Unit 4 Good sports

A Good Sport – Unit 4

Singular and plural nouns

Grammar Model

A
Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

Tennis is a popular sport in many countries around the world. It started in Europe in the 1800s, but today it’s even played at the Olympic Games. To play it, you need at least two players, but you can also play with two teams of two. In a tournament, you also need an umpire.

Tennis is played on a court, with a player at each end. The court has white lines and a net. Players need tennis rackets and a ball to play. The aim is to hit the ball over the net, but the ball has to stay within the white lines on the court. Players win points every time an opponent cannot return the ball. A tennis match can last anywhere from 45 minutes to 5 hours.

1 What do you need to play tennis?
2 How do players win points in tennis?

B
Follow the instructions and answer the question.

What do the nouns that refer to more than one thing have in common?

In the passage, underline every noun that refers to only one thing.

In the passage, circle every noun that refers to more than one thing.

Grammar Skill: Singular and Plural Nouns

Nouns are words that name things, people, animals, places, or events. A noun can refer to just one thing (singular) or more than one thing (plural). Singular nouns are often used with one, a, each, and every. Plural nouns are often used with some, many, and all. We usually add -s to make a noun plural, but certain nouns get -es, -ies, or -ves.

Practice:

C-Audio 13 Complete the passage using the correct forms of the nouns given. Then listen and check your answers.

Word Bank:

• school
• sport
• country
• fencer
• kind
• sword

Fencing is a (1) sport in the Olympic Games. An athlete who takes part in fencing is called a fencer. A (2) fencer wears special clothing and a face mask and uses a (3) sword. Three different (4) kinds of swords are used in Olympic fencing: a foil, an épée, and a saber. Fencers compete in many (5) countries, and it’s also a popular sport in some high (6) schools around the world.

D-Audio 14 Correct the mistake in each sentence. Then listen and check your answers.

Passage:
Ice hockey is a popular sport in countries like the U.S.A., Canada, Russia, and Sweden. You play this sport on ice, and players need sticks to hit a puck. Ice hockey sticks are long and each one is curved into a blade at the bottom. All players must wear a helmet while they are playing the game. To move around on the ice, players wear skates. There are two teams, with each team having five players and one goaltender.

E. Write a paragraph about a sport that is popular in your country. Give information about players, rules, and equipment.

Useful words:

• soccer
• baseball
• badminton
• table tennis
• archery

F
Listen and circle the correct answer.

American football is played on (1) a rectangular field / rectangular fields, and there are eleven players on each team. (2) A player / Players can kick or throw the ball, but (3) he / they can also run with it. All players wear (4) a helmet / helmets and padding. The best way to get points is to score (5) touchdown / touchdowns.

G
Complete the passage using the correct form of the nouns given. Then listen and check your answers.

Nouns: goal, game, player, helmet, field, team

Australian Rules football is played on a very large oval (1) field, and each (2) team has eighteen players. (3) Players can kick or pass the ball, but they can also run with it and bounce it. Players don’t wear (4) helmets or padding. Each team tries to score the most (5) goals to win the (6) game.

H
Work with a classmate. Talk about the differences between American football and Australian Rules football.

Review 2

A
Circle the correct answer.

1. ___ friends think she is really good at badminton.
   • a) She
   • b) Her
   • c) They
   • d) Him
2. You need two ___ to play a game of baseball.
   • a) teams
   • b) team
   • c) a team
   • d) many teams
3. Soccer players wear special ___ to help them run on grass.
   • a) shoe
   • b) shoes
   • c) the shoe
   • d) shoe’s
4. Basketball players put the ball into a ___ to score points.
   • a) court
   • b) nets
   • c) basket
   • d) baskets
5. The teacher is helping the students. He’s showing ___ how to exercise well.
   • a) them
   • b) they
   • c) their
   • d) it
6. Brian loves table tennis. ___ is quite a good player, too.
   • a) They
   • b) He
   • c) His
   • d) Him

B
Circle the correct pair of answers.

1. Megan needs to get her own baseball ___ before ___ can play in the team.
   • a) gloves, her
   • b) glove, she
   • c) gloves, he
   • d) glove, them
2. We ___ basketball every Tuesday night. It’s fun for ___ because I can meet all of my friends.
   • a) play, me
   • b) playing, I
   • c) plays, us
   • d) are playing, our
3. Everybody on Colin’s team wears the same color— all wear yellow ___.
   • a) shirts
   • b) shirt
   • c) their
   • d) his
4. Tim is playing really well today. He has scored two ___ and our team is ___.
   • a) goal, win
   • b) goals, winning
   • c) goals, winning
   • d) goals, wins

C
Complete the passage using the correct form of the words given. Then listen and check your answers.

Words: he, his, him, player, fan, team

Park Ji-Sung is a famous soccer (1) _____. He comes from Korea, but he has played for (2) _____in other countries too, including Japan, the Netherlands, and England. Park Ji-Sung is very fit and he always trains very hard before all (3) _____games. (4) _____is very popular in Korea, but (5) _____around the world like (6) _____a lot, too.

D
Write a paragraph about one of the people in the pictures.

Sample : David Beckham
David Beckham is a famous soccer player from England. He is known for his amazing free kicks and his time playing for teams like Manchester United, Real Madrid, and LA Galaxy. Beckham has won many championships and is also popular for his charity work. Fans around the world admire both his soccer skills and his fashion sense.