Text 4. Sports and Games (Sports in our Life).

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Thousands of people go in for sports, because sports help people to keep in good health. The most popular sports in our country are field — and — track athletics, football, volleyball, basketball, hockey, gymnastics, skiing and skating. There are lots of stadiums, sports clubs, and sports grounds in our country.

If you want to keep fit, you must go in for one kind of sport or another.

Sport is an essential part of my daily life. Every morning all the year round I do my morning exercises. Almost every day I do some training. In summer I go swimming and rowing. I usually spend my winter holidays in the country where I ski, skate or toboggan. In every school pupils spend much time going in for sports. First of all they have their physical training lessons. From time to time every school organizes competitions in different kinds of sport. All my friends go in for different kinds of sports, such as water sports, gymnastics with or without apparatus, fencing, wrestling, boxing. Of all outdoor games I prefer football. Sport makes people strong, healthy, and gay, I like it very much.

The Olympic Games have a very long history. It is a very old tradition in the world of sports. History tells us that the tradition began more than two thousand years ago, in Greece.

All the cities sent their best athletes to the city of Olympus to compete in the games. During the Olympic Games all wars between the cities stopped and the people lived in peace.

The Olympic Games are the favourite sports of all countries — running, high — jumping, gymnastics, football, basket — ball, swimming, skiing, skating and other sports that young people in all countries go in for.

The Olympic Games take place every four years. The Olympic Games Committee decides the place of the Olympic Games and the sports that the athletes will compete in.

Text 5. Japan centenarians at record high (from " The English-Russian world" ).

The number of Japanese people hitting the landmark age of 100 has reached record levels. There are now 36, 276 centenarians in the country – a rise of 4, 000 on last year figure, a report by the Health and Welfare Ministry found. Women make up the vast majority of those who are living past 100. Japan has one of the world`s longest life expectancies, but there are concerns about the burden this is placing on society. Both the country`s pension system and social services are under pressure from its burgeoning greying population.

According to the latest figures, almost 20, 000 people were set to turn 100 this year alone – receiving a congratulatory silver cup and letter from the prime minister. While the number of Japan`s centenarians has been rising for the last 40 years, the figures have accelerated in the past decade. UN projections suggest there will be nearly one million people over 100 years of age in Japan in 2050. Of the country`s current centenarians, a staggering 86% are women. The ministry, which released its annual report ahead of Japan`s Respect For the Aged Day on 15 September, said its elderly population were living more active lives than ever. Japan`s oldest woman is 113 and lives on the southern island of Okinawa, the ministry said. The oldest man is 112-year-old Tomoji Tanabe from the southern prefecture of Miyazaki. He rises early, reads his morning newspaper, has milk in the afternoon and writes his diary in the evening. Matsu Yamazaki is 103 years old but still works in her family`s grocery shop in Tokio, looks after her home and does puzzles to keep her mind agile. " Even if I go on living, I just don`t want to lose my mind, " she told the BBC in July. " I know lots of people who have lost their memory. They go out and wander around town and can`t find their way home." The key to Japanese longevity has long been put down to a number of factors, including healthy diets, strong communities and excellent medical care.

Vocabulary

1.centenarian – вековой, столетний; человек ста (и более) лет.

2.welfare – социальное обеспечение

3.life expectancy – средняя продолжительность жизни

4.burgeon – распускаться, расцветать

5.greying population – седеющее население; пожилое население

6.figures - данные

7.agile mind – живой ум

8.put down – приписывать (чему-л.).

9.UN - OOН

Text 6. SPORT AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.

Even if sports are not very important for you, you sure think of how to stay in good health as long as possible, how to have a high energy level, enthusiasm and zest for living, how not to feel tired after school. If you are going to say that it is not your obsession, I will not believe you. So, what do you do to keep fit? Do you go to a fitness club? They are very popular in the USA. Lots of people of different ages go to these clubs to workout. What is workout?

- A workout is 25 percent of perspiration and 75 percent of determination. - A workout makes you better today than you were yesterday. It strengthens the body, relaxes the mind, and toughens the spirit. When you workout regularly, your problems diminish, and your confidence grows. - A workout is a personal triumph over laziness and procrastination. - A workout is a wise use of time. It is a way of preparing for life challenges. - A workout is a key that helps unlock the door to opportunity and success. Hidden within each of us is an extraordinary force. Physical and mental fitness are the triggers that can release it. - A workout is a form of rebirth. When you finish a good workout you don’t simply feel better, you feel better about yourself !

