OVERVIEW
NEW WORDS
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Nouns.
General.
- athletics activities, such as sports, exercises, and games, that require physical skill and stamina.
- championship (plural: championships) a competition or series of competitions held to determine a winner.
- coach (plural: coaches) a trainer or instructor.
- competitor (plural: competitors) a person, group, team, firm, etc, that vies or competes; rival.
- exercise (plural: exercises) activity that requires physical or mental exertion, especially when performed to develop or maintain fitness.
- game (plural: games) a competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules.
- gym (plural: gyms) a building or part of a building with facilities for exercise, bodybuilding, or other kinds of physical training.
- league (plural: leagues) an association of teams or clubs that compete chiefly among themselves.
- marathon (plural: marathons) a long distance race (usually 26 miles).
- match (plural: matches) a game or contest in which two or more persons or teams oppose and compete with each other.
- medal (plural: medals) an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event.
- player (plural: players) a person who participates in or is skilled at some game or sport.
- playoff (plural: playoffs) a series of games played to determine a championship.
- referee (plural: referees) an official supervising the play; an umpire.
- season ticket (plural: season tickets) a ticket that you can use repeatedly during a certain period, without having to pay each time.
- stadium (plural: stadiums) a large, usually open structure for sports events with tiered seating for spectators.
- tournament (plural: tournaments) a series of contests in which a number of contestants compete and the one that prevails through the final round or that finishes with the best record is declared the winner.
- umpire (plural: umpires) an official who rules on the playing of a game.
Individual sports
- aerobics a system of physical conditioning designed to enhance circulatory and respiratory efficiency that involves vigorous sustained exercise, such as jogging, swimming, or cycling.
- archery the art, sport, or skill of shooting with a bow and arrow.
- badminton a game played on a rectangular court by two players or two pairs of players equipped with light rackets used to volley a shuttlecock over a high net.
- boxing the act, activity, or sport of fighting with the fists, especially according to rules requiring the use of boxing gloves and limiting legal blows to those striking above the waist and on the front or sides of the opponent.
- cycling the act, sport, or technique of riding or racing on a bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle.
- darts a game in which darts (a slender, pointed missile, often having tail fins) are thrown at a board.
- diving a sport where athletes jump or fall into water from a platform or springboard while performing acrobatic routines.
- fencing the art, practice, or sport in which an épée, foil, or saber is used for defense and attack.
- golf a game played on a large outdoor course with a series of 9 or 18 holes spaced far apart, the object being to propel a small, hard ball with the use of various clubs into each hole with as few strokes as possible.
- gymnastics physical exercises designed to develop and display strength, balance, and agility, especially those performed on or with specialized apparatus.
- horseback riding/equestrian the art of riding a horse and controlling the animal’s movement and speed with maximum effectiveness and minimum efforts.
- marathon running a long-distance race (26 miles).
- ping pong the game of table tennis.
- rock climbing an activity in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls.
- roller skating the activity for enjoyment of moving along the ground using roller skates (a type of boot with four wheels on the bottom).
- skiing the action of traveling over snow on skis, especially as a sport or recreation.
- skating the action or activity of gliding on ice skates or roller skates as a sport or pastime.
- snorkeling the activity or pastime of swimming using a snorkel (use of a face mask without lifting the head to breathe, consisting of a tube that curves out of the mouth and extends above the surface of the water).
- snowshoeing the activity of walking over snow wearing snowshoes (flat frames with straps of material stretched across them that can be attached to boots to allow a person to walk on snow without sinking in).
- surfing the sport or pastime of riding a wave towards the shore while standing or lying on a surfboard (a long, narrow board on which a person stands and rides the crest of a breaking wave toward the shore).
- swimming an activity that involves moving through the water using your arms and legs.
- tennis a game played with rackets and a light ball by two players or two pairs of players on a rectangular court divided by a net.
- weightlifting the lifting of heavy weights in a prescribed manner as an exercise or in athletic competition.
- white water rafting the activity of riding on a raft over rough, dangerous parts of a fast-flowing river.
- windsurfing the sport or activity of riding on water on a sailboard.
- wrestling a sport in which two competitors attempt to unbalance, control, or immobilize each other by various holds and maneuvers.
- yoga a system of physical and mental disciplines practiced to attain control of body and mind, tranquillity, etc., especially a series of postures and breathing exercises.
Martial Arts
- judo a sport and method of physical training similar to wrestling, developed in Japan in the late 1800s and using principles of balance and leverage adapted from jujitsu.
- jujitsu an art of weaponless self-defense developed in Japan that uses throws, holds, and blows and derives added power from the attacker’s own weight and strength.
- karate a Japanese martial art in which sharp blows and kicks are administered to pressure-sensitive points on the body of an opponent.
- kendo the Japanese martial art of fencing with bamboo swords.
- taekwando a Korean martial art that resembles karate characterized by the extensive use of kicks.
Team Sports
- baseball a game played with a bat and ball by two opposing teams of nine players, each team playing alternately in the field and at bat, the players at bat having to run a course of four bases laid out in a diamond pattern in order to score.
- basketball a game played between two teams of five players each, the object being to throw a ball through an elevated basket on the opponent’s side of a rectangular court.
- field hockey a game played on turf in which two teams of 11 players use curved sticks to drive a ball into the other team’s goal.
- football a game played by two teams of 11 players each on a rectangular, 100-yard-long field with goal lines and goalposts at either end, the object being to gain possession of a ball and advance it in running or passing plays across the opponent’s goal line or kick it through the air between the opponent’s goalposts.
- lacrosse a game played on a rectangular field by two teams of ten players each, in which participants use a long-handled stick that has a webbed pouch on one end to try to propel a ball into the opposing team’s goal.
- Olympics a series of international athletic contests held in a different country once every four years.
- player a person who participates in or is skilled at some game or sport.
- polo a game played by two teams of three or four players on horseback who are equipped with long-handled mallets for driving a small wooden ball through the opponents’ goal.
- relay running an event where a team of four athletes run equal predetermined distances in a sprint race, each passing a rod-like object called the ‘baton’ to the next person to continue the race.
- rugby a game played by two teams of 15 players each on a rectangular field 110 yards long with goal lines and goal posts at either end, the object being to run with an oval ball across the opponent’s goal line or kick it through the upper portion of the goal posts, with forward passing.
- soccer a game played on a rectangular field with net goals at either end in which two teams of 11 players each try to drive a ball into the other’s goal by kicking, heading, or using any part of the body except the arms and hands.
- team two or more who work together or play on the same side as in a game.
- teammate (plural: teammates) a fellow member of a team.
- volleyball a game played by two teams on a rectangular court divided by a high net, in which each team, using up to three hits per effort to return the ball, tries to drive the ball over the net onto the ground on the opposing team’s side.
- water polo a water sport in which two teams of swimmers try to throw a ball into the opponent’s goal.
Adjectives.
- equestrian relating to horseback riding or horseback riders.
Verbs.
- to compete to strive to gain or win something by defeating or establishing superiority over others who are trying to do the same.
- to exercise to perform exercises; exert one’s muscles, etc, especially in order to keep fit.
- to lose to fail to win; to be defeated.
- to win to achieve victory or finish first in a competition.
Professional sports teams in New York City.
- Brooklyn Nets
- New York FC
- New York Giants
- New York Jets
- New York Knicks
- New York Mets
- New York Rangers
- New York Red Bulls
- New York Yankees
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VISUAL VOCABULARY
- Let’s watch some of the sports events that take place in New York City
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