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does as a financial consultant (Italian referees are not yet full-time professionals). Does he think of himself as a referee or a financial consultant? ‘It’s not easy to say what my real job is, but being a financial adviser is something I will be doing long after I’ve stopped refereeing.’

All the same there is no doubting his commitment to football and the sense of kinship he feels with his fellow referees, and this is reflected in a sensitivity to questions about the standard of refereeing. He is weary of the idea that referees are the only people who make mistakes in football. ‘Nobody is perfect. In football, everyone tries to do their best, but sometimes they can’t. I remember a short speech by Giovanni Trapattoni, given while he was the coach of Fiorentina, three or four years ago. His goalkeeper had made a terrible mistake, which cost his team dearly. Trapattoni said afterwards, “If a player cannot commit an error on the field, then we might as well stop playing this game and go home now.” And I think it has to be the same for the referee, too.’

He regards television as ‘an unequal instrument’ when it comes to recording refereeing mistakes. ‘It’s too easy to find an angle of vision different from my angle of vision that could show clearly that something happened in a different way from the way I judged. That’s why it seems as though nowadays there are many more refereeing mistakes than there were 15 years ago. Back then there were only three cameras in the middle of the field covering the whole playing area. Now there are 16. Maybe at the next World Cup there will be 20.

Later, though, he does waver over whether television may help in eliminating what he calls ‘simulation’ – what we know as ‘diving’ – a player falling deliberately to fool the referee into awarding a foul or – quite often – a penalty. Collina sees diving as a crime against fellow workers. ‘At the end of the day, all footballers are colleagues. I think gaining an unfair advantage by diving can create a lot of problems for an opponent. The result of a relegation match, for instance, could end a player’s career. So I think a player should think carefully, very carefully, before diving.’

Trust in players is a recurring theme with Collina and, even if you suspect there must be some notable exceptions, it is equally possible to believe that the secret of his success is his inclination to think the best of the 22 others he shares a pitch with. ‘I don’t want to start a match without trusting the players because I couldn’t have a good working relationship with a man I didn’t trust. It’s impossible.’

And the match he most enjoyed being part of? Refereeing usually gets in the way of enjoying the football on display, ‘but there are matches with high emotion, and I think no one will ever forget the Champions League 1999 final in Barcelona (Bayern Munich 1, Manchester United 2). The way United clinched the title in the last three minutes is, to my mind, one of the greatest moments in world football.

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They say the ultimate success for a good referee is if you hardly notice his presence. You know, I’d clean forgotten Pierluigi Collina was in charge that night in Barcelona.

(From “Upstream Advanced. Student’s Book”. P. 154–155)

5.Find the synonyms in the text to the following words/phrases: tendency, in person, hard-working, characteristic, secured, nevertheless.

6.Which of the following adjectives can be used to describe Collina’s personality as portrayed in the article? Justify your answers by referring to the article. Discuss in pairs:

affable conscientious hard-working strict principled unapproachable respectable

7.What does the writer mean by the following?

…that could have triggered the attack…

…the disorder which gave him such a distinctive look…

... Collina skips down the stairs...

... work his way through the ranks ...

…his commitment to football… …He is weary of the idea that… …he does waver over… …what we know as ‘diving’…

… I’d clean forgotten Pierluigi Collina was in charge that night...

8. Discuss with your group mates the following:

а. How important is the concept of “fair play” in sport? What usually makes sportsmen cheat?

b.How important is winning, compared to merely participating, for the following groups of people, and why?

–professional athletes;

–amateur athletes;

–children learning sports at school;

–people who do sports mainly as a way of keeping fit.

c.What sporting achievements inspire or impress you, and why?

d.What motivates people to take part in activities such as marathon running, endurance sports or sumo wrestling even though their health may be permanently injured as a result?

e.What lessons can people learn from the example of disabled people who take part in competitive sports?

