MINISTRY OF THE TRANSPORT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
FEDERAL STATE BUDGET EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION OF HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
“ULYANOVSK HIGHER CIVIL AVIATION SCHOOL”

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

PAPER

The role of English in the modern world

Cadet Kotelnikov Oleg Group ATO-14-2 Supervised by Bershattskaya S.A.

Ulyanovsk 2015

CONTENTS

Introduction 3 1. Baseball 4 2. Basketball 5 3. American football 6 4. Ice hockey 7 5. Soccer 8 6. Other popular sports 10 Conclusion 11 References 11

INTRODUCTION
Americans pay much attention to physical fitness. Many sports and sporting activities are popular in the USA. People participate in swimming, skating, squash and badminton, tennis, marathons, track-and-field, bowing, archery, skiing, skating etc. But the five major American sports are hockey, volleyball, baseball, football and basketball. Basketball and volleyball have been invented in America.
There is a large choice of sports in America. This can be explained by the size and variety of the country. Another reason of the popularity of sports is the people’s love of competition of any kind. One more reason is that Americans use sports activities for teaching socials values, such as teamwork and sportsmanship. All this explains why Americans have traditionally done well in many kinds of sports.
Every high school offers its students many sports, such as wrestling, rowing, tennis and golf. There are no separate “universities” for sports in the USA. Students of any higher educational establishment are trained in different kinds of sports. Many colleges and universities are famous for their sports clubs. There are sports facilities at every school.
Some Americans like active games and others like quite games. I think that quite games, as golf and crocket, intend for rich elite people. Most popular games in the USA are hockey, American football, baseball, basketball and soccer. I would like to explore these sports in my paper.

1. Baseball
Baseball is an Americanized version of cricket. It is elegant and leisurely, just like cricket. Tension builds up slowly but steadily. Baseball season is from April to October. Baseball is played in an enclosed field. It's a game between two teams, where the objective is to win by scoring more runs than the opponent at the end of the game. Each team has a starting line-up of nine players, substitutions are allowed, but the player that is being replaced may not reenter the game. A regulation game consists of nine innings in Major League Baseball (MLB). The visiting team bats in the first half of each inning, called the "top of the inning." The home team bats in the second half of each inning, called the "bottom of the inning." An inning continues until the defense gets three outs. There is no time regulation for an inning. If the game is tied in the ninth inning, it goes into "extra innings" and continues until one team holds a lead at the end of an inning. To score a run, a base runner needs to touch all four bases, in the sequence of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and finally home base. A batter hits the ball into play and then runs counterclockwise in the above base sequence. The batter tries to reach base either by a hitting the ball or getting walked. A hit occurs when the player hits the ball into the field of play and reaches 1st base before the defense throws the ball to the base, or gets an extra base (2nd, 3rd, or home) before being tagged out. Base runners are safe as long as they touch a base; only one runner is allowed on a base at a time. The granddaddy of all hits is a homerun, which means the batter hit the ball over the outfield wall. If the pitcher throws four balls out of the batter's strike zone, a walk occurs and the player is granted a free passage to first base. On defense, each time a player is at bat, the pitcher can cause the batter to be out by throwing three strikes, called a strikeout. If the batter hits a pitch, the defense has many ways to make an out. The defense can create a force out by throwing the ball to 1st base before the batter reaches the base, tag out by tagging the base runner while he is not standing on a base, or fly out by catching the ball in the air before it has touched the ground.
2. Basketball
The History of basketball, a game that started with 18 men in a YMCA gymnasium in Springfield, Mass., has grown into a game that more than 300 million people play worldwide. The man who created this instantly successful sport was Dr. James Naismith.
Under orders from Dr. Luther Gulick, head of Physical Education at the School for Christian Workers, Naismith had 14 days to create an indoor game that would provide an "athletic distraction" for a rowdy class through the brutal New England winter.
Naismith's invention didn't come easily. Getting close to the deadline, he struggled to keep the class' faith. His first intention was to bring outdoor games indoors, i.e., soccer and lacrosse. These games proved too physical and cumbersome. At his wits' end, Naismith recalled a childhood game that required players to use finesse and accuracy to become successful. After brainstorming this new idea, Naismith developed basketball's original 13 rules and consequently, the game of basketball in 1891.
It was originally played between raised peach baskets placed on opposite ends of a court. Basketball can be played on indoor or outdoor courts. Height and speed play a big role in this brilliant, unpredictable game, one of the most popular spectator sports in the U.S. Most players are 6 to 7 feet tall. The National Basketball League (NBA) holds games in indoor arenas across the U.S. It's a fast paced, jaw dropping sport, especially when a player performs an acrobatic dunk. A game is divided into either four 12-minute quarters (professional) or two 16-minute halves (college). There is also a shot clock, ranging from 24 to 35 seconds. The shot clock is the amount of time the offense has to shoot the ball in each possession. The player can't advance with the ball without dribbling it. The objective of the game is to outscore the opponent. To score a point, a player has to shoot or dunk the ball through the hoop. The scoring breaks down as follows: a free throw is awarded after certain fouls and is worth one point as an unguarded shot from the free throw line, a field goal is worth two points and is within the boundary of the three-point line, and a three-pointer is beyond the three-point line. The team on defense tries to prevent the offensive team from scoring. They may steal the ball, or, if the other team misses the shot, they can rebound the ball and take over possession. Like football, referees call fouls in this game. Instead of throwing a flag, they blow a whistle, which momentarily stops game play.

