The united states of America

1. Britain was the originator of many sports that are popular all over the world - football, rugby, golf, hockey, lawn tennis. All these sports attract very large numbers of participants and spectators in Great Britain. Football in particular hаs a vast number of supporters, 25 million people attend the matches during the football season. Many people watch football and other sports on television.

2. Water sports in Great Britain аre based on its long coast-line as well as many lakes and. rivers. Sailing is particularly popular and the Royal Yachting Association has over 1,500 clubs throughout the country. Also popular are boxing and wrestling, gymnastics and new sports such as judo and karate. Swimming is usually taught at school and millions of people in Britain enjoy this sport. Diving, underwater swimming and water polo are also popular. Riding and other equestrian sports are still traditionally popular in Great Britain. In Scotland winter sports centres have been established in several parts of the Highlands. Britain has about 350 indoor sport centres

3 Sports in America take a variety of forms: organised competitive games, to which huge crowds come to cheer their favourite team to victory; athletic games, played for recreation anywhere where there is enough space, and hunting and fishing. Most sports are seasonal, so that what is happening in sports depends upon the time of year. Some sports are called spectator sports, as the number of spectators greatly exceeds the number of actually playing. Other sports are called participant sports drawing a crowd of onlookers only on special occasions, such as tournaments. Some sports are commercial and professional, with players being paid for their participation and with audiences paying admission to watch.

4. Baseball is a national game played by high school and college team, by men's amateur and professional and college teams, organized into leagues. Among other popular sports are track-and-field athletics and swimming. The USA top track-and-field athletes, figure skaters and swimmers are rather strong rivals.

V. Найдите в тексте ответы на следующие вопросы и запишите их:

1. What sports was Great Britain the originator of?

2. What water sports are popular in Great Britain?

3. What forms do sports in America take?