Unit 8: Gymnastics

Back

Aims and Objectives

In this unit you are going to learn a lot of new gymnastics-related phrases and you are going to learn to tell a story.

The grammar focus of this unit is:

Vocabulary

Vocabulary Practice

Exercise not available in this language version.

Comprehension

Exercise 1: Multiple Choice Questions

Chose the correct answer.

Recording:
Transcript:

The story of a fighter.
The Russian female gymnasts dominated the Olympics in 1960 in Rome, their muscles were iron, their technique was brilliant, their stamina inexhaustible. It seemed there was no one who could stop the red wave. Yet a woman from a small country in the middle of Europe, Eva Vechtova-Bosakova showed the level they set is beatable. Born in a provincial town of Mlada Boleslav in that time's Czechoslovakia to the gymnastics-loving parents she was trained from a very early age. Although she originally started figure skating, she soon discovered a passion for a different sport passed from her parents on to her. Gymnastics was an inevitable choice. After the 2nd world war she started exercising on apparatus. During her training she introduced a lot of innovations, such as the three-phase training or exercising in PVC clothes for larger weight loss. Her first large victory was 1958's championship in Moscow where she won the gold medal after performing, at that time unseen element, a back somersault on the floor. Then she started to introduce more innovative features in her routines. She courageously introduced many acrobatics and dance figures for which her points with conservative judges went low, however her qualities were so evident and her effort so persuasive, that at some point a break came. The greatest moment of her career came one hot day in Rome in the Caracalla spa. "She performed an unseen cartwheel on the balance beam, and after performing several more elements she continued with a handstand followed by a planche, a completely unusual routine," her old coach remembers the event. "And that was it. Hah, hah. The Russian hegemony at the Olympics in Rome was over. She was an unforgettable personality." he closes. After several more years of success she was forced to stop her career for unclear reasons. She died unexpectedly just two years after the fall of communism in 1991, half-forgotten by the public.

  1. Eva Vechtova-Bosakova was born
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?
  2. The Russian female gymnasts
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?
  3. Eva's parents
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?
  4. Eva started
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?
  5. Eva introduced
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?
  6. Her first success was
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?
  7. The greatest moment of her career came
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?
  8. She stopped her career
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?
  9. Today, she is
    a. 
    b. 
    c. 
    ?

Exercise 2: Exposed Cloze

Use the correct word or expression from the list below to fill in the gaps in the sentences.

  • another
  • bar
  • circle
  • drop
  • fall
  • grabs
  • half
  • low
  • out
  • pikes
  • swings
Transcript:

Tkatchev is a bar release move in which the gymnast swings around the bar, lets go just before reaching a handstand, straddles or pikes his or her legs while flying over the bar, then leans forward to re-grasp the bar. Swedish fall is a move in which a gymnast does a free-fall drop straight onto the ground, with hands shooting out at the last second. Somi-and-a-half is another way of saying one and a half somersault. Shaposhnikova is a free hip circle after which the gymnast lets go of the low bar and grabs the high bar.

Tkatchev is a bar release move in which the gymnast ? around the bar, lets go just before reaching a handstand, straddles or ? his or her legs while flying over the ?, then leans forward to re-grasp the bar. Swedish ? is a move in which a gymnast does a free-fall ? straight onto the ground, with hands shooting ? at the last second. Somi-and-a-half is ? way of saying one and a ? somersault. Shaposhnikova is a free hip ? after which the gymnast lets go of the ? bar and ? the high bar.

Exercise 3: Selections

Chose the correct answer.

  1. a. 
    b. 
    ?
  2. a. 
    b. 
    ?
  3. a. 
    b. 
    ?
  4. a. 
    b. 
    ?
  5. a. 
    b. 
    ?
  6. a. 
    b. 
    ?
  7. a. 
    b. 
    ?

Exercise 4: Cloze

Fill in the gaps in the text below. For each gap there is only one correct answer.