3. American football American football was derived from the European games of rugby and soccer (football). Unlike the game of soccer, however, American football focuses more on passing and catching the ball with the hands as opposed to kicking the ball with the feet. American football is quickly becoming more popular than baseball, and the fan bases are increasing rapidly. Football is considered a "full contact sport" because of the extreme physical beating the players take on a weekly basis, both in practices and games. Because of the constant full body contact with opposing players and the ground, players wear protective equipment to minimize injuries. Despite these precautions, however, player injuries are very common and, in some cases, have resulted in career-ending surgeries. The standard American football field is 120 yards in length and 160 feet in width. There are hash marks every yard and every ten yards. On each end of the field (the first and last 10 yards) is an "end zone" with an upright consisting of two vertical yellow poles connecting by one horizontal yellow pole. The game is 60 minutes long and is divided into four 15-minute quarters. After the first two quarters, there is a "halftime," which is a break in the game. The object of the game is to score more points than your opponent in the allotted 60 minutes. Teams may score by either getting the ball into their opponent's end zone for a 6-point touchdown, or they may score by kicking the ball between the yellow uprights (described above) for a 3-point field goal. Each team has eleven players on the field at one time with substitutions permitted at any time. The offensive team starts with the ball at the beginning of the game. Which team starts first as offense is decided by a coin flip prior to the game. The team that is on offense will have four attempts ("downs") to move the ball ten yards. If they are successful, the team will receive a new set of downs to try and move another ten yards. Teams may either throw the ball down the field for yardage or simply hand it off to another player to try to gain yards by running down the field. A play (down) is over when a player with the ball is either tackled, runs out of bounds, or there is an incomplete pass. If a team is not successful in getting 10 yards in their 4 attempts, the opposing team will take over on offense from that spot on the field. In most cases, if the team on offense has used three of their attempts and has not gained the 10 yards, they will most likely opt to punt the ball as far down the field as possible, so the opposing team starts on offense further away from their end zone. Penalties are a huge part of every football game. Penalties can include things such as offsides, personal fouls, delays of game, and pass interferences. Referees strictly enforce the rules and are responsible for running a clean game, controlling the clock, and ensuring the players' safety. Penalties are a huge part of the game because a team that commits a penalty will lose yardage and/or downs. To declare that a penalty has been committed, the referee throws a yellow penalty flag onto the field.

4. Ice hockey
Hockey is the fastest game in the world, with the possible exception of jai-alai (now very popular in the eastern states). It is also rather tainted with show business, but the fistfights you see on the rink are by no means simulated. There are bone jarring slap shots, acrobatic goaltending, and players zooming up and down on the ice at lightning paces. It's not as popular as other American sports. For one reason, it requires cold enough weather to freeze a pond or lake, or an accessible hockey rink. Another reason for the low popularity is that in the 2004-2005 season, the National Hockey League (NHL) had a labor strike between the players and owners, which canceled the season. Slowly, the fans are coming back to the game. Hockey is played on an ice rink 200' long and 85' wide, with rounded corners. Surrounding the rink is a protective glass, shielding the spectators and bench players from airborne hockey pucks. The ice surface has painted lines on it, which indicate face-off circles, the goal crease, and the various zones. Teams have six players on the ice (forwards, defensemen, and goaltenders), unless a team is shorthanded due to a penalty. Players that receive certain penalties have to spend time in the penalty box, giving the other team more players on the ice. The objective is to score more goals than your opponent by getting more pucks in the opposing net. Each game consists of three 20-minute periods, with an intermission in between. Player uniforms consist of ice skates, helmets, sweaters, short pants, and stockings. Hockey referees are the most athletically fit, as compared to refs in other sports. They are constantly skating up and down the ice managing a fair game.

