Unit 12: Water Sports - Reading

Exercise 1: Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer. There is very little documentation about the origins of water polo. It is known, however, that the sport originated in the rivers and lakes of mid-19th century England as an aquatic version of rugby. Early games used an inflated rubber ball that came from India known as a "pulu" (the single Indian word for all "balls"). Pronounced "polo" by the English, both the game and the ball became known as "water polo." To attract more spectators to swimming exhibitions, the London Swimming Association designed a set of water polo rules for indoor swimming pools in 1870. At first, players scored by planting the ball on the end of the pool with both hands. A favorite trick of the players was to place the five-to-nine inch rubber ball inside their swimming suit and dive under the murky water, they would then appear again as close to the goal as possible. The introduction of the rules by Scottish players changed the nature of water polo. It became a game that emphasized swimming, speed and passing. Scottish rules moved from a rugby variant to a soccer style of play. Goals became a cage of 10x 3 feet and a goal could be scored by being thrown. Players could only be tackled when they "held" the ball and the ball could no longer be taken under water. The small rubber ball was replaced by a leather soccer ball. If the player came up too near the goal, he was promptly jumped on by the goalie, who was permitted to stand on the pool deck. Games were often nothing more than gang fights in the water as players ignored the ball, preferring underwater wrestling matches that usually ended with one man floating to the surface unconscious. Water polo was first played in the USA in 1888. The game featured the old rugby style of play which resembled American football in the water. "American style" water polo became very popular and by the late 1890's was played in such venues as Madison Square Garden and Boston's Mechanics Hall, attracting 14,000 spectators to national championship games.

Exercise 2: Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase. Rowing is a sport in which athletes race' against each other on river, lakes or on the ocean, (6) _____ on the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades (7) _____ they are pushed against the water. The sport can be both recreational, focusing (8) _____ learning the techniques required, and competitive where overall fitness plays a large role. It is also one of (9) _____ oldest Olympic sports. In the United States, Australia and Canada, high school and collegial rowing is sometimes referred to as crew. (10) _____ rowing, the athlete sits in the boat facing backwards, towards the stern, and uses the oars which are held in (11) _____ by the oarlocks to propel the boat forward, towards the bow. It is a demanding sport requiring strong core balance as well as physical (12) _____ and cardiovascular endurance. Since the action of rowing (13) _____ fairly popular throughout the world, there are many different types of (14) _____. These include endurance races, time trials, stake racing, bumps racing, and the side-by-side format used in the Olympic Games. The many different formats are a result of the long (15) _____ of the sport, its development in. different regions of the world, and specific local requirements and restrictions.