Transcript:

The Russian female gymnasts dominated the Olympics in 1960 in Rome, their muscles were iron, their technique was brilliant, their stamina inexhaustible. It seemed there was no one who could stop the red wave. Yet a woman from a small country in the middle of Europe, Eva Vechtova-Bosakova showed the level they set is beatable. Born in a provincial town of Mlada Boleslav in that time's Czechoslovakia to the gymnastics-loving parents she was trained from a very early age. Although she originally started figure skating, she soon discovered a passion for a different sport passed from her parents on to her. Gymnastics was an inevitable choice. After the 2nd world war she started exercising on apparatus. During her training she introduced a lot of innovations, such as the three-phase training or exercising in PVC clothes for larger weight loss. Her first large victory was 1958's championship in Moscow where she won the gold medal after performing, at that time unseen element, a back somersault on the floor.

The Russian female gymnasts ? the Olympics in 1960 in Rome, their muscles were iron, their ? was brilliant, their stamina inexhaustible. It seemed there was no one who could stop the ? wave. Yet a woman from a small country in the ? of Europe, Eva Vechtova-Bosakova showed the level they set is beatable. ? in a provincial town of Mlada Boleslav in that time's Czechoslovakia to the gymnastics-loving ? she was trained from a very early age. Although she originally started ? skating, she soon discovered a passion for a different sport passed from her parents ? to her. Gymnastics was an inevitable choice. After the 2nd world war she started exercising on ?. During her training she introduced a lot of ?, such as the three-? training or exercising in PVC clothes for larger ? loss. Her first large victory was 1958's championship in Moscow ? she won the gold medal after performing, at that time unseen ?, a back somersault on the floor.

Grammar Practice

Exercise 1: Transformation

Have a look at participle clauses.

Example:

The woman who was working as a shop assistent won the Olympics.
The woman working as a shop assistent won the Olympics.

  1. A.
    B. ?
  2. A.
    B. ?
  3. A.
    B. ?
  4. A.
    B. ?
  5. A.
    B. ?

Exercise 2: Transformation

Practise participle clauses.

Example:

The man watched her training. He was a journalist.
The man watching her training was a journalist.

  1. A.
    B. ?
  2. A.
    B. ?
  3. A.
    B. ?
  4. A.
    B. ?
  5. A.
    B. ?

Exercise 3: Transformation

Make questions with participle clauses.

Example:

The man watched her training. He was a journalist.
Was the man training her a journalist.

  1. A.
    B. ?
  2. A.
    B. ?
  3. A.
    B. ?
  4. A.
    B. ?
  5. A.
    B. ?

Exercise 4: Transformation

Create a sentence with a participle clause. Put the words in the correct word order.

Example:

jounalist-man-sitting-gym-in-the-was-the-a
The man sitting in the gym was a journalist.

  1. A.
    B. ?
  2. A.
    B. ?
  3. A.
    B. ?
  4. A.
    B. ?
  5. A.
    B. ?

Dictation

Exercise 1: Dictation

Listen to the complete recording first. Then go to the textbox and use the ‘>’ key to listen to the text section by section. Type what you hear into the textbox. For detailed instructions, read the Exercise Help.

Recording:
Transcript:

The back walkover was preceded by a perfect wolf hop. She went from the giant through the pirouette to the cartwheel.

?

Exercise 2: Dictation

Listen to the complete recording first. Then go to the textbox and use the ‘>’ key to listen to the text section by section. Type what you hear into the textbox. For detailed instructions, read the Exercise Help.

Recording:
Transcript:

Yurchenko is a vault in which a roundoff is done onto the springboard followed by a back handspring onto the vault and a back flip. Miller is a beam manoeuvre in which the gymnast does a back dive with a quarter twist into the handstand followed by a half pirouette.

?

Exercise 3: Dictation

Listen to the complete recording first. Then go to the textbox and use the ‘>’ key to listen to the text section by section. Type what you hear into the textbox. For detailed instructions, read the Exercise Help.

Recording:
Transcript:

She performed an unseen cartwheel on the balance beam, after performing several more elements she continued with a handstand followed by a planche.

?

Checklist

After this lesson you should be able to talk about gymnastic events in detail.

Version 1.1.0-alpha (2013-01-03 13:42 CET)
Warning: Media Player unavailable. Use a JavaScript enabled browser.