Olympics fail to inspire as fewer young people take up sport

Six years ago London secured the Olympics on the back of a promise to inspire young people to swap the sofa for sport. Yesterday, eight months from the opening ceremony and following unprecedented levels of investment, it was revealed that the number of young people taking up sport is falling. Figures released by Sport England show that the number of 16-19 year olds playing sport three times a week has fallen from 930,400 to 825,900, while the number of women has dropped by 106,000.

Sport England invests about £250m a year – funds provided by the Government and the National Lottery – in grassroots sport but their latest Active People Survey shows it is not having the required impact in getting people to take up or participate. Economic reasons, such as cost or lack of time due to work commitments, were blamed by a third of those questioned.

The latest figures show 19 sports with decreasing levels of participation, including football, tennis and swimming, while only athletics, boxing, table tennis and mountaineering are increasing. Sports that have declining numbers face a funding cut.

Jennie Price, chief executive of Sport England, said: "Sports need to react to this. We need to do much more to make sport relevant and appealing to women." Ms Price insists the Olympics can still have a positive impact on participation. She said: "I think when we get into the Olympic year we will see an increase – I don't see that the opportunity is lost."

Lord Coe, chairman of the London organising committee, took an even more optimistic stance. He said: "I haven't seen the figures but my instinct is that they are increasing."

Question 1 [2 points]
Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.
a) More than 100,000 teenagers have stopped doing sport three times every week.
b) Sport England’s money comes from people paying to do sport.
c) The Olympic Games could affect the number of people doing sport in England.
d) Lord Coe disagrees with the negative results of the survey.

Question 2 [2 points]
Answer the following questions in your own words.
a) What reasons did people in the survey give for doing less sport?
b) What are the consequences for sports which have lower numbers of people doing them?

Question 3 [1.5 points]
Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.
a) to exchange (paragraph 1)
b) an effect (paragraph 2)
c) person in charge of an organisation (paragraph 4)

Question 4Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) Six years ago London successfully secured the Olympics.
The Olympics …………
b) To increase the number of people doing sport, we need to do much more to make sport relevant and appealing to women.
If sport ……………………………., the number of people doing sport …………. .
c) Ms Price said: "I think when we get into the Olympic year we will see an increase – I don't see that the opportunity is lost."
Ms Price said ………….

Question 5
Write a short essay (between120-150 words) on the following topic:
“Although it is easy to do sport nowadays, fewer people than ever are getting regular exercise”. Do you agree?

Now, take this sport survey.