play together at village fetes. It is often seen as not being a proper
‘sport’.
However, despite this image, it has recently become the second most
popular sport for state schools in Britain. More traditional sports such as
cricket and rugby are being abandoned in favour of rounders, which is much
easier to organize. Rounders requires less special equipment, less money
and boys and girls can play it together. It also takes up less time. It is
especially attractive for state schools with little money and time to
spare. More than a quarter of all state-school sports fields are now used
for rounders. Only football, which is played on nearly half of all state-
school fields, is more popular.
The British have a preference for team games. Individual sports such
as athletics, cycling, gymnastics and swimming have comparatively small
followings. Large numbers of people become interested in them only when
British competitors do well in international events. The more popular
individual sports are those in which socializing is an important aspect
(such as tennis, golf, sailing and snooker). It is notable in this context
that, apart from international competitions, the only athletics event which
generates a lot of enthusiasm is the annual London Marathon. Most of the
tens of thousands of participants in this race are 'fun runners' who are
merely trying to complete it, sometimes in outrageous costumes, and so
collect money for charity. The biggest new development in sport has been
with long-distance running. 'Jogging', for healthy outdoor exercise,
needing no skill or equipment, became popular in the 1970s, and soon more
and more people took it seriously. Now the annual London Marathon is like a
carnival, with a million people watching as the world's star runners are
followed by 25,000 ordinary people trying to complete the course. Most of
them succeed and then collect money from supporters for charitable causes.
Many thousands of people take part in local marathons all over Britain.
The Highland Games
Scottish Highland Games, at which sports (including tossing the caber,
putting the weight and throwing the hammer), dancing and piping
competitions take place, attract large numbers of spectators from all over
the world.
These meetings are held every year in different places in the Scottish
Highlands. They include the clans led by their pipers, dressed in their
kilts, tartan plaids, and plumed bonnets, who march round the arena.
The features common to Highland Games are bagpipe and Highland dancing
competitions and the performance of heavy athletic events — some of which,
such as tossing the caber, are Highland in origin. All competitors wear
Highland dress, as do most of the judges. The games take place in a large
roped-off arena. Several events take place at the same time: pipers and
dancers perform on a platform; athletes toss the caber, put the weight,
throw the hammer, and wrestle. There is also a competition for the best-
dressed Highlander.
Highland dancing is performed to bagpipe music, by men and women, such
as the Sword Dance and the Reel.
No one knows exactly when the men of the Highlands first gathered to
wrestle, toss cabers, throw hammers, put weights, dance and play music. The
Games reflected the tough life of the early Scots. Muscle-power was their
means of livelihood — handling timber, lifting rocks to build houses,
hunting. From such activities have developed the contests of tossing the
caber, putting the weight and throwing the hammer. Tossing the caber
originated among woodmen who wanted to cast their logs into the deepest
part of a river. Tossing the caber is not a question of who can throw it
farthest. For a perfect throw the caber must land in the 12-o'clock
position after being thrown in a vertical semicircle. The caber is a very
heavy and long log..
Conker Contest and British Marbles Championship
Every year, usually on the Wednesday nearest to 20th October, about a
hundred competitors gather to take part in the annual conker competition in
a chosen place. The conkers are collected by children from an avenue of
chestnut trees. The conkers are carefully examined and numbered on their
flat sides, then bored and threaded on nylon cord. Each competitor is
allowed an agreed number of "strikes", and a referee is present to see fair
play. There are prizes for winners and runners-up. The contest usually
starts at about 7 p. m.
It is said that in Elizabethan times two suitors for a village beauty
settled the matter by means of a marbles contest. What is now the Marble
Championship is believed to be a survival of that contest. The game of
marbles dates back to Roman times. Teams of six compete on a circular,
sanded rink. Forty-nine marbles are placed in the centre of the rink, and
the players try to knock out4 as many as possible with their marble. The
marble is rested on the index finger and flicked5 with the thumb. The two
highest individual scores battle for the championship with only thirteen
marbles on the rink. Similar contests are now held in some other English-
speaking countries.
INFORMATION
The well-known sporting events
The Boat Race: (between Oxford and Cambridge universities), on the River
Thames
in London at Easter. The course is over seven kilometres. Oxford have won
64
times, Cambridge 69 times.
The Wimbledon Tennis Tournament: in July, at Wimbledon, south London,
regarded
by many tennis players as the most important championship to win. There is
great
public interest in the tournament. Many tennis fans queue all night outside
the
grounds in order to get tickets for the finals.
The Open Golf Championship: golf was invented by the Scots, and its
headquarters
is at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, St. Andrews, Scotland.
Henley (Rowing) Regatta: at Henley on the Thames (between London and
Oxford).
An international summer event. It is a fashionable occasion.
Cowes Week: a yachting regatta. Cowes is a small town on the Isle of Wight,
opposite Southampton, and a world-famous yachting centre.
