Text 82. Sport in Great Britain

Sports and games have always been popular in England. When the Englishmen are neither playing nor watching games, they like to talk about them. Almost all young Englishmen go in for some kind of sport. Every college has athletic and football clubs. England is the birthplace of many modern kinds of sport. That is why many games have English names: football, tennis, boxing, bad­minton. In England many traditional sport competitions take pla­ce at the same time every year: boat races, horse races, oar rallies, football and cricket games. Rowing is the most popular of all kinds of sport at the oldest Universities. The University Boat race is a traditional competition between Oxford and Camb­ridge. It was first rowed 140 years ago. Some people say horse racing is the king of sports in Great Britain, but others call it the sport of the kings. Only rich people can afford going in for this kind of sport. And only the rich can afford buying tic­kets for these races. Princess Anne was once the champion in one of the most difficult horse races.

Not long ago football fans celebrated the 125th anniversa­ry of their favourite sport. But in fact it is much older. It was probably brought to England by Roman soldiers 2,000 years ago.

Rugby football is played by teams of 15 or 13. The ball is oval. A player is allowed to take the ball into his hands and run with it. He is also allowed to attack his opponent, to hold him by his shoulders or legs. Rugby is a violent game and is popular especially in Wales.

But soccer is widely spread. It is also called Associa­tion Football. Football is a winter game in Great Britain, becau­se winters are never too cold.

Cricket is the most popular summer game. It is played since the 18th century. If you play cricket, you must wear a white shirt, white trousers and white shoes. The game is very much like Russian lapta. It is played with a ball and a short flat stick called the bat.

Golf is another kind of sport which is considered typical­ly English. The word is Dutch. The aim of the game is to push the ball into a hole in the ground with a few strikes as possible. You need a special field for that game, so golf is rather expensive. Now it is played mostly in private clubs and is the sport of the rich.

Lawn tennis was also born in England. The modern rules of the game were invented in England at the end of the last centu­ry. The game soon spread all over the world. Now it is not pla­yed only on lawns, but on different courts. Wimbledon, the home of all English lawn tennis, is the town where the most im­portant world tennis tournament takes place.

Since England is an island country, water sports are well developed here. England was the first to hold swimming competi­tions. The English invented some new styles of swimming that bear English names now: butterfly, crawl.

Sailing and Yachting are also popular. Yachting became sport almost 3 centuries ago. King Charles II was the first English yachtsman. More than 200, 000 people have personal yachts in Eng­land now.

Answer the following questions:

1. Are sports and games popular in England?

2. Why do many games have English names?

3. What is a traditional competition between Oxford and Cambrid­ge?

4. Is it an expensive kind of sport?

5. What differs football, rugby, football and soccer?

6. What is the most popular summer game?

7. What kind of sport is typically English?

8. How is it played?

9. What is the home of all English lawn tennis?

I0. What water kinds of sport are well developed in England?