If you just do your morning exercises, you know how they work. They help you to wake up, be ready to your classes, and set you into a cheerful working mood. Some students like to exercise in the evening. They go to the gym for aerobics, weight lifting, playing basketball, volleyball, or tennis. Some young people prefer jogging, or swimming. Whatever sport you play be sure you do it in a proper way. If you like to run, wear proper running shoes and dress for the weather conditions. If you prefer to ride your bicycle, ride with a helmet and wear bright clothing. Always keep safety in mind.

It’s great if you exercise every day or three times a week. Remember to warm up and cool down when exercising. A proper warm up increases the blood flow to your muscles, making your body parts more pliable and less likely to be injured.

Text 7. Keeping fit.

Many parents in the USA want their families to eat healthy and nutritious food nowadays. Fatty food is dangerous not only for adults but for children as well. It is advisable to have your cholesterol level checked regularly. Research shows that cutting cheese, butter and ice-cream from your diet will reduce your cholesterol level by 50 point and only this will decrease the risk of you developing heart problems. Research also shows that children are heavier today than they used to be some 20-30 years ago and the rate of obesity in little children has increased by nearly 60%. More and more parents are troubled by what their children eat, introducing into family diets more fresh and canned fruit, vegetables and fish. They avoid paying regular visits to fast-food restaurants because McDonald`s and the like serve unhealthy, fatty and high cholesterol food. People believe that low-fat diets and plenty of exercise will help to raise a healthy generation. But what exercise is best? For example, jogging. To jog or not to jog? That is the question. On the one hand, everyone should think about a healthy way of life… But on the other hand – getting up early at the weekend? Never! And what about swimming? What real pleasure is there in the pool? The warming up before swimming helps you to feel great. After a week sitting in front of the computer and at the desk your limbs are crying for a bit of exercise. And that music they use there is quite good – energetic and rhythmic. These 15 minutes of aerobics and 30 minutes of swimming work wonders. Very refreshing. After that you feel ready for the next week`s marathon. Instead of swimming or jogging you could go on a cycling tour. This kind of sport also does people a lot of good, and the morning air smells wonderful.

I don`t really understand this obsession that people have with keeping fit these days. There`s nothing wrong with being healthy, but with some people it`s almost a religion. Nothing would make me go jogging. No, thank you. I`d rather sit and have a cup of tea or coffee while the joggers are out in the street. The idea of going out into the cold morning air to breath in petrol fumes doesn`t appeal to me at all. I get my exercise by walking to the bus stop on my way to work. And what about the food people eat? I know a man who eats natural food, he takes a lot of vitamins but I have never seen anybody who looks so ill. I like good food. I think most healthy food is tasteless. There`s nothing wrong in having a bar of chocolate or a big meal of meat and potatoes. A lot of people I know do yoga. I am not really sure what it is all about. I can`t see much point in sitting on the floor with your feet behind your ears. It looks very uncomfortable to me. I am sure sitting in an armchair watching TV or reading a book is just as healthy. So as you see I am not really in favour of keeping fit. I don`t jog or do any sports. I don`t eat healthy food, but I`m happy the way I am.

What is my opinion of keeping fit? Everything is determined by our lifestyle. How much time you spend on food, how much exercise you get – these can regulate the balance between food and fitness. But some people go to extremes: eating for them is the surest way to an early grave. They spend their lifetime fighting a battle with their stomachs. They often keep to a diet and exhaust themselves doing exercises. They are always hungry. You cannot be hungry and happy at the same time. What`s all this torture for? People want to obtain the state of so-called beauty. But what is beauty? In my opinion, nobody can answer this question exactly.

For example, let`s take women`s beauty. In the Middle Ages a beautiful woman first of all had to be fat. Slim women were not in fashion. In the 18-19^th centuries fat women were not considered beautiful. As for beauty nowadays, well, I think there are no definite ideals about it. All people are different: fat and slim, white and coloured, fair and dark-haired, tall and short. Really, it is very difficult to find a person who is pleased with her (his) appearance. Those with dark hair make their hair fair. People with smooth hair make it curly, those who were rewarded by nature with locks, carefully uncurl and smooth it with different gels and mousse. But I believe beauty has to be physical and spiritual. What do I mean when talking about spiritual beauty? I mean the beauty of the inner world of a person: kindness, responsibility, willingness to help, friendliness and other traits of character. Such person will give warmth to the people that surround him (or her). In my opinion, a truly beautiful person must combine physical beauty with good traits of character.

Text 8. Dangers of doping.

What is the big deal?

Most medications on the Prohibited List can be bought at a pharmacy – so they must be safe to use, right?

NO! Medications are for people with specific health issues – not for healthy athletes. They were not approved to be used by healthy people, in high doses and in combination with other substances.

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