Why choose sport?

Reading

1 Read this magazine article about sport. For questions 1–5, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

Why choose sport?
Anybody who enjoys sport would probably like to be a top athlete. Of course, that isn’t possible as we don’t all have the talent. There are other reasons for doing sport though, apart from being the best. We interviewed two young people to learn why they recommend everyone be involved in sport.

Kerry, a 15-year-old from Southampton, says that she loves tennis and has been playing it since she was little. When she was younger, she won quite a few tennis tournaments and her dream was to become a champion. The problem was, as she got older, she started losing. She was training hard, but just wasn’t as strong as some of the other girls. For a while she was really unhappy and had even decided to give it up.

Her mum sat Kerry down and they had a talk about tennis. Her mum said that even though Kerry wasn’t going to be the best, she was still a good player. She pointed out that Kerry loved the game, that it kept her fit and that all her best friends belonged to the tennis club. Her mum suggested to her that the best thing would be to continue playing for fun and see how it went.

Last year, her friend and the best player in the club, Freddie, asked her if she’d be his doubles partner. Kerry agreed, and they went on to win the cup! Now they train together. Kerry wants to do well with him, but she doesn’t think that’s the most important thing. A love of the sport is the reason why she plays tennis now.

We also spoke with Thomas, 14, from Cardiff, who told us he had always wanted to take up a sport but was too shy. He was a bit overweight and because he never practised, wasn’t very good at sport. Whenever he played a game like football, he thought everybody was laughing at him. One day, he heard about a meeting for kids that were overweight but wanted to do a sport. Thomas talked about it with his parents, and they agreed that it was perfect for him. He started going to the meetings and learnt rugby and squash. He was really happy to see that he was quite good at the two games, and since then he’s started playing football and basketball too.

Oh, and two really good things came out of it for him. First of all, Thomas made some very good friends at the meetings and secondly, he’s lost a lot of weight. Now that he can exercise without feeling bad about his body, he plays sports all the time, and that’s really helped him to lose weight. Thomas would like to tell everybody that it’s very important to keep in shape, and doing sport is a fun way to do it. He also has a bit of advice for teenagers: ‘Don’t worry if you’re overweight – most young people feel uncomfortable about their body at some time, but when you’re all playing a game, you have so much fun that everyone forgets to feel bad. So go for it!’

Now that we’ve seen that sports helps you develop your abilities, helps you lose weight, keeps you fit and provides opportunities for interacting with people and making new friends, what are you waiting for? Go out and start playing a sport today!

1 In the first paragraph, the writer says that not everybody

A admires top athletes enough.
B who does sport can be a champion.
C should do sport on a regular basis.
D has good reasons for doing sport.

2 Kerry stopped winning tournaments because she

A didn’t train hard enough.
B was weaker than other players.
C was too old.
D gave up tennis.
3 How does Kerry feel about tennis now?
A She plays it because she wins tournaments.
B The most important thing is her training.
C She plays it because she loves it.
D She plays it to see her best friends.

4 How did Thomas use to feel about sports?

A He didn’t like any of them.
B He thought they were funny.
C He didn’t like football.
D He wasn’t comfortable playing them.

5 What advice does Thomas give?

A People should lose weight.
B It’s worth getting involved.
C Take up rugby if you’re large.

Listening Track 16

2 You will hear an interview with a football expert. For questions 1–5, complete the sentences.

1 Games where the ball was __________ were played in the past.

2 Football may have begun in China __________ years ago.
3 A Greco-Roman game was probably more like __________.
4 Rules for playing football were first made in __________.
5 The Football Association was started in __________.
Grammar and Vocabulary

3 Complete the sentences using an appropriate word. The first letter is given.

0 We’ve just d e f e a t e d the world champions 3 – 0. We won!
1 U _ _ _ _ _ _ don’t run around with the players. They usually sit or stand still and judge.
2 There were nearly 60,000 s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.
3 What a lovely new grass tennis c _ _ _ _.
4 The c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ are all going for the gold medal, but only one can win.
5 They are holding up the cup to celebrate their v _ _ _ _ _ _.
6 I’ve got a new t _ _ _ _ _ _ at the gym who has shown me a new strength-building workout to do.
7 Do you prefer team or i _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _sports where you just compete by yourself against others?
8 He pushed himself to the l _ _ _ _ to get a medal. He couldn’t have tried harder.
… / 8

