Overall (not including rowboats, canoes, or anything else driven by paddles), there is about one boat for every 15 people in the U.S. today (1991). In Minnesota, one out of seven people owns a boat and in Arkansas, one out of nine. In Arizona, a state usually known for its mountains and deserts, there are still enough lakes and reservoirs for over 10,000 boats.
As could be expected, all water sports and activities are very popular, including swimming, skin diving, sailing, white-water canoeing, water skiing, and powerboat and "off-shore" racing. Many Americans, of course, just like to go to the beach on a hot summer day, swim a bit, and then take a nap in the sun. Except for a few areas, such as around New York City, the beaches are not crowded, so long walks along the beaches, for example those of Northern California or those of Lake Superior, are quite relaxing. And, although the thousands of students who head for Florida's beaches each spring get headlines, many more thousands of other Americans enjoy small beach parties where there's no one else except a few friends, a fire, and the warm summer night.
Anything That Has Wheels
There are several sports and sports activities in the U.S., all having their strong supporters, which many people think, are a bit strange or at least unusual. For example, Americans will race just about anything that has wheels. Not just cars, but also "funny cars" with aircraft and jet engines, large trucks with special motors, tractors, pickup trucks with gigantic tires, and even motorcycles with automobile engines. Truck racing, it seems, has made it big in Europe. In 1990, The European paper wrote that in only six years since it found its way across the Atlantic, truck racing was attracting "crowds to rival those of the Formula One grand prix motor racing circus." Other sports are popular because they do not involve motors. The first "people-powered" aircraft to cross the English Channel was pedalled by an American. And the first hot-air balloon to make it across the Atlantic had a crew from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
There are also several sports in the U.S. which were once thought of as being "different," but have now gained international popularity. Among these, for instance, is skateboarding. Another example is windsurfing which very quickly spread in popularity from the beaches of California and Hawaii. Hang-gliding became really popular after those same people in California started jumping off cliffs above the ocean. Those who like more than wind and luck attached a small lawnmower engine to a hang-glider and soon "ultra-light-weight" planes were buzzing around.
The triathlon came from a late-night discussion in a Honolulu bar in 1977 about which sport was the most exhausting: swimming, bicycle racing, or long-distance running. Someone suggested that they all be put together. The result was the first "Ironman," in 1978, with 15 participants. This contest was a 3.8 kilometre ocean swim, followed immediately by a 180 kilometre bicycle race, and ending with a 42 kilometre run. Mountain biking, often still called an "American sport," is now really international.
Since the publication of Cooper’s book Aerobics (1968), sports in America turned from an assortment of team activities to what one observer called "a prescription for everyone's health." The emphasis on physical fitness involved increasing numbers of Americans in activities that provide the necessary physical conditioning and at the same time offer enjoyment and recreation. Swimming, jogging, cycling, and callisthenics can be done in company with family members and friends, have no real age limits, and are performed more for health and fun than for competition. Everyone can participate in these activities. The widespread public support for the Handicapped Olympics in the U.S., for example, indicates that "everyone" does, indeed, mean everyone.
Список литературы
1. Барановский Л.С., Козикис Д.Д. How Do You Do, Britain?. Минск; М.: Агентство САДИ: Московский лицей, 1997.
2. Гречина О.В., Миронова Е.П. English for students of mathematics. М.: Высшая школа, 1974.
3. Макаревская Е.В. English for students of biology. Минск, Вышэйшая школа, 1989.
4. Разговорные темы по английскому языку. Пермь, 2007.
5. Ройнберг М.Л. English for students of mathematics. Perm, 1977.
6. Douglas K. Stevenson. American Life and Institutions. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, 1998.
Учебное издание
СБОРНИК текстОВ для самостоятельного чтения и экзаменационные темы по английскому языку
Учебно-методическое пособие для студентов I–II курсов
заочного отделения неязыковых факультетов
2-е издание, исправленное и дополненное
Авторы-составители:
Васильева Елена Ефимовна
Зонина Наталия Петровна (отв. ред.)
Карпенко Наталья Викторовна
Костарева Наталья Анатольевна
Раскина Елена Юрьевна