I always stay to the end.
5. When I see friends at the weekend …
A. I hardly ever see them before 9 p.m.
B. I sometimes have coffee with them in the morning.
C. I usually see them in the afternoon.
6. When a friend phones me before 8 a.m. …
A. I am always happy to talk to him/her.
B. I am sometimes happy to talk to him/her.
C. I never answer the phone at such time.
If you have the majority of «A» answers it means that you are a typical early bird. The majority of «B» answers shows that you are neither an early bird, nor a night owl. Your regimen is not stable and you should change it to avoid problems with your health. And the majority of «C» answers means that you are a night owl.
Do you agree with the conclusion? Do you think it is possible to become a night owl if you are an early bird and vice versa? Do you want to change your regimen?
VI. Read the following situations then choose one of them and role-play it.
1. You are a night owl. Yesterday you went to bed at 2 o’clock. And today, in the early Sunday morning your friend is phoning you to invite you for a run. Refuse your friend but be tactful with him/her.
2. You are an early bird. You are at a birthday party of your best friend. He/she wants you to stay for the whole night but you know that if you stay you will feel bad tomorrow. Refuse your friend but don’t hurt him/her.
VII. Compose an essay on the topic «My working day» and be ready to retell it.
Topic 3. MY FAVOURITE SPORTSMAN
I. Look through the list of vocabulary notes and try to match them with the words and phrases given in Russian.
1) sportswoman, 2) gymnast, 3) sport career, 4) under supervision, 5) sport-lover, 6) training, 7) gymnastics, 8) championship, 9) to make a deep impression, 10) to take up sport/to go in for sport, 11) support, 12) lifestyle, 13) calisthenics, 14) flexible, 15) train hard, 16) merited, 17) coach, 18) to gain a victory/to win, 19) combined team, 20) tournament, 21) multi-discipline event, 22) hoop, 23) skipping-rope, 24) mace, 25) fan, 26) perform, 27) regimen, 28) disqualify, 29) competition, 30) to take part in/to participate in, 31) under the strictest control, 32) performance, 33) elegance, 34) grace.
1) турнир, 2) грациозность, 3) тренер, 4) любитель спорта, 5) выступление, 6) режим, 7) гимнаст, 8) тренировка, 9) дисквалифицировать, 10) гимнастика, 11) изящество, 12) под руководством, 13) принимать участие в … 14) спортсменка, 15) художественная гимнастика, 16) чемпионат, 17) сборная команда, 18) гибкий, 19) выступать, 20) скакалка, 21) под строжайшим контролем, 22) спортивная карьера, 23) фанат, 24) заниматься спортом, 25) поддержать, 26) обруч, 27) заслуженный, 28) произвести сильное впечатление, 29) образ жизни, 30) многоборье, 31) булава, 32) завоевать победу/выиграть, 33) усиленно тренироваться, 34) соревнование.
II. Read the title of the text, try to guess and say what it is about. Read and translate the text.
There are many outstanding sportsmen all over the world. I have got a favourite sportswoman: it is Irina Chaschina, the famous Russian gymnast. Irina Chacshina was born on the 24th of April in 1982 in the Russian city of Omsk. She began her sport career at the age of 6 under supervision of Arais Elena Nikolaevna in Omsk. Her grandfather, a great sport-lover, first brought her to training. Only a day before Irina watched gymnastics world championship which made a deep impression on her. She realized at once that she wants to take this kind of sport up. Her grandfather supported this decision, besides, sport was a very good idea for a plump young girl. Irina’s mother, a teacher of musical school, wanted her daughter to devote herself to music. Moreover, the parents wished Irina to learn to swim. So, that was her crazy lifestyle: music – swimming pool – gymnasium.
In the 7th form she had to choose and it was gymnastics that Irina began to go in for. It is rather interesting, that in the beginning Irina was offered to do sport gymnastics but the girl rejected this idea and declared that she would gladly take up calisthenics. That time Irina was far from being slim and flexible. In other words, she was not in a sports form but she trained hard and gradually got success.
Four years later the famous merited coach of Russia – Vera Efremovna Shtelbaums began to train Irina. The girl gained her first victory at the championship in Omsk, when she was 8 years old. At 12 she joined the combined team of Russia and began to train in Moscow from time to time. Being a junior Irina took the first place at a very prestigious tournament – the Unity of Independent States Spartakiada and won twice the championship among girls. Then she won bronze at the championship of Russia and took the third place at the championship of Europe. Since august 1999 Irina trained under supervision of Irina Aleksandrovna Winer and became the world champion in Osaka.
The season of 2001 became the most successful for Irina. She won the multi-discipline event at the 7th world games in Japan, won gold medals at the championship of Europe in the exercises with a hoop and a skipping-rope. She also took the first place at the international tournament in France, won gold at the world championship in Spain in the exercises with a hoop and silver in all other kinds of exercises. Irina believes her best compositions the exercises with a hoop and maces. «They are the most difficult, that’s why they are interesting!», – says Irina.
Irina’s fans often mark her seriousness and the fact that she hardly ever smiles while performing. In fact Irina is a very kind and responsive person. «In my usual life I like to laugh when it is really very funny, especially if interesting people surround me», – she says.
Everybody knows that the geography of gymnastics tournaments is quite vast. Irina Chaschina has visited a lot of countries but she likes Japan best of all, though its way of life seems a bit complicated and unusual to her. Irina reads a lot, adores going to the cinema. She always dreams of having a dog but her strict regimen doesn’t allow her to do it yet. To those who just do their first steps in gymnastics Irina advises not only to train the body but also the brains. «In calisthenics you should have intellect», – she says.
There was one unpleasant thing that happened to Irina and one more famous Russian gymnast – Alina Kabaeva. Being the leaders of the world calisthenics in 2001 they were caught taking a strong diuretic. As a result they were both disqualified for two years, so they had no right to take part in competitions. The second year of disqualification was conditional, so, the sportswomen were allowed to participate in official tournaments but they were constantly under the strictest control.
Irina Chaschina is considered to be a great sportswoman. Some people even call her the queen of calisthenics. Her performances are always interesting to watch as they are full of elegance, grace and boundless talent.
III. Answer the following questions.
1. When and where was Irina Chaschina born?
2. What kind of sport does Irina go in for?
3. When did Irina begin her sport career?
4. Who was Chaschina’s first coach?
5. Who first brought Irina to training?
6. When did the girl realize that she wants to go in for gymnastics?
7. Was gymnastics her only occupation?
8. Was Irina