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IV. On Your Own

1. Making a report.

Make a report with a presentation about a famous sportsman. Find out if your group mates have heard of this sportsman. Ask them to take notes and get ready to render your speech into Russian.

(Alternative task. Prepare a few questions to your group mates. Present them before the report and ask them to note down the answers as they listen to you. Check their comprehension afterwards. Have they answered all your questions? If they haven’t reflect on why they might have missed the information or misunderstood it.)

Speak about:

–his/her biography;

–his/her career path;

–his/her most outstanding achievements/records in sport;

–any other of his/her achievements.

2.Do you know any girls/women who play football (soccer)? Is this sport popular with women in your country? Watch the video at https://learnenglish. britishcouncil.org/en/word-street/womens-football, where Joe visits the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club to watch the Ladies Academy side compete and to learn more about women’s football in England. Then complete the tasks on the site? How did you score?

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Module 4

SPORTING EVENTS

I. Lead-in

Discuss the following questions:

a)Why are people fond of watching sports?

b)What are the world famous sporting events that are held regularly? Do you usually watch them? Do you watch them on TV, in the Internet, at the stadiums or other sport arenas?

c)Do you always watch the Olympic Games? What role do you think such events as the Olympic Games play in the world today? Give a detailed answer.

d)Why do you think the countries are usually so fierce in the competition for holding such sport events as the Olympic Games, World Cups and others?

II. Focus on Vocabulary

1. Correct the wrong statements:

1.There is no difference between “soccer” and “rugby”.

2.Badminton can be played only indoors.

3.The goal-keeper acts as a judge in football.

4.A tennis ball is struck with a club.

5.We use balls when playing badminton.

6.Golf is played on ice fields.

7.Hockey is one of the most popular summer games.

8.Table-tennis and lawn-tennis are one and the same game.

9.In hockey a hand-ball and rackets are used.

10.Boxers fight with bare hands.

11.Track and field events are never included in Olympic Games.

12.You may touch the ball with your hands when playing football.

2. Find the odd-one-out in each set, then briefly explain why it doesn’t belong to the group:

1)rugby-motor racing-stopwatch-triathlon;

2)referee-judge-umpire-fan;

3)jersey-shuttlecock-puck-ball;

4)commentator-stands-manager-sponsor;

5)grass-clay-executive box-tarmac;

6)helmet-sprain-shinguard-goggles.

(From: “Upstream Advanced. Student’s book”. P. 148)

3. Bingo.

Sporting events

Look at the list of words related to sporting events and their translation. Write out in English any six phrases of this list into your notebook. Close the

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textbook. Your teacher is going to read those phrases in Russian in a random order. If you have the English phrase for the Russian phrase that your teacher calls out, cross it out in your notebook. As soon as you cross out all the six phrases in your notebook, shout “Bingo!” Name the phrases. If you did everything right, you are the winner!

a meet встреча, a cup кубковая встреча, a contest состязания, a championship первенство, a World Cup соревнования на кубок мира, a competition соревнования, students’ games студенческие игры, an exhibition meet по-

казательная встреча, a tournament турнир, a qualification competition ква-

лификационные соревнования, a round robin competition соревнования по круговой системе, participate hors concours выступать вне конкурса, an opening ceremony церемония открытия, a challenge cup переходящий приз, a junior team команда юниоров, a supporter болельщик, qualify for the final(s) попасть в финал, On your marks! На старт!, Get set!

Внимание!, Go! Марш! (обычно выстрел).

The teacher should look for the list of words and phrases on page 55.

4. Repeat the group of words after the teacher/partner. Translate them by ear.

a)участник состязания, состязаться, Олимпийские игры, 1896, спортсмены, медаль, счёт;

b)ice hockey, speedskating, figure skating, skiing, France, win, defeat;

c)sporting contests, большой теннис, go in for sport, легкая атлетика, A. D. 392, проиграть, umpire.

Make up similar groups of words. Work in pairs and repeat, then translate each other’s words.

