Skydiving

Jogging

In Sickness and in Health

UNIT 2

04.06.2007

Александр Тубельский

От редакции:
Уже после смерти директора педагогический коллектив собрался и решил ходатайствовать о присвоении школе имени Тубельского. На панихиде представители педагогической общественности поддержали это предложение.

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1. Read the text about jogging and figure out what its advantages and disadvantages are.

Fitness, weight loss, grace, physical fulfillment, and relief from stress by jogging. Joggers expend from 10 to 13 calories per minute in this exercise (compared with approximately 7 to 9 calories per minute for tennis).The popularity of this activity was given substantial impetus by the publication of the book Jogging (1967) by Bill Bowerman, a University of Oregon track coach, and W.E. Harris, a heart specialist.

The practice of jogging originated in New Zealand when an Olympic track coach, one Dr. Lydiard, suggested it as a conditioning activity for retired Olympic runners; Bowerman observed the activity there and was impressed. Jogging has been endorsed by many medical authorities for its value as a heart exercise and for general physical conditioning, usually to be practiced on alternate days.

Other medical authorities, however, warn that fallen arches, shin splints, sweat miliaria, strained Achilles tendons, bruised heels, and knee and back ailments can result from jogging--usually done on hard surfaces with the feet striking the ground from 600 to 750 times per mile. Warm-up exercises before jogging, properly designed shoes, loose clothing, proper jogging technique, and general good health--as well as sensible objectives--are necessary for safe pursuit of the activity. The U.S. National Jogging Association was formed in 1968 to promote the pastime.

2. Read the text about skydiving and find out which forms of it exist.

Skydiving also called Parachuting, the use of a parachute for recreation and competition. In sport jumping, the jump is usually made from a slow-moving plane, often at less than 10,000 feet (3,000 m). When the jumper delays opening the parachute, he creates a free-fall. Skydiving events include jumping for style, landing with accuracy, and performing in teams. The first world championship in skydiving was held in Yugoslavia in 1951, and later world championships followed at two-year intervals under the auspices of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).

In jumping for style, competitors are required to perform a number of stunts, such as a back turn in the shortest time possible during the period of free-fall, and are judged solely on form. The place of landing is irrelevant. In accuracy jumping, the object is to land as close as possible to the centre (a disk with a diameter of 5 cm [1.97 inches]) of an electronically sensitive circular target on the ground; this target has a total diameter of 37 cm (14.6 inches). In team events, members perform such maneuvers as passing a baton while falling, linking into a circle, or performing some other figure--all called "relative work." In "canopy relative work" the members link or perform figures after their parachutes have opened.

The sport parachute, unlike that designed as a safety device, has certain panels missing for ease of maneuverability. Sport parachutes may also be rotated by a pull or control knob that regulates the direction of the escaping air. The venting arrangement of a parachute allows the sky diver to guide his descent after he has opened the parachute at an altitude designated by the FAI judges. The jumper must also leave the airplane in a predetermined manner and form. In recreational parachuting, the jumper usually carries an altimeter, which, along with providing information on the rate of descent, tells the jumper when to open his chute.

A newer form of sport parachuting is BASE (acronym for building, antennae, span, earth) jumping, in which the parachutist leaps from a very high structure, such as a building, bridge, or cliff, rather than an airplane. In parasailing, a parachute is linked by a long line to a boat, the forward motion of which lifts and tows the parachute wearer.

3. Answer the questions using the following words:

thrill-seekers, risk-takers, daredevils, an ‘adrenaline buzz’, in the quest for, elaborate sports, to crave adventure, to eliminate risk, to overcome fears, to stay alert, inarticulate, to use only superlatives, legs like jelly, to go pit-a-pat.

1. What kinds of dangerous sport do you know? Would you like to venture on taking up one of them? Why?

2. Why do you think extreme sports are getting more and more popular?

3. What in your opinion makes people indulge in risk-taking sports?

4. If you had only two options: to take up jogging or skydiving – which kind of sport would you prefer?

4. Read the text and comment on it. Do you tend to agree with the authour?

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