1. IS THE CASINO IN THE CITY GOOD OR BAD THINGS?

We read in the local evening paper last night that a firm is seeking planning permission
to open a cassino in the east end of the city. This announcement is bound to cause
contreversy and everyone is already examining the pros and cons.

My grandmother, who lives in the part of the city, is very much against having a casino
there. She says that it will have a deterious effect on the neighborhood. That area of the
city is a quiet place and my grandmother says that people going to the casino will make a
great deal of noise and disturb the local residents. She points out that gambling
establishments are open late at night and that they usually supply alcohol to the clients.

My grandmother is also concerned that clients of the casino will bring their cars to the area.
Not only will these cars cause a lot of noise when they leave in the early hours of the
morning, but they will add greatly to the already difficult parking problem. The casino
will not provide private parking for its clients.

We live on the other side of the city but my mother is also protesting against the casino
although her reasons are very different from those of my grandmother. My mother’s
concern is that the casino will encourage the gambling addiction.

My mother has personal experience of what can happen to someone who becomes
addicted to gambling. One of her best friends from her study days, Jack, became
gambling addict a few years after leaving university. He had started in a very small way,
placing the odd bet on a horse and taking part in a few poker games. Gradually,
however, his love of gambling took over his life.

Despite going for counselling, he failed to give up his adddiction. He was spending a
great deal of his money on addiciton and he was declared a bankrupt. His wife could not
put up with his addiciton any more and left the city to go and live with her family at the
other side of the city. Jack became depressed and took his own life.

This is a particularly tragic case, but my mother says that the effects of gambling addiction
on families are much greater that people realize.

Both my mother and my grandmother intent to join the potest movement againts casino,
but several people whom I know are in favour of it. Some of them feel that a casino will
make the area of the city more lively. It used to be an area with good restaurants and shops,
but in recent years, a great many of these have closed down, partly because of the closure
of a large factory and office complex.
The hopes of the supporters or the casino scheme are that the presence of the the casino
will help to regenerate the area. They hope that clients of the casino will want to use the
restaurants and shops near to the casino.

Other supporter of the casino point out that it will create new jobs. It is likely to be a
sustainable gambling establishment, and will employ a wide rage of people as well as
croupiers, including catering, administrative and security staff.

It will be some time before we know if the casino will be given planning permission.
Meanwhile, it remains a very contreversial issue in the city.

Question:

1/ why do people gamble?

2/ how can gambling addicts be cured, apart from counselling?

3/ what are some other possible benefits of having a casino in the city?

4/ beside the reasons given by the writer, why do the protesters think the casino is
bad for the city and its people?

5/ how can the harful effects of the casino be reduced or avoided?

 2. DOES FOOTBALL UNITE OR DIVIDE PEOPLE?
One of the good things about football is that it is accessible to a great many people, partly
because it does not require expensive equipment. All that is needed, beside a ball, is a
stretch of ground with a set of goalposts. Such football pitches are usually readily available
in school grounds and in the leisure areas provided by the local authorities.

Because of its acessibility, football is a game which is played by many young people. Most of
them are male, but increasingly some of the young players are female. Because so many
young pepole play it, the game often acts as a bond among them. They have something
in common that unites them.

Young people who decied to play a football match divide themselves into two teams of
eleven players. This act at once unites and divides the players. All the players who are
chosen to be on one side instantly feel a sense of unity. They have a common goal which
unites them and this is to beat the opposition.

The need to win unites the members of one team, but it inevitably creates a division
between this team and the opposing team. In the case of young people playing an
informal game of football, this division is often no more than friendly rivalry. They
may show great competitive spirit against the opposition during the game, but at the
end of it, they are all good friends again. Any sense of division would have disappeared.

Sadly, this is not always the case with professional football players. They have the great
sense of unity with their teammates, but because professional football is now a big
bussiness, the sense of division between them and the player on the other sides is often
quite serious.

There are subtantial profits to be made and the top players receive very high financial
rewards. All this makes the need to win far greater than it is in an informal match played
by young amateurs. The extent of financial rewards means that the feeling towards the
opposing team are stronger than just friendly rivalry. There is a definite sense of division
and even, sometimes, of enmity (to be at emity with someone).

It is unfortunate that people who engage in a sport should have such feelings towards
the opposition. However, what is worse is the sense of division that exists among the
football fans of some teams. Some football fans regard [the fans of other teams], especially
those teams which are seen as the closest rivals of their own team, as hated adversaries.

