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STUDENT HANDOUT
Unit 4 – HEALTH AND FITNESS

READING & SPEAKING

LESSON SUMMARY:

Objectives:

⮚ Reading:

● Match information;

● Answer multiple-choice questions.

⮚ Speaking:
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● Speaking Part 1 questions about Health and Sports;

● Describe an activity you do for your health or fitness (Speaking Part 2)

Lesson’s contents:

● Reading: “How to follow a healthy diet” to match information

● Vocabulary: learn new words about health and sports

● Speaking: ask and answer Speaking Part 1 about Health and Fitness
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VOCABULARY:

sedentary lifestyle stomachache spectator sports

sedntri lafstal/ /
a lifestyle with a lot of
sitting and lying down,
with very little to no
exercise

e.g: She leads a more

sedentary lifestyle now
.that she works at home

active lifestyle nosebleed neck and neck

do wonders for sth earache beat

get lean headache )splitting( umpire

keep fit flu athlete

dietary habits sore throat medal

regular exercise toothache trophy

vigorous exercise chesty cough referee

strenuous exercise runny nose spectator

get back into shape blocked nose team spirit

stay in shape cuts and bruises = minor outdistance

injuries

out of shape diagnose boot camp

out of condition surgery set a record

you are what you eat overweight break a record

fitness fanatic obesity a personal best

bulk up diabetes an away game

personal trainer (PT) allergy a home game

aerobics health-conscious amateur >< professional

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gymnastics regain your health blow away the competition

athletics get over underdog

martial arts come down with a draw

extreme sports fall ill regatta

VOCABULARY:

READING
.Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with the verbs in the box

do drink drink eat

get get go join play

It can be expensive to join__________ a gym, but they often have a lot of 1

.modern equipment
It is very important to drink__________ plenty of water whenever you 2
.____do exercise
.I eat__________ lots of fruit and vegetables and do yoga twice a week 3
It is a good idea to have a personal trainer to get__________ advice about living 4
.healthily
.I play tennis three times a week and go__________ for walks in the park 5
.It is important to get__________ lots of sleep every night 6
.When. drink__________ green tea, it can help you relax 7
.Many young people play__________ sports or do exercise at school 8

Exercise 2: Read Luke’s email to his friend, Andrew. Then complete the exercise.

Dear Andrew,

Happy New Year! I hope that you enjoyed the party you told me about in your last
email. Do you have any good plans for the new year? I have decided that I am going to
be much healthier this year. Last year, I had a lot of exams, so I didn’t do very much
exercise, and I ate too much chocolate and too many biscuits. This year, I want to
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follow a healthy diet and to do more exercise.

I joined a gym last week. It’s in a nice new sports center, which has a swimming pool
and different rooms with a variety of exercise classes. I tried the yoga class last week
and I really enjoyed it. I am going to go to a class once a week, and to the gym twice a
week. I think that this will help me to get fit very quickly. I have also started to walk to
college instead of taking the bus. When I go to the library, I go by bike because it is
quite far. I feel much better and less tired if I walk or cycle.

I have started to cook more meals at home. I have found some good healthy recipes
on the internet. Last night, I cooked baked fish with steamed vegetables. It was
delicious, and I didn’t feel hungry at all afterwards. I have also decided not to eat junk
food like chocolate and crisps for one month. I take dried fruit and nuts to college
with me as a snack, and I eat fruit or yoghurt in the afternoon instead of biscuits or
cake. The next time I see you, I promise to cook you something healthy.

Look forward to hearing from you soon!

Best wishes,

Luke

1 Luke did not follow a healthy diet last year. True False

2 He wants to join a gym soon.

3 He tried an exercise class last week.

4 He wants to go to the gym once a week.

5 He walks to the library.

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6 He doesn’t eat biscuits or cake in the

afternoons.

Exercise 3: Read an essay about young people’s lifestyles. Then complete the exercise.

How healthy are young people’s lifestyles today? What can they do to be healthier?

Today, many young people have busy lives at school and at home. Most teenagers today
spend less time doing sports and activities outside, and eat more unhealthy food than
they did in the past. Some people today are worried that young people do not have
healthy lifestyles. In this essay, I will explain two problems with young people’s lifestyles
today and suggest some ways to improve their health.

The first problem with young people’s lifestyles is that they spend a lot of time indoors.
In the past, young people spent more time outside, doing activities such as riding
bicycles and playing sports. Today, however, many young people have to do a lot more
work at school and homework at home. Furthermore, young people now prefer to
spend their free time watching television or sitting in front of their computer screens.
This means that they get less exercise, and spend less time outside. I think this is a
problem, because exercise is good for both the body and the mind. Young people will
not only feel healthier if they do regular exercise, they will also feel happier and more
relaxed. Therefore, I think that young people should have the chance to do a variety of
different kinds of exercise at school and in their free time.

The second problem is that many young people eat less healthy food than they did in
the past. Instead of eating healthy food cooked at home, many teenagers now prefer to
eat fast food, such as burgers, kebabs and pizzas. Also, fizzy drinks with lots of sugar,
such as cola, have become very popular and many young people have these drinks
instead of drinking water. This is a problem because if people have bad eating habits
when they are young, they are more likely to eat unhealthy food as adults. In my
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opinion, parents need to make sure that their children don’t eat fast food or drink fizzy
drinks with lots of sugar too often and also need to teach them how to cook healthy
meals. They should also make sure their children eat plenty of fresh fruit and
vegetables, and that they don’t eat too much sugar and salt.

In conclusion, young people today do less exercise and eat less healthy food than their
parents did in the past. This is a problem because if teenagers develop unhealthy habits
when they are young, they will find it difficult to stop the bad habits when they are
adults. I think that it is important for young people and their parents to make sure that
they eat healthy food and do enough exercise.

Choose True, False or Not Given.

T F NG

.Most young people get more exercise today than they did in the past .1

.Young people don’t go outside as much as they did in the past .2

.Young people now have to do more tests at school than they did in the past .3

.In the past, children ate more food cooked at home .4

.Cola is the most popular soft drink in the world .5

.It is easy for adults to give up unhealthy eating habits .6

.The writer thinks that children should learn how to cook healthy food .7

The writer thinks that adults should teach their children shopping for healthy .8
.food

Exercise 4:

Changing our understanding of health

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A The concept of health holds different meanings for different people and groups. These
meanings of health have also changed overtime. This change is no more evident than in
Western society today, when notions of health and health promotion are being challenged
.and expanded in new ways

B For much of recent Western history, health has been viewed in the physical sense only.
That is, good health has been connected to the smooth mechanical operation of the body,
while ill health has been attributed to a breakdown in this machine. Health in this sense has
been defined as the absence of disease or illness and is seen in medical terms. According to
this view, creating health for people means providing medical care to treat or prevent
disease and illness. During this period, there was an emphