Common sports
0
hang-gliding windsurfing bowls darts
0
riding snooker/pool/billiards motor-racing Equipment
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what you hold in your handgolf - club squash/tennis/badminton - racket darts
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dart archery - bow Erickedtable-tennkbaseball - bat hockey - stick snooker/poo~billiards - cue canoeing - paddle rowing - oar fishing - rodllineAthletics
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some field eventsd' ~ s c u s javelin high-jump long-jump pole-vault She's a good sprinter. [fast over short distances]
He's a great long-distance runner. [ e g 5000 metres, marathon]
Jogging round the park every Saturday's enough for me.
Verbs and their collocations in the context of sport Our team wonllost three goalslpoints.
She broke the Olympic record last year.
He holds the record for the 100 metres breast-stroke.
Liverpool beat Hamburg 4-2 yesterday.
The team have never been defeated. [more formal than beat]
How many goalslpoints have you scored this season?
I think I'll take up bowls next spring and give up golf.
People who do particular sports
-er can be used for many sports, e.g. footballer, swimmer, windsurfer, high-jumper, cricketer, golfer, etc. Player is often necessary, e.g. tennis-player, snooker-player, darts- player; we can also say football-player, cricket-player. Some names must be learnt separately, e.g. canoeist, cyclist, mountaineer, jockey, archer (not archerer), gymnast.
Which of the sports opposite are these people probably talking about?
1 'The ball has a natural curve on it so it doesn't go in a straight line on the grass.' 2 'Provided it's not too windy at the top, there's no problem.'
3 'It is incredibly noisy, fast and dangerous, but it's really exciting to watch.' 4 'You get sore at first and can hardly sit down, but you get used to it after a while.' 5 'It's all a matter of balance really.'
6 'You need a good eye and a lot of concentration.'
Look at the sports page of one or two newspapers (either in English or in your own language). Are there any sports mentioned not listed at A opposite? If so, what are their English names? Use a bilingual dictionary if necessary.
Name one other piece of equipment necessary to play these sports apart from the item given, as in the example. What special clothing, if any, is worn for each sport?
Example: golf: clubs, balls
1 archery: bow, ...
2 badminton: racket, ... .....
...
3 hockey: stick,
... ...
4 baseball: bat, ... ..
. . . .
...
...
5 darts: darts, ..
Collocations. Fill the gaps with suitable verbs.
1 Were many records ... at the Olympics?
2 We've been . . . so many times we deserve to be bottom of the league!
. . .
3 Congratulations! How many points did you by?
4 You should . . . jogging. That would help you lose weight.
5 Who ... the world record for the 1000 metres? Is it a Russian?
6 I only ever once ... a goal, and that was sheer luck.
What do you call a person who
...
?1 does the long-jump? a brig-jumper 5 does gymnastics?
2 rides horses in races? 6 plays hockey?
3 drives cars in races? 7 plays football?
4 throws the discus/javelin? 8 does the pole-vault?
4
1.6 Make sure you know which sports these places are associated with, as in the example. Use a dictionary if necessary.1 court tennis, squash, e t c . 5 rink
2 course 6 alley
3 ring 7 piste
4 pitch
42 The arts
Things which generally come under the heading of 'the arts'
novels drama dance cinema
I 1
/theatreshort stories
,
LITERATURE,
P E Y O R M I N G ARTS balletbiographies poetry opera
I
concerts:
classicallrockl
V
country and westernpainting - FINE ART(S) - sculpture We often also include architecture and ceramics within the arts.
The arts (plural) covers everything in the network. Art (singular, uncountable) usually means fine art, but can also refer to technique and creativity.
Have you read the arts page in The Times today? [that part of the paper that deals with all the things in the network]
She's a great art lover. [loves painting and sculpture]
Shakespeare was skilled in the art of poetry. [creative ability]
Dance usually refers to modern artistic dance forms; ballet usually has a more traditional feel, unless we say modern ballet. Remember: a novel is a long story, e.g. 200-300 pages; a short prose fiction, e.g. 10 pages, is a short story.
Use of the definite article
When we refer to a performing art in general, we can leave out the article.
Are you interested in (the) cinema/ballet/opera/theatre?
Would you like to come to the cinema/ballet/opera/theatre with us next week.
[particular performance]
Describing a performance
We went to see a new production of Hamlet last night. The sets (1) were incredibly realistic and the costumes ( 2 ) were wonderful. It was a good cast ( 3 ) and I thought the direction (4) was excellent. Anthony O'Donnell gave a marvellous performance (5). It got rave reviews (6) in the papers today.
( I ) scenery, buildings, furniture on the stage or in a studio (2) clothes the actors wear on stage
(3) all the actors in it
(4) the way the director had organised the performance
(5) and (6) note these typical collocations; ( 6 ) means 'got very enthusiastic comments' Words connected with events in the arts
There's an exhibition (Am. Eng.: exhibit) of paintings by Manet on in London.
They're going to publish a new edition of the worksof ~ e r v a n t e s next year.
The Opera Society are doing a performance of Don Giovanni.
Our local cinema's showing Bergman's Persona next week.
Note: What's on at the cinemaltheatre, etc. next week?
Which branch of the arts d o you think these people are talking about?
Example: 'It was a strong cast but the play itself is weak.' Theatre 1 'It's called Peace. It stands in the main square.'
2 'Animation doesn't have to be just Disney, you know.' 3 'It was just pure movement, with very exciting rhythms.' 4 'It doesn't have to rhyme to be good.'
5 'Oils to me don't have the delicacy of water-colours.' 6 'Her design for the new shopping centre won an award.' 7 'I read them and imagine what they'd be like on stage.' 8 'The first chapter was boring but it got better later.' 9 'I was falling asleep by the second act.'
42.2
Definite article or not? Fill the gap with the if necessary.1 The government doesn't give enough money to . . . arts.
2 She's got a diploma in ... dance from the Performing Arts Academy.
3 I've got some tickets for . . . ballet. Interested?
4 . . . art of writing a short story is to interest the reader from the very first line.
5 I can't stand ... modern poetry; it's so pretentious.
6 I was no good at . . . art at school. What about you?
Each one of these sentences contains a mistake of usage of words connected with the arts.
Find the mistake and correct it. You may need a dictionary.
Example: The scene at this theatre projects right out into the audience.
not 'scene' but 'stage' (the place where the actors perform)
1 What's the name of the editorial of that book you recommended? Was it Cambridge University Press?
2 'I wandered lonely as a cloud' is my favourite verse of English poetry.
3 He's a very famous sculpture; he did that statue in the park, you know, the one with the soldiers.
4 Most of the novels in this collection are only five or six pages long. They're great for reading on short journeys.
5 There's an exposition of ceramic at the museum next week.
6 The sceneries are excellent in that new production of Macbeth, so dark and mysterious.
7 What's in the Opera House next week? Anything interesting?
42.4 Ask questions for which these remarks would be suitable answers.
Example: It's an oil on canvas. What sort of painting is it?
1 Yes, it got rave reviews.
2 No, I'm not really a concert-goer, but thanks anyway.
3 Oh, some beautiful old buildings and some ugly new ones.
4 The cast were fine, but the direction was weak.
5 A new Hungarian film; fancy going to see it?
Follow-up: Make sure you can name all the parts of a typical theatre in English. A picture- dictionary might help you.