Football is extremely important in many countries, especially among the males. Far more
people watch it, either in person at the pitch or on television, than play it and there are
many very enthusiastic fans. There is a great sense of unity among the fans of particular
club, indicated by wearing of scarves of the colours of their team. Sadly, there is aslo a great
of sense of division between the fans of rival teams and this is exacerbated by the
wearing of team colours.

Unfortunately, this sense of division can lead to such a feeling of hatred towards the fans
of the opposition that violence may ensue(difficulties ensuing on (from) the war,
flood, natural disaster,…). Fans of rival teams, especially when they have consumed a lot
of alcohol, sometimes begin to fight each other, often also attacking the police who are
trying to stop the fights and causing damage to nearby property.

Such violence often erupts at international matches. An interest in a sport should unite the
world. Sadly, violence football fans sometimes ensure that it divides it instead.

Question:

1/ why do people like to play football?

2/ beside uniting people, what are some of the other benefits of playing football?

3/ how are amateur football players different from professional players?

4/ in what way we can minimize any enmity between professional teams?

5/ why do so many like to watch football matches?

 3. ARE SPORTSMANSHIP AND GAMESMANSHIP JUST ABOUT
WINNING?
The word “sportsmanship” can refer to (+N) the performance or skill of someone taking
part in a sport. For example, you may say “Bill is very good at rugby and rowing and he
might will get into Redfold College on the basis of his sportsmanship.”

More commonly, it used to refer to those qualities that are desireable in sportsman, or
rather sportsperson, since these qualities are not retricted the male sex. What qualities
make up sportsmanship? Sportsmanship, even when this is just restricted to taking part in
some kind of sport, is not just about how well you perform. It also refers to how you
conduct yourself. You can play very hard and very successfully, and yet not show true
sportsmanship.

To show sportsmanship is to play the sport or the game in which you are taking part fairly
and playing the game strictly according to the rules. If you are a football players who
scores a goal by deliberately knocking the ground a member of the opposing team when
the referee is not looking, then you are certainly not demonstrating sportsmanship, even
though you may be the hero of your team. You have won by committing a foul.

Players who demonstrate sportsmanship also act graciously when they lose, applauding
their oppents and giving them due credit for giving the better performance on the day.
They do not suggest that they would have won if the referee had not made some wrong
decisions. Basically, they are good losers. They take part in a sport because they enjoy it,
not because they feel that they absolutely have to win it.

Sportsmanship is not restricted to a sports field. It can be applied to more general areas of
life. It is used to refer to the practice of behaving generally in an honest, fair way,
treating your rivals or opponents with respect and losing your temper or bearing
anyone a grudge. For example, if a colleague gets a promotion that you thought should
have come to you, you demonstrate your sportsmanship by graciously congratulating him
and take him out for a celebratory drink. You do not go around saying that he is not good
enough for the job.

Gamesmanship is something quite different from sportsmanship. It does not refer to fair
play or to observing the rules. It does not refer to skill at playing a game, but it is a
particular kind of skill.

Gamesmanship in fact, refer to exceptionally clever and cunning play. People using
gamesmanship do not use methods that are technically against the rules of game, but they
try to defeat their opponents by psychological means. They try to put their opponents
off their game so that they play badly and lose.
Someone practising gamesmanship might try to find ways of disturbing the concentration
of his opponent. For example, when it is his turn to play, he might take a very long time to
do so. He might whistle or mutter constantly or he might say something disrespectful
under his breath. If he is playing cards, he may act as though he has a very good hand in
order to make his opponents lose confidence.

Gamesmanship is used in all kinds of games from card games to snake and ladders to
scrabble. However, it is not restricted to the actual playing of games. Some people practise
gamesmanship in real life. They use clever and cunning tactics and strategies in bussiness,
politics or relationship to ensure that they will win by psyching out their rivals or
opponents.

Sportsmanship is certainly not just about winning a contest. Gamesmanship is, but the
contest is not necessarily restricted to playing a game.

Question:

1/ what are some other qualities of a true sportsperson?

2/ is gamesmanship good or bad thing? Why do you think so?

3/ what are the benefits of participation in a sports competition?

4/ what is another key difference between sportsmanship and gamesmanship?

5/ in what other real-life situation can gamesmanship be applied to one’s advantage?