5. Analogies.

Analogies compare relationships between things that are alike in some ways. The analogy do: athletics=play: golf is expressed in English as follows: “ The verb “do” to athletics as the verb “play” to golf” In other words, “ People do athletics just as they play golf.”

Complete the following analogies choosing the correct answers from the choices given. Express the analogy as above and explain your choice.

1. tennis: individual game = ? : team game

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10. midfielder: player= ?: official

a. goalkeeper b. defender c. linesman

6. Repeat (translate) the main information of the sentences after the teacher.

a.The Olympic Games were originally an ancient Greek religious festival in honour of Zeus, held in Olympia near Mount Olympic, the mythical home of the gods.

b.Factionalism and controversies over the status of competitors became so fierce and disruptive in later years that the Games were finally suppressed by the Roman Emperor Theodosius in A. D. 392 as a disturbance of the Pax Romana or Roman peace.

c.With growth of interest in sport in the nineteenth century, and the organization of annual and traditional sporting contests, especially between schools and universities, the idea arose of reviving the Olympic Games in the modern world.

d.A Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was the enthusiast whose personal drive and initiative brought about the inauguration of the modem Olympic Games in 1896 with the participation of 311 athletes from thirteen countries, competing in nine sports.

e.Women first competed in the Games in 1910, playing golf, but real women’s participation only began in Paris in 1924 with the inclusion of women’s athletics in the programme.

f.Winter sports were brought into the Olympic programme through the organization of special Winter Games, first held in France at Chamonix in 1924, with competitions in ice hockey, speedskating, figure skating, and skiing.

g.The six colours on the Olympic flag, the white of the background and the blue, yellow, black, green, and red of the rings, represent the nations of the world, since every national flag contains at least one of these colours.

h.Officially there are individual and team victors but no victor countries; from the very beginning of the Games, however, the Press has made an unofficial count of the medals won by the sportsmen of each participating country and has kept an unofficial points score.

Translate the sentences by ear.

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II. Focus on Reading and Speaking

1. Read the text in English about the history of the Olympic Games. Then translate into English the Russian text. Say which bits of information in the Russian text echo (repeat) the information from the English text. What different bits of information do these texts contain?

The Olympic Games were originally an ancient Greek religious festival in honour of Zeus, held in Olympia near Mount Olympic, the mythical home of the gods. The initial date for the beginning of the Games was 776 B.C. They were held every four years, in the middle of the summer; the main condition of the festival was that there should be peace throughout Greece.

The ceremonies included contests in oratory, poetry, music, and art, as well as in athletic skills like wrestling, throwing the javelin and running.

The Olympic Games were an exclusively male festival, open to young men from all the Greek cities. Women were not allowed to compete in the Olympic Games, or even to attend and watch them, though there are legends of girls having done so in disguise. The victors were traditionally crowned with olive leaves rather than with gold medals. Their importance in Greek life was so great that the Olympiad, the four-year interval between Games, was a main unit of the Hellenic calendar. To be a victor in the classical Olympic Games was a great honour not only for the athlete but for his city.

The classical Games continued for over a thousand years. Factionalism and controversies over the status of competitors became so fierce and disruptive in later years that the Games were finally suppressed by the Roman Emperor Theodosius in A. D. 392 as a disturbance of the Pax Romana or Roman peace.

With growth of interest in sport in the nineteenth century, and the organization of annual and traditional sporting contests, especially between schools and universities, the idea arose of reviving the Olympic Games in the modern world. A Frenchman, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was the enthusiast whose personal drive and initiative brought about the inauguration of the modern Olympic Games in 1896 with the participation of 311 athletes from thirteen countries, competing in nine sports.

At first the modern Games were limited to men. Women first competed in the Games in 1910, playing golf, but real women’s participation only began in Paris in 1924 with the inclusion of women’s athletics in the programme. In recent Olympiads the women’s programme has been greatly extended and in 1980 yet another event-hockey, one of the most popular of girls’ team games was added to the programme of the Moscow Games.

