The Highlands of Scotland possess excellent conditions for two of the main winter sports, skiing and climbing.
Both these sports have, in recent years, become amazingly popular and have brought new life into the silent, snow-covered mountains.
Throughout the winter months and particularly at weekends, the Scotish hills are invaded by climbers, mainly from the lowlands of Scotland and the north of England, sting themselves on some of the most difficult winter routes in Europe: the climbs may be short by continental standarts, but they can be very severe.
The traditional Scottish winter sport is curling. This game is played on ice with a flat, round stone of considerable weight, which is highly polished and slides easily. The object of the game is rather like that of "bowls", to propel the stone along the ice into a certain area: the nearer the stone gets to the centre of this area, the better is the throw.
The game is usually played indoors on skating rinks, but when the winter has been exceptionally severe, and natural stretches of water are frozen, the devotees of the sport compete out of doors. It is then, at a "bonspiel", as such matches are called, that the game is seen in its most traditional form.
This game is called a "roaring game" because of the noise made by the stones as they travel across the ice. And also, perhaps, because of the shouts and cries of the supporters and players themselves.
Now, particularly among young people, skiing has attracted the enthusiasm of thousands. For many years, skiing was practised only by the fortunate few, and most of those travelled to the famous resorts of Austria and Switzerland.
A somewhat similar situation is presented by climbing. As a sport, it was for a long time practised only by people who had plenty of money and leizure.
The Ski Club of Great Britain, which has in the past been criticized for its old-fashioned and exclusive attitude, has recently constituted the National Ski Federation of Great Britain to watch over the interests of this rapidly expanding sport.
The aim of the Federation is to encourage and develop the sport, and particularly skiing in Britain. A great deal has been done. Skiers are already fairly well provided for: a number of chairlifts have been built, together with other forms of tow, which carry skiers up to the snow fields. There are ski schools, staffed by Austrian, Norwegian and Swiss instructors, to give the necessary guidance to learners. Roads have been planned to give closer access to the ski runs.
7. Read 5 extracts from sport commentaries. Match the sentences in activity with the extracts. What sport is each commentary about? 1) cycling; 2) tennis; 3) golf; 4) running; 5) car race; 6) swimming; 7) archery; 8) horse riding; 9) fencing; 10) football
speaker 1 Stage four from Alencon to Le Havre finishes in dramatic fashion for Tour leader, Laurent Jalabert. An accident 2 km from the finish cost him 50 seconds. Jalabert collided with another cyclist and fell. He wasn't injured, but was seriously shaken by the fall. In Belgium, the stage from Charleroi to Liege becomes a demonstration of Miguel Indurain's phenomenal strength. The Spaniard, winner for the last four years, establishes a 50-second gap between himself and his closest rival, Switzerland's Toni Rominger, when he finishes second and keeps the yellow jersey. Stage eight is a 54 km individual time trial, one of Indurain's strongest disciplines.
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speaker 2 At the Mayhem Country Club in County Kilkenny on the final day of the Bowen Cup series, America's Helen Pierce on 8 under par has the chance to take the outright lead ahead of four other players. She misses a putt and finishes 11 under par and is forced into a play off with England's Jenny Clark and Mary Stuart. The 28-year-old former US amateur champion wins her second title by one stroke and moves up to second overall position in the series.
speaker 3 Canada's Pete Taggert in a Ford starts from pole position in the second world championship race of the season. On lap 2, the defending champion, Jim Stuart, collides with a fellow Canadian and has to go into pits for a wheel change. On lap 34, Taggert is leading with the Brazilian, Greg Tomando, close on his tail and the German, Gunther Brek, in a Mercedes lying in third position. Taggert, who surrenders his lead only once in the race, takes the chequered flag for the third year running.
speaker 4 The American. Chrissie May. gets off to a good start and is at least a metre ahead of Hungarian, Katerina Schwab at the half-way mark. Coming up to the turn, she is still leading by a head, but the Hungarian is gaining ground in the outside lane. Oh, that's a bad turn. May has lost ground and the Hungarian swimmer is coming up very strongly now. The other swimmers are all over a length behind the two leaders. It's going to be a close finish; the American is fighting to stay ahead. It looks like she touches first. Yes, first, Chrissie May for the USA, second Katerina Schwab for Hungary, and in third place, more than two lengths behind, Cleo del Marteo for Spain.
speaker 5 There are eight horses through to the final jump off of the Bradley Cup here at Wembley. It's against the clock and the course is very technical. The first horse to jump is Software, ridden by Jennifer Green for Great Britain. A new horse on the international circuit this year. He has shown enormous potential. They're off and they're safely over the first gate. They're heading for the double now, very fast indeed, and they're safely through that. A sharp turn to the wall. It's a very good time indeed. Now the water and the big triple... Oh, he touched that, but it's not down. And it's a clear round. And an excellent time to beat...
8. Write 15 sentences about British Olympic champion. Use the words, word combinations in brackets ( To break a record. To win by the head. To win the wooden spoon. An early bath. To swim like a fish/duck. The sport of kings; go in for, to be not as good atas; open-air games; indoor games; to afford excellent opportunities for smth,; to indulge in smth.; to win the championship; to be in a good form)
