Listen to the talk and fill in the missing information in the right places for questions 1 to 10. And for questions 11 to 16, indicate whether the following statements are true or false by writing T for true and F for false.
Sports are very important in British life. It's possible to practise all kinds of sports in Britain. You can see water sports. Sailing and rowing are practised on the lakes, rivers and coastlines. These kinds of sports are more popular in summer. Walking, rock climbing and horse riding are all good ways to explore the landscape. Nearer your home you will certainly find outdoor pitches for football, cricket and other team games. Tennis is played on outdoor courts in summer while squash has become a popular game in recent years, as it can be played year-round on indoor courts. Most colleges and towns will also have indoor swimming pools and some have ice skating rinks.
Many colleges have their own extremely impressive sports facilities and this is the best place to find what is available. For example, most universities have a day at the start of the year when all the clubs and societies advertise their activities and you can go round and choose which you would like to join. The most popular outdoor spectator sports are football and horse racing. Most large towns have their own football team and ground while race courses are found in the country and outside most major cities. All forms of motor racing are also popular.
Sport plays such a large part in British life that many idioms in the English language have come from the world of sport, for example: “to play the game” means “to be fair”, and “That's not cricket” means “That's not fair”. The most popular sport in Britain as a whole is football. A lot of people support their local clubs at matches on Saturday afternoons or watch the matches live on television.