1.01 Задание 1. Задание на понимание основного содержания прослушанного текста

Speaker A. Tennis is a pleasure to watch. I don't play tennis, but I love watching it. As a fan and spectator, I see lots of pros of tennis compared to other sports. First of all, top level tennis players are amazing to watch and most tennis players are pretty easy on the eyes (за теннисистами высочайшего уровня приятно наблюдать, и большинство теннисистов довольно приятно выглядят). When they show tennis on TV, the broadcast is always very good quality (Когда по телевизору показывают теннис, трансляция всегда очень хорошего качества). Tennis tournaments take less time to watch than football championships and the tennis rules are easy to understand.
 
Speaker B. Tennis isn't a violent sport. I've been playing tennis for some years. And when I have a chance to go and see a tennis match live, I certainly don't miss it. That's different with other sports. I mean, I never feel comfortable at a football stadium full of screaming fans. Football fans in particular are notorious for their aggressive behavior and fights. Tennis is a polite sport. It's generally a very peaceful game and isn't violent (Теннис - это вежливый вид спорта. Как правило, это очень мирная игра, в которой нет насилия) as some of the other well known sports are. 

Speaker C. Many nations have good tennis players. I love both playing and watching tennis. It's a nice game, and no country in the world dominates in tennis. I mean, there are figure skaters and they are Russians, no one is able to compete with Russian figure skaters. But with tennis, successful players are not concentrated in any one part of the world map. People from all continents and most major nations are successful in tennis, (успешные игроки не сосредоточены в какой-то одной части карты мира. Люди со всех континентов и из многих крупных стран добиваются успеха в теннисе) which makes this sports truly international. 

Speaker D. You can play tennis your entire life. I've been playing tennis since I was about seven. And I'd like to be like my parents who are in their late 40s and still play tennis very well. My mom says it's a sport for a lifetime and you can play it almost any age from 4 to 94, as long as you're mobile (это спорт на всю жизнь, и им можно заниматься практически в любом возрасте от 4 до 94 лет, при условии, что вы сохраняете подвижность). I play doubles, because I like having a partner. It's fun to strategise, and I feel I can't let my partner down, so that keeps me focused. Let's see if we'll still be able to play doubles together in 30 years from now. 

Speaker E. Tennis is all about competition. I don't look at tennis as an easygoing sport, because frankly, it's not. If it was, then not many people would be into it so much. To me, it's probably one of the most competitive sports because there's the added psychological game that you play against your opponent and that your opponent plays against you (это, вероятно, один из самых соревновательных видов спорта, потому что здесь есть дополнительная психологическая игра, в которую вы играете против своего соперника, а ваш противник играет против вас). Tennis is a battle of willpower and mind, which demands a high level of concentration. It's either you win or you lose. So it's very intense and certainly not peaceful.

Speaker F. Tennis is an inexpensive kind of sport. I haven't played tennis but I'm thinking of taking it up mainly because of its relatively low costs (Я подумываю о том, чтобы заняться теннисом в основном из-за его относительно низкой стоимости). I mean, you only need to buy a pair of shoes, a racquet and some balls and then pay to use a cowl if you don't have a private one around. Of course, joining a tennis club or touring adds a lot of expense but for most of us, regular folks, the costs of tennis are rather low (стоимость игры в теннис довольно низкая). That's why I guess tennis is worth a try. And it's not as dangerous as, say, football.