Inside Out

The Beijing Olympic Games A WORKSHEET

There is no (1) _________ that the Olympic Games, which begin on 8th August in
Beijing, China, will be one of the biggest sporting events in history. Around 3 million
Chinese and foreign visitors are expected to arrive in the city during the games, and
more than 10,000 athletes will be (2) _________ at a total of 37 different venues. By
the time the closing ceremony takes place on 24th August it is (3) _________ that
between 3.5 and 4 billion people, out of the Earth’s total population of 6.7 billion, will
have watched some part of the games on television.
This year’s Olympics consist of 28 different sports, some of which are divided into
various different ‘disciplines’. Athletics, for example, consists of ‘track’ events such
as (4) _________ races, and ‘field’ events such as pole-vaulting and javelin-throwing.
Athletics is widely (5) _________ as the most glamorous part of the Olympics and
probably gets the most international TV coverage, with hundreds of millions of
viewers watching the finals of races such as the 100-metre sprint. The athletics events
always take place in the largest (6) _________ , in this case the Beijing National
Stadium, which has the nickname ‘the bird’s nest’ because of its unusual
(7) _________ from the outside.
Other Olympic sports that attract large TV (8) _________ in many parts of the world
include basketball, football and gymnastics, while sports such as canoeing and
archery have smaller audiences.
All the different venues in Beijing have been ready for some time – unlike in many
previous Olympics, when some of the (9) _________ work was only completed at the
last minute. There are, however, concerns about the possibility of air pollution
affecting the competitors.
As always, some countries are very likely to do well in certain events – such as the
East African nations (particularly Kenya) in the long-distance running, and Brazil and
Argentina in the men’s football. The United States finished top of the medals
(10) _________ in the last Olympics in Athens in 2004 (with China in second place,
Russia in third, Australia in fourth and Japan in fifth), and not many people would
(11) _________ against their athletes repeating the achievement this year. However,
it’s also the case that there are always some (12) _________ , such as when Argentina
won the men’s basketball in Athens.

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 Inside Out
The Beijing Olympic Games B WORKSHEET

Exercise 1

Fill in the gaps in the text on Worksheet A with the correct words from the table
below. There are four extra words.

feared journalists venue bet

winning running surprises seen

table disaster competing building

appearance doubt expected audiences

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It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.
 Inside Out
The Beijing Olympic Games C WORKSHEET

Exercise 2

Below is the text from Worksheet A, but it has been copied incorrectly and now
contains twenty mistakes. Find and correct the mistakes.

There is no doubt that the Olympic Games, which beginning on 8th August in Beijing,
China, will be one of the biggest sporting events in the history. Around 3 million
Chinese and foreign visitors are expected to arrive in the city during the games, and
more than 10,000 athletes will be competing at a total of 37 different venewes. By the
time the closing ceremony takes place on 24th August it is expected that between 3.5
and 4 billion people, out of the Earth total population of 6.7 billion, will have watch
some part of the games on television.
This year’s Olympics consist 28 different sports, some of which are divided to various
different ‘disciplines’. Athletics, for example, consists of ‘track’ events such as
running races, and ‘field’ events such as pole-vaulting and javelin-jumping. Athletics
is widely seen as the most glamorous part of the Olympics and probably get the most
international TV coverage, with hundreds of millions of viewers watching the finals
of courses such as the 100-metre sprint. The athletics events always have place in the
largest venue, in this case the Beijing National Stadium, which have the nickname
‘the bird’s nest’ because of its unusual appearance from the outside.
Other Olympic sports that attract large TV audiences in many parts of the world
include basketball, football and gym, while sports such as canoeing and archery have
smaller audiences.
All the different venues in Beijing are ready for some time – unlike in many previous
Olympics, when some of the building work was only completed at last minute. There
are, however, concerns about the possibility of air pollution affecting the competers.
As always, some countries are very like to do well in certain events – such as the East
African nations (particular Kenya) in the long-distance running, and Brazil and
Argentina in the men’s football. The United States finished top of the medals table in
the last Olympics in Athens in 2004 (with China in second place, Russia in third,
Australia in fourth and Japan in five), and not many people would bet against their
athletes repeating the achieve this year. However, it’s also the case that there are
always some surprises, such as when Argentina won the men’s basketball in Athens.

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.
 Inside Out
The Beijing Olympic Games D WORKSHEET

There is no doubt that the Olympic Games, which begin on 8th August in Beijing,
China, will be one of the biggest sporting events in history. Around 3 million Chinese
and foreign visitors are expected to arrive in the city during the games, and more than
10,000 athletes will be competing at a total of 37 different venues. By the time the
closing ceremony takes place on 24th August it is expected that between 3.5 and 4
billion people, out of the Earth’s total population of 6.7 billion, will have watched
some part of the games on television.
This year’s Olympics consist of 28 different sports, some of which are divided into
various different ‘disciplines’. Athletics, for example, consists of ‘track’ events such
as running races, and ‘field’ events such as pole-vaulting and javelin-throwing.
Athletics is widely seen as the most glamorous part of the Olympics and probably
gets the most international TV coverage, with hundreds of millions of viewers
watching the finals of races such as the 100-metre sprint. The athletics events always
take place in the largest venue, in this case the Beijing National Stadium, which has
the nickname ‘the bird’s nest’ because of its unusual appearance from the outside.
Other Olympic sports that attract large TV audiences in many parts of the world
include basketball, football and gymnastics, while sports such as canoeing and
archery have smaller audiences.
All the different venues in Beijing have been ready for some time – unlike in many
previous Olympics, when some of the building work was only completed at the last
minute. There are, however, concerns about the possibility of air pollution affecting
the competitors.
As always, some countries are very likely to do well in certain events – such as the
East African nations (particularly Kenya) in the long-distance running, and Brazil
and Argentina in the men’s football. The United States finished top of the medals
table in the last Olympics in Athens in 2004 (with China in second place, Russia in
third, Australia in fourth and Japan in fifth), and not many people would bet against
their athletes repeating the achievement this year. However, it’s also the case that
there are always some surprises, such as when Argentina won the men’s basketball in
Athens.

This page has been downloaded from www.insideout.net.

It is photocopiable, but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2008.