Winter sports were brought into the Olympic programme through the organization of special Winter Games, first held in France at Chamonix in 1924, with competitions in ice hockey, speedskating, figure skating, and skiing. These are still the basic events of the winter programme, with the addition of bobsleigh and toboggan races.

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The most impressive moment in the opening ceremony of the Games is the taking of the Olympic oaths. First a representative athlete from the host country, holding a corner of the Olympic flag, takes the following oath on behalf of all the participants:

“In the name of all competitors, I promise that we will take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.”

After the representative athlete, a judge from the host country takes an oath on behalf of all those judging and officiating in the Games.

The Olympic flag has a motif of five interlocking rings on a white background. The five rings represent the five inhabited continents of the world and symbolize universal brotherhood. The six colours, the white of the background and the blue, yellow, black, green, and red of the rings, represent the nations of the world, since every national flag contains at least one of these colours. The ceremonial embroidered flag, by the Olympic rules, must reside in the principal municipal building of the host city until the next Games.

The motto of the Games “citius, altius, fortius” (Latin-faster, higher, braver) puts the emphasis on personal not team performance and achievement. Officially there are individual and team victors but no victor countries; from the very beginning of the Games, however, the Press has made an unofficial count of the medals won by the sportsmen of each participating country and has kept an unofficial points score. Until Olympics 1952 the team of the United States dominated the Summer Games because of their strength in athletics, swimming, and boxing. Since the Helsinki Games, when the USSR took part in them for the first time, competition in all events of the programme has become keener, and one country has ceased to dominate: the US hold on first place is being successfully challenged by Russia, China and some other countries.

Each Olympiad the size of the Olympic Games has been growing in the scale of competition, number of competitors, and size of the audience watching them – live or by television. When the first modern Games were held in Athens, the spectators numbered only thousands; the flickering miracle of the moving pictures of the cinema brought scenes from them to small, enthusiastic and curious audiences weeks later. Today huge stadiums accommodate tens of thousands of spectators, while television brings the scene directly to the homes of the whole world.

(From: “Sport. Пособие по развитию навыков устной речи”. P. 22–23)

История Олимпийских игр

Олимпийские игры, Игры Олимпиады – крупнейшие международные комплексные спортивные соревнования современности, которые проводятся каждые четыре года. Олимпийские игры, известные также как Летние Олимпийские игры, проводились каждые четыре года, начиная с 1896 г., за исключением лет, пришедшихся на мировые войны. В 1924 г.

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были учреждены Зимние Олимпийские игры, которые первоначально проводились в тот же год, что и летние. Однако, начиная с 1994 г. время проведения зимних Олимпийских игр сдвинуто на два года относительно времени проведения летних игр.

Олимпийские игры Древней Греции представляли собой религиозный и спортивный праздник, проводившийся в Олимпии. Сведения о происхождении игр утеряны, но сохранилось несколько легенд, описывающих это событие. Первое документально подтверждённое празднование относится к 776 г. до н.э., хотя известно, что игры проводились и раньше. На время проведения игр объявлялось священное перемирие, в это время нельзя было вести войну, хотя это неоднократно нарушалось.

Олимпийские игры существенно потеряли своё значение с приходом римлян. После того, как христианство стало официальной религией, игры стали рассматриваться как проявление язычества и в 394 г. н.э. они были запрещены императором Феодосием I.

Олимпийская идея и после запрета античных состязаний не исчезла насовсем. Например, в Англии в течение XVII века неоднократно проводились «олимпийские» соревнования и состязания. Позже похожие соревнования организовывались во Франции и Греции. Первыми настоящими предшественниками современных Олимпийских игр являются «Олимпии», которые проводились регулярно в период 1859–1888 гг. Идея возрождения Олимпийских игр в Греции принадлежала поэту Панайотису Суцосу, воплотил её в жизнь общественный деятель Евангелис Заппас.

