英语口语教程（Oral Workshop）--中级 Lesson 14（在线收听）

Lesson 14

 What Sports Do They Enjoy?

 Text A

 Not all people like to wnrk but everyone likes to play. All over the world men and women and boys and girls enjoy sports. iends the days of long ago, adults and children have called their friends together to spend hours , even days , playing games.

 Sports help people to live happily. They help to keep people healthy and feeling good. When they are playing games, people move a lot. This is good for their health. I-Iaving fun with their friends makes them happy.

 Many people enjoy sports by watching others play. In small towns , crowds meet to watch the bicycle races or the soccer game.In the big cities, thousands buy tickets to see an ice-skating show or a baseball game.

 What games have you played? What are your favorite sports now? You probably play the games that people in your town or city play. Is the climate hot where you live? Then swimming is probably one of your sports. Boys and girls in Australia love tc swim. There are wonderful beaches there and the weather is good for swimming. 

Or do you live in a cold climate? Then you would like to ski. There are many skiers in Austria where there are big mountains and cold winters. Does it rain often where you live? Then kite flying would not be one of your sports. It is one of the favorite sports of Thailand.

 Surfing is an important sport in Hawaii. The Pacific Ocean sends huge waves up on the beaches, waves that are just right for surfing . But you need to live near an ocean to ride the waves and enjoy surfing.

 People in Switzerland love to climb the wonderful mountains of their country. Mountain climbing and hiking are favorite sports there. But there can be no mountain climbing where tlmc re are no mountains.

 Sposts change with the season. People often do not play the same games in winter as in summer. Sailing is fun in warm weather, but when it gets cold it's time to change to other sports. People talk about sports' seasons. Baseball is only played for a few months of the year. This is called "the baseball season".

 Text B

 Have you ever wondered how some people can break bricks wi th their bare hands'? People who can do this kind of thing are experts in Karate. They are called "Karatekas". Let's try to f ind out how karatekas could do such things. We wanted to learn i f they were especially strong and we got some surprising answers! 

Believe it or not , Karatekas aren't stronger than ordinary nary people - they just have more courage! A Karate expertstrikes hard objects like bricks or plates with the small bone in his wrist , opposite the thumb. Speed is the essence of this sport. But the strange thing is that untrained men can break hard objects in the same way just as well as Karatekas. 

Of course, Karatekas practise a lot and they have a layer of hard skin round their wrists. Though they have this advantage over ordinary people, it's basically lust a qu5tion of willpower-at least , that's what you can tell your mother afer you've experimentedon a few dinner plates !

 Additional Information

 The Football Match

 Thi's is John Roberts reporting from Cardiff. The result of the match which finished at four this afternoon between France and Wales was a draw. Neither side scored. The Dutch referee did not allow the one goal which France managed to kick. The reason for this was that a French player was unfortunately off side. So both teams went .home disappointed. This means that neither the French nor the Welsh team will reach first place in this international competition.

 However, I can say that the spectators were delighted with the game. They particularly admired the French forwards, who were always fast and often threatened the Welsh defence. Once it looked as though the Welsh goalkeeper was in serious trouble.

 He dived to his right to save a shot from the French centre forward and crashed his head against the goal post. A doctor examined him but he soon began to play again. Of course the large, friendly crowd applauded him. Wales will certainly welcome another visit from this splendid team.