5. Soccer
Soccer has been increasing in popularity in the United States in recent years. Soccer is played by over 13 million people in the U.S., making it the third most played sport in the U.S., more widely played than ice hockey and American football. Most Division 1 colleges field both a men's and women's varsity soccer team .
The United States men's national team and women's national team, as well as a number of national youth teams, represent the United States in international soccer competitions and are governed by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer). The U.S. men's team is one of only seven teams in the world to have qualified for every World Cup since 1990. The U.S. women's team is tied with Germany for most Women's World Cup championships, and is the only team that has never finished worse than third place in a World Cup.
Major League Soccer is the premier soccer league in the United States. MLS has 20 clubs (17 from the U.S. and 3 from Canada). The 34-game schedule runs from mid-March to late October, with the playoffs and championship in November. Soccer-specific stadiums continue to be built for MLS teams around the country. MLS has a particularly solid following in the Pacific Northwest, where there is a strong rivalry between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders. Other professional men's soccer leagues in the U.S. include the Division II North American Soccer League and the Division III United Soccer League, the latter of which now has a formal relationship with MLS.
Many American sports fans, as compared to decades ago, now follow international soccer competitions such as the World Cup. Soccer fans also follow foreign club competitions such as the UEFA Champions League and England's Premier League, and there is growing interest in Major League Soccer, the top domestic professional league. Younger generations of Americans are developing stronger fan appreciation for the sport, due to factors such as the U.S. hosting of the 1994 World Cup and the formation of Major League Soccer, as well as increased U.S. television coverage of soccer competitions. Many immigrants living in the United States continue to follow soccer as their favorite team sport.
The best American soccer players enter the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame. Particularly notable American male players in the Hall of Fame include Bert Patenaude, Alexi Lalas, Cobi Jones, Tony Meola, Eric Wynalda, and Claudio Reyna.

6. Other popular sports
There are also other sports which are popular in some regions, such as:
1) Rugby. It is played at a fast pace, with few stoppages and continuous possession changes. All players on the field, regardless of position, must be able to run, pass, kick and catch the ball. Besides, all players must also be able to tackle and defend, making each position both offensive and defensive in nature. There is no blocking of the opponents like in football, and there are only five substitutions per game allowed for each team. A rugby match consists of two 40-minute halves. Finally, rugby is considered to be a gender equity sport as approximately 25% of all players in the United States are female;
2) Lacrosse. It is a team sport, which was invented by American Indians. It is played by two teams who try to propel a ball into each other's goal with the help of long-handled hooked sticks that are loosely strung with a kind of netted pouch;
3) Curling, a Scotland game, played on ice, in which heavy stones with handles (curling stones) are slid towards a target (tee);
4) Gaelic football – an Irish game played with 15 players on each side and goals resembling rugby posts with a net on the bottom part. Players are allowed to kick, punch, and bounce the ball and attempt to get it over the bar or in the net;
5) Cricket game played by two teams of eleven players on a field with a wicket at either end of a 22-yard pitch, the object being for one side to score runs by hitting a hard leather-covered ball with a bat while the other side tries to dismiss them by bowling, catching, running them out, etc.

CONCLUSION
According to my work the USA is a sportive country. Americans are interested not only in their national sports but in horse riding, golf, tennis, auto sport and many other sports too. Families and friends also play different indoor games like bowling, dominos etc. Playing sport is their kind of relax after hard day or entertainment at the weekend. Americans promote sport in movies and TV shows. They made ideal image of American girl and boy. We can meet these characters in movies. A boy is a football player and a girl is a cheer leader. They are always beautiful, happy, popular and successful. It helps Americans to make sport popular for teenagers. It is a good way to make healthier nation. In my opinion we can use this experience in our country too.

REFERENCES
1. http://immihelp.com/newcomer/sporting-america.html
2. http://homeenglish.ru/refspusa.htm
3. http://survival.abroadplanet.com/articles/21061
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_in_the_United_States#Soccer