Желание возродить олимпийское мышление и культуру распространилось довольно быстро по всей Европе. Французский барон Пьер де Кубертен (фр. Pierre de Coubertin) считал, что именно слабое физическое состояние французских солдат стало одной из причин поражения французов в Франко-прусской войне 1870–1871. Он стремился изменить положение с помощью улучшения физической культуры французов. Одновременно с этим, он хотел преодолеть национальный эгоизм и сделать вклад в борьбу за мир и международное взаимопонимание. Возрождение Олимпийских игр казалось в его глазах лучшим решением, чтобы достичь обеих целей.

На конгрессе, проведённом 16–23 июня 1894 г. в Сорбонне (Парижский университет), он представил свои мысли и идеи международной публике. В последний день конгресса (23 июня) было принято решение о том, что первые Олимпийские Игры современности должны состояться в 1896 г. в Афинах, в стране-родоначальнице Игр – Греции. Чтобы организовать проведение Игр, был основан Международный олимпийский комитет (МОК). Первым президентом Комитета стал грек Деметриус Викелас, который был президентом до окончания I Олимпийских Игр 1896 г. Генеральным секретарём стал барон Пьер де Кубертен.

Первые Игры современности прошли действительно с большим успехом. Несмотря на то, что участие в Играх приняли всего 241 атлет

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(14 стран), Игры стали крупнейшим спортивным событием, прошедшим когда-либо со времён Древней Греции.

После первого успеха, олимпийское движение испытало первый в своей истории кризис. Игры 1900 г. в Париже (Франция) и Игры 1904 г. в Сент-Луисе (штат Миссури, США) были совмещены со Всемирными выставками. Спортивные соревнования тянулись месяцами и почти не пользовались интересом у зрителей. В Играх в Сент-Луисе участвовали почти только американские спортсмены, так как из Европы добраться через океан в те годы было очень сложно по техническим причинам.

На Олимпийских играх 1906 г. в Афинах (Греция) вновь вышли на первое место спортивные соревнования и результаты. Хотя МОК первоначально признавал и поддерживал проведение этих «промежуточных Игр» (всего через два года после предыдущих), сейчас эти Игры не признаются олимпийскими. Некоторые спортивные историки считают Игры 1906 г. спасением олимпийской идеи, так как они не дали играм стать «бессмысленными и ненужными».

Принципы, правила и положения Олимпийских игр определены Олимпийской хартией, основы которой утверждены Международным спортивным конгрессом в Париже в 1894 г., принявшим по предложению французского педагога и общественного деятеля Пьера де Кубертена решение об организации Игр по образцу античных и о создании Международного олимпийского комитета (МОК).

Игры проводятся в первый год олимпиады (4-летнего периода между играми). Счёт олимпиадам ведётся с 1896 г., когда состоялись первые Олимпийские игры (I Олимпиада – 1896–1899). Олимпиада получает свой номер и в тех случаях, когда игры не проводятся (например, VI – в

1916–1919, XII – 1940–1943, XIII – 1944–1947).

Символ Олимпийских игр – пять скреплённых колец, символизирующих объединение пяти частей света в олимпийском движении, т. н. олимпийские кольца. Цвет колец в верхнем ряду – голубой для Европы, чёрный для Африки, красный для Америки, в нижнем ряду – жёлтый для Азии, зелёный для Австралии.

Помимо олимпийских видов спорта, организационный комитет имеет право по своему выбору включить в программу показательные соревнования по 1–2 видам спорта, не признанным МОК. В том же году, что и Олимпиада, с 1924 г. проводятся зимние Олимпийские игры, которые имеют свою нумерацию. Начиная с 1994 г. сроки проведения зимних Олимпийских игр были сдвинуты на 2 года относительно летних. Место проведения Олимпиады выбирает МОК, право их организации предоставляется городу, а не стране. Продолжительность не больше 15 дней (зимних игр – не больше 10).

Олимпийское движение имеет свои эмблему и флаг, утвержденные МОК по предложению Кубертена в 1913. Эмблема – олимпийские кольца.

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