4 Complete the sentences with the correct form of a phrasal verb in the box.

0 You must look after your ice skates or soon they’ll be useless.

1 After waiting for ages, I was finally ______________ to the receptionist in the sports club.

2 If you keep practising as hard as you have been doing, you’ll soon ______________ a very good player.

3 My mum is an excellent tennis player but unfortunately I don’t seem to be ______________ her.

4 The management is ______________ the disappearance of the football trophy.

5 I can’t wait until Cup Final day! I wish they would ______________ a week or so.

6 I can’t believe he ______________ that foul – why didn’t the referee see it?

… / 6
5 Choose the correct answer.
0 You ought / must not to have shouted at the referee.
1 It must / can’t have been amazing to be there in the final. Wow!
2 You couldn’t / should have got more tickets. Why didn’t you?
3 Our team should / ought to have won more medals.
4 We can’t / couldn’t have tried harder, but we still lost.
5 I’m not sure, but I think she might / ought have won the 100 metres sprint.
6 The goalkeeper mustn’t / shouldn’t have let in so many goals.
7 That’s not possible! We can’t / mustn’t have beaten Brazil.
8 We must / could easily have lost but they missed two late chances.

6 Choose the correct answer.

0 It’s about time the team starts/ started winning for a change!

1 I wish I didn’t have / hadn’t to get up so early for practice in the morning.

2 The trainer would rather the players were / are more enthusiastic about their game.

3 It’s high time we went / are going to a live game. I’m tired of watching all the matches on TV.

4 My parents think it’s about time we take / took our studies seriously instead of playing so much basketball.
… / 4

7 Use the notes to make complete sentences.

0 I wish I/am better/at football.
I wish I was better at football.

1 It’s about time/you practise/your backhand/harder.

_________________________________________
_________________________________________

2 Mum would rather/you tidy up your room/watch the sports channel all day.

_________________________________________
_________________________________________

3 It’s high time/the town have/better sports facilities.

_________________________________________
_________________________________________

4 I’d rather/you not visit me this weekend.

_________________________________________
_________________________________________

5 Jane/wish/she/not have to study for her exams.

_________________________________________
_________________________________________
6. I wish/I/have a lot of money.
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

14.01 Complete the words.

1 Top a__________ don’t get paid a lot of money for winning races.
2 S__________ is your ability to keep going for a long time.
3 The important thing in most sports is to beat your o__________.
4 Running is an i__________ sport – you don’t have teammates.
5 There were over 20 c__________ in the 10,000 metres race.
6 In tennis, it is the u__________ who has the final decision.
14.02 Circle the correct words.

1 The decathlon needs both / and speed and stamina.

2 It’s time we start / started taking this seriously.
3 I would rather / prefer I didn’t play in goal again.
4 I hope / wish I was a great athlete.
5 I prefer group / team sports like football, rugby and hockey.
6 The referee / manager blew his whistle and the biggest football match of the year began.
14.03 Write one word in each gap.

1 Are you looking forward __________ the match tonight?

2 Larry is really athletic. He takes __________ his dad.
3 This equipment cost a lot of money so please __________ after it.
4 The day started well but __________ into a disaster.
5 There was a robbery at the bank. Police are looking __________ it.
6 They say the thieves didn’t get away __________ much money.
7 I phoned reception and they put me __________ to my dad.
8 The match has been brought __________ so we only have two days to prepare.
14.07 Put the words in the correct order.

1 have / felt / victory / That / wonderful! / must

_______________________________________________

2 would / won? / you / you / do / if / What

_______________________________________________

3 might / got / you / think / have / Fred / Do / lost?

_______________________________________________

4 You / done / that. / not / to / ought / have

_______________________________________________

5 had / you / won. / tried, / you / If / have / could

_______________________________________________

6 coming. / have / should / told / me / You / were / you

_______________________________________________

7 can’t / studying / all / time! / have / been / You / this

8 have / I / must / mistake. / made / a

_______________________________________________

14.08 Rewrite the sentences using the words given.

1 I’m pretty sure he’s forgotten all about it.

(must)
He __________________________________________________________.

2 That was wrong of you. You didn’t tell me.

(have)
That was wrong of you. You _____________________________________.

3 It’s possible that he was preparing for the championship.

(been)
He _________________________________________________________.

4 I’m not very good at sports.

(better)
I wish _______________________________________________________.

5 Six o’clock tomorrow is better for me.

(you/come)
I’d _________________________________________________________.

6 You were lucky you didn’t injure yourself.

(have)
You ________________________________________________________.
14.09 What would you say in these situations? Use the modal perfect and the words in brackets.

1 You forgot to buy your mum a birthday present. (ought)

I _____________________________________________________.

2 Someone nearly had an accident. (might)

You __________________________________________________.

3 You think you gave your tennis racket to your friend. (must)

I ____________________________________________________.

4 It was possible for Oliver to win that race. (could)

Oliver ________________________________________________.

5 You don’t think it’s possible that your team came first. (can’t)

My team ______________________________________________.

6 Your friend spent all his money. (shouldn’t)

You __________________________________________________.