Sport is GREAT - Part 1

Whatever your taste, Britain is home to some of the greatest sports – and sporting venues – in the world. Watch the video and go behind the scenes at Silverstone Circuit, home of F1, and Wembley Stadium, temple of football!

Transcript

Britain is a sport-loving nation. It’s the birthplace of some of the world’s favourite sports including cricket, rugby and football, and it’s the home of some of the world’s most iconic sporting venues.

From world-class football stadiums and Formula 1 circuits to the greatest arena of all, an Olympic village, Britain has it all. 

…..

This is Silverstone Circuit, one of the world’s most famous motor sport venues. Every year hundreds of thousands of fans come here to watch some of the most exciting motor racing events on the planet.

Over the last 60 years this circuit has changed with the times and its most recent development is a new pit and paddock called the Silverstone Wing.

Richard Phillips is the Managing Director of Silverstone. He oversees everything that takes place here.

Richard: So what would you say to someone who's never been to a race before?

Richard Phillips: I think you have got to come to Silverstone. We have the biggest and most knowledgeable crowd in the world, 320,000 people over the weekend of a Grand Prix. It's the biggest outdoor event in the country.

All the great British names have driven here: Nigel Mansell, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, and… me! I’ve always wanted to drive a Ferrari and what better place to do it than the home of British motor sport?

…..

Racing instructor Chris Ward is going to give me a high-speed driving lesson.

Chris: So, right click into second. Just nice and steady to begin with. Let me just check we're all clear behind. Circuit's clear, so we're free to pull out onto the circuit. Squeeze the throttle, let's give it some power... Power, power, power! Down the left-hand side. Let the car rev a little bit more before you change gear. Into fifth. That's it. Keep the power going. And more power, and more power. What's it feel like being on the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone?

Richard: It's a fantastic feeling, it really is.

…..

Britain is mad about sport. From hockey to sailing, basketball to athletics, and grass court tennis is a national obsession. Rugby was invented here, as was cricket, and then exported round the world.

London is also home to a tribute to a footballing legend...

This is Bobby Moore, one of the all-time greatest footballers, and behind me is Wembley Stadium, one of the all-time greatest sporting venues… and I’m about to get a peek behind closed doors.

The stadium has recently undergone a huge makeover. It’s home to the England National Football Team and the FA Cup Final. Wembley also hosts other sports like American football and big music concerts.

And with 90,000 seats to choose from there’s plenty of room for all the fans.

This is where it all happens. The world’s finest football players have given us some of history's greatest sporting moments on this very pitch.

The stadium is one kilometre all the way round and above me stands a 133 metre tall steel arch which is also 315 metres across. It’s the longest piece of roof section in the world and you can see it on the other side of London. It also moves to allow air and light onto the pitch.

This is the Press Conference Room. Up to 190 members of the media fill these seats after every game to ask the world's most famous football players the burning questions we all want answered. Oh, it's my turn!

But there’s no time to stop, there’s sport everywhere in Great Britain.

Task 1

Which of these things does Richard do?

Exercise

Task 2

Fill the gaps with words from the video.

Exercise

Task 3

Make sentences from the video by reordering the words.

Exercise

Task 4

Choose three words that can go in the gaps.

Exercise

Discussion

Average: 4 (2 votes)
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Profile picture for user amit_ck

Submitted by amit_ck on Thu, 02/09/2021 - 18:10

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It does not necessarily follow that watching sport makes people less keen on participating in it. Could you please correct this sentence if I make any mistakes?
Profile picture for user Rafaela1

Submitted by Rafaela1 on Fri, 18/09/2020 - 14:17

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The Olympics is known as celebration of peace, but if it's held in the middle of the situation where a lot of people are suffering from COVID-19 somewhere in the globe, it's like putting a cart before the horse. Maybe the Olympics is just a festival only for the rich all through the ages.

Submitted by nikoslado on Fri, 10/04/2020 - 16:41

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Dear Team I send to all of you my best wishes for health, strength and courage at these tough moments. Please, could you check the video at 4:33 point of Richard's speaking? Because I hear something like ''answer'', not ''hear''.Am I right? Ever thankful Nikoslado
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Submitted by Peter M. on Sat, 11/04/2020 - 07:53

In reply to by nikoslado

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Hello Nikoslado,

You are quite right - that is a mistake in the transcript. I have changed it now. What Richard actually says is this:

...we all want answered

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Brent on Thu, 02/04/2020 - 14:14

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Hello I didn't know there were so many famous arenas in Britain. It's really interesting how Britain supports my favourite sports. My favourite sport is football and Britain has many big clubs in its country. I also love Formula 1 and it's also the biggest open air event in Great Britain. Best wishes, Brent
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Submitted by Smiley1 on Sat, 05/10/2019 - 00:25

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It seems to me that a person who can prepare oneself to face hard environment like mountains is cool.

Submitted by mhadipour on Sat, 25/05/2019 - 20:21

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Whereas I'm not in sports like cricket or racing,I do love football. It's really great that this year all the teams attending the final matches of the UCL and The UEFA Europa league are English. Somehow football has come back home.

Submitted by Louise on Mon, 15/04/2019 - 14:29

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My favourite sport is handball. I don't know why but when I play I'm feel really good. My country is a big nation of handball, our men's team is 6 times world champion. Football is really popular in my country, but I don't really watch this sport. We are 2 times world champion since the last summer, it was a celebreation in the country !