams went .home
disappointed. This means that neither the French nor the Welsh team will
reach first place in this international competition.
However, I can say that the spectators were delighted
with the game. They particularly admired the French forwards, who were
always fast and often threatened the Welsh defence. Once it looked as
though the Welsh goalkeeper was in serious trouble.
He dived to
his right to save a shot from the French centre forward and crashed his
head against the goal post. A doctor examined him but he soon began to
play again. Of course the large, friendly crowd applauded him. Wales will
certainly welcome another visit from this splendid team.
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