CONCLUSION
At the end of my course paper I want to make a short review of what I
have already written and write what I haven’t written.
Many kinds of sport originated from England. The English have a
proverb, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." They do not think
that play is more important than work; they think that Jack will do his
work better if he plays as well, so he is encouraged to do both.
Association football, or soccer is one of the most popular games in the
British Isles played from late August until the beginning of May. In summer
the English national sport is cricket. When the English say: 'that's not
cricket' it means 'that's not fair', 'to play the game' means 'to be fair'.
Golf is Scotland's chief contribution to British sport. It is worth
noting here an interesting feature of sporting life in Britain, namely, its
frequently close connection with social class of the players or spectators
except where a game may be said to be a "national" sport. This is the case
with cricket in England which is played and watched by all classes. This is
true of golf, which is everywhere in the British Isles a middle-class
activity. Rugby Union, the amateur variety of Rugby football, is the Welsh
national sport played by all sections of society whereas, elsewhere, it too
is a game for the middle classes. Association football is a working-class
sport as are boxing, wrestling, snooker, darts and dog-racing. As far as
fishing is concerned it is, apart from being the most popular British sport
from the angle of the number of active participants, a sport where what is
caught determines the class of a fisherman. If it is a salmon or trout it
is upper-class, but if it is the sort offish found in canals, ponds or the
sea, then the angler is almost sure to be working-class.
Walking and swimming are the two most popular sporting activities,
being almost equally undertaken by men and women. Snooker (billiards), pool
and darts are the next most popular sports among men. Aerobics (keep-fit
exercises) and yoga, squash and cycling are among the sports where
participation has been increasing in recent years.
There are several places in Britain associated with a particular kind
of sport. One of them is Wimbledon — a suburb to the south of London where
the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships are held in July (since 1877).
The finals of the tournament are played on the Centre Court. The other one
is Wembley — a stadium in north London where international football
matches, the Cup Finals and other events have taken place since 1923. It
can hold over 100,000 spectators. The third one is Derby, the most famous
flat race in the English racing calendar, it is run at Epsom near London
since 1780.
Having written my course paper I think that I have proved sport’s
deserving attention. Especially sport is a very interesting theme
concerning the United Kingdom. Of course, I couldn’t illustrate all Britain
sports, but which I still do reflect Britain’s life with all contradictory
combinations. Both life is calm and exciting, and sport is calm with golf’s
followers and exciting with football’s fans.
QUESTIONS
1. Which is the English summer national sport?
2. Which kinds of sport can you name in English?
3. Which game can be called the most popular game in the world?
4. How many players are there in a football team?
5. What has given British football a bad name recently?
6. What is a football pool?
7. Football is played chiefly with the feet. What about rugby?
8. How do Rugby Union and Rugby League differ from each other?
9. What is called a test match in cricket?
10. Which place in Britain is associated with lawn tennis championships?
11. Which place in Britain is associated with a yachting regatta?
12. Which famous horse-race meetings does the Queen call on?
13. What kinds of racing do you know?
14. What events take place at Scottish Highland Games?
15. Where is the Royal and Ancient Golf Club located?
16. What was about half of all money bet on in 1993?
17. What is a ‘conker’?
18. What is ‘jogging’?
19. What is more important in sports: the ability to win a victory or the
ability to lose without anger; absolute fairness or physical power?
20. What English idioms which have come from the world of sport do you
know?
21.
THE LIST OF LITERATURE
1. Приложение к газете «1 сентября» «English»// «Football, made in
Britain, loved by the world», 2001, №13, p.2
2. Britain in Brief, Просвещение, 1993
3. Peter Bromhead «Life in Modern Britain», Longman, 1997
4. James O’Driscoll «Britain. The country and its people», Oxford
University Press, 1997
5. David McDowall «Britain in close-up», Longman, 2000
6. Satinova V.F. «Read and speak about Britain and the British», Minsk,
1997
7. Material from the site: www.scotland.com
THE LIST OF LITERATURE
1. Levashova V.A. «Britain today»
2. David McDowall «Britain in close-up», Longman, 2000
3. Oshepkova V.V., Shustilova I. I. «Britain in brief»
-----------------------
A nation of gamblers
In 1993 a total of Ј12.7 billion was wagered by the British - that's
Ј289 for every adult in the country. Ј9.5 billion was won. The government
took just over Ј1 billion in taxes. The rest was kept by the bookmakers.
About half of all the money bet in 1993 was on horses or greyhounds. 74%
of all adults gambled at least once during the year.
At least once every two weeks:
•39% did the football pools;
•20% played on gaming and fruit machines;
•18% played bingo;
•14% put money on the horses.
In Britain in 1993, there was one betting shop for every 3,000 adults.
There were also:
120 casinos;
120,000 fruit machines;
1,000 bingo clubs;
1,000 lotteries;
59 racetracks;
37 greyhound stadiums.
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