A World of Mystery English Toolkit 1 - Sports The origin of sports dates back to Ancient Times.. Early individual sports include swimming, wrestling and boxing, while early team sports i
Trang 1A World of Mystery
English Toolkit 1 - Sports
The origin of sports dates back to Ancient
Times There is evidence of their existence in
places such as China, Egypt and Persia Early
individual sports include swimming, wrestling
and boxing, while early team sports include
polo and games similar to hockey However, the
activities were not regulated as today and many
of them underwent several changes
It was in 776 BC when Greece held the first
athletic competition: the Olympic Games As
years passed, more sports were added to the
Olympics For instance, the pentathlon involved
running, jumping, discus throw, javelin throw
and wrestling Later, pankration, a type of
wrestling combined with boxing and kicking,
was introduced
Another early sport is sumo wrestling, Japan’s
national sport At first, it was an agricultural
ritual in which they asked the gods for a good
harvest Sumo was also present in imperial
courts’ ceremonies and it was later used for
military training When Japan was in peace,
sumo finally became a martial art with its own
rules and extended to the rest of society
There are some sports that appeared in relation
to the kings’ practices One clear example is
royal tennis or court tennis Actually, the kings
of France and their courtiers first played it in the
14th century And, by the 16th century, it was
well-known and also the English aristocracy
played it Similarly, horse racing —despite
its early presence in chariot races— rapidly
developed as a sport in its modern form in England because of the monarchs’ interest and support
Two other contributing factors in the history
of sport were English Public Schools and the Industrial Revolution Schools were effective
in introducing students to many sports and led to the formulation of rules As regards the Industrial Revolution, it caused rural migration and middle and upper classes in the city adopted rural games and modified them, as well
Besides, schools and universities could get in contact and compete with each other, unifying games and their regulations The resurgence of the Olympic Games in the 19th century also contributed to the expansion of sports and their principles
Even when it is possible to trace the origins of sports, many practices underwent modifications
or just disappeared New sports will probably emerge as a result of socio-economic events
or technological development But it is almost certain that they will continue to form part of our lives as in their beginnings
The origin of sports
Activities
1 Read the text and correct the sentences.
a All sports originated in the same place
b Sumo wrestling formed part of the first Olympic Games
c Sumo wrestling always had the same function in Japan’s society
d The English were the first to play tennis
e Due to the Industrial Revolution, rural games disappeared
Trang 22 BModule
English Toolkit 1 - Sports
2 Put the words in order to make questions in the Simple Past tense.
4 Find 8 (eight) sports in the wordsearch They appear
in any direction!
3 Now, read the text and answer the previous questions.
a
b
c
d
5 Write the sports in the correct category.
a Sports related to wrestling:
b Team sports:
c Sports related to athletics:
6 Read about the origins of other sports Complete the blanks with the Simple Past tense.
a Dr James Naismith (invent) basketball so that young people
(can) engage in an indoor activity during winter
b It seems that the history of rugby (start) when a football player (take) the ball in his arms instead of kicking it and (run) with it
c Volleyball (originate) in the United States in 1895 William G
Morgan (decide) to borrow elements from tennis, basketball, baseball and
handball and (create) this sport that was originally called mintonette
7 Group work: look for information about the origins of a sport or game played in your
country For example, in Argentina pato, taba, sortija were popular activities How did they
start? Write a paragraph about it.
J U M P I N G S G
N I L E V A J N U
W R K I C K I N G
O M U S O X M A D
L M P H O C K E Y
O R A B D P I G T
P Y G N I N N U R