READING 4 FUN

132 1 Listen and read.

HE WAS ONLY WRONG BY TWO!

John was a football coach at a British University. He always tried to fi nd good football players for his team. John trained his players very well.

They were good at running, jumping, swimming, rowing and playing different games. They often took part in races and practically always won. All John’s players were tall strong men, excellent sportsmen and just nice people. They hardly ever gave him trouble and the University team was the best in the South of England. Regular training, keeping to a diet and a lot of exercises were very important for the sportsmen. They always followed the coach’s advice and received good and excellent results in all home and international competitions and matches. They rarely lost a game or hardly ever ended matches in a draw. In fact, they practically always won.

The only trouble with some of his football players was their poor knowledge of many school subjects because the sportsmen were often not good at Maths, English, etc. and it was not always easy for them to be good University students.

One day the coach brought an excellent young football player to the Professor of the University. The Professor had to ask the young player some questions. The Professor chose very easy questions, but the boy couldn’t answer them. At last the Professor asked, “Well, what’s fi ve times seven?” The student thought for a long time and then answered, “Thirty-six.” The Professor shook his head and looked at the coach. “It’s

impossible!” he said. “I don’t want to punish your team. I understand he can throw a ball very well, but he doesn’t know mathematics at all. He can’t be a student.”

But the coach seriously asked, “Oh, please, sir! Let him become a student. He was only wrong by two.”

READING4 FUN!

VocabuLaRy box

a coach [k3UtS] training [9treiniN] excellent [9eks3l3nt] impossible [im9pAsibl] to punish [9pyniS] to receive [ri9sI:v] to train [trein] zzto end in a draw 2 Complete the sentences according zzto give trouble

to the text.

1 John tried to fi nd … 2 John’s football players were good at … 3 The players were … 4 The University team was … … … 5 The important things for the sportsmen were … 6 The footballers rarely … 7 The only trouble with some footballers was …

3 Answer the questions using the words and phrases from the ‘New Vocabulary’.

1 Who trains sportsmen for international competitions? 2 What do we call members of a football team? 3 What do sportsmen do to keep fi t and be in an excellent form? 4 How does the game end if the result is 0:0? 5 What can a coach say to his sportsman who hasn’t trained for a long time? 6 What kind of student is a boy or a girl if he/she gets very good marks? 7 If you were a teacher, would you use any punishment?

4 Retell the story as if you were:

a the coach; b the Professor; c a new football player

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