12.2
BIG SPORT, BIG BUSINESS
READING
1
What do you know about the Football World Cup?
Discuss these questions with a partner.
1
Which countries do the flags in the photos (A–D)
belong to?
2
Can you name any winners and hosts of the World
Cup?
3
How popular is the World Cup in your country?
2
a
Read the magazine article and choose the best title.
1
Playing football in the rainforest
2
How football changed David Beckham’s life
3
Seven matches in seven continents
4
How UNICEF is helping children play football
2
b
According to the article, are these sentences true,
false or does the article not say?
1
David Beckham first played in Papua New Guinea
in 2015.
2
UNICEF is trying to solve the problem of hunger for
children in Papua New Guinea.
3
The earthquake in Nepal took place before David
Beckham visited it on the fundraising tour.
4
Football was more popular in Nepal than in any of
the other countries the film crew visited on this tour.
5
UNICEF is making a big difference to children’s
health in Djibouti.
6
UNICEF wasn’t doing any work in Antarctica,
although it was part of David Beckham’s tour.
7
Football was the main unifying factor in the lives of
the people David Beckham played with on the tour.
VOCABULARY
LINKING WORDS
3
a
Look at the article to find the words in the box.
Then match them with categories 1–4 below.
despite when since if
however although so but
1
To draw a conclusion
3
To show a conditional link
2
To show a contrast
4
To show a time relationship
3
b
In the article, which of the words above are
followed by clauses, and which are followed by noun
phrases? Which one works across two sentences?
3
c
Choose a word from the box in Exercise 3a to
complete each of these sentences. Sometimes more
than one answer is possible.
1
the heavy snow, they played a football match.
2
the World Cup took place in Japan and
South Korea, the number of Asian football fans rose
significantly.
3
The percentage of young football players in South
Africa has increased
the World Cup was held
there.
4
we had more money, sponsors could
advertise during the game.
5
I’d like to see an international match.
, it’s
very expensive.
6
I’d like to go to an international match, it’s
very expensive.
7
Tickets for the next match are on special offer,
I’m going to buy one.
8
He likes playing football,
he doesn’t watch
much of it on TV.
I
n 2015, football star David Beckham
completed a fundraising challenge,
playing seven football matches across
seven continents, and seeing firsthand the
work of the charity UNICEF, for which he is
a Goodwill Ambassador. The trip was the
subject of a TV documentary screened in
the UK a few months later.
Despite living in very different parts of
the world, all the teams David played with
had one thing in common – a passion for
football.
The first stop was in Papua New Guinea,
where Beckham lived in a village to learn
about the way of life there. Hunger is a huge
problem for children in Papua New Guinea.
However, with the help of UNICEF, there
are now several programmes providing
help for children in need here.
When Beckham visited Nepal, he
witnessed the damage caused by the
powerful earthquake that had hit the area
in 2015. Although the children living in this
disaster-struck area had lost their homes,
their schools and their villages, they were
all united in their love for football. Seeing
them throw themselves into the game was
very inspiring.
The third stop was Djibouti, where the
documentary explored UNICEF’s vaccination
projects for children. In Djibouti, diseases
claim the lives of about 1 in 15 children under
the age of five, but these diseases can be
prevented. The message was that if vaccines
like this were available to all children around
the world, many lives would be saved.
Other countries on the trip, where
matches were played, included Argentina,
Antarctica and the United States. The final
stop was back in the UK, where a match of
celebrity football stars was held in a final
fundraising effort for UNICEF.
The documentary wasn’t without its
critics, though. Jennifer Underwood, another
fan, claims that while the programme was a
good idea, ‘Beckham tried to do too much. He
visited too many countries in a short time and
there wasn’t enough time to really explore all
the issues relating to that country.’
David Beckham once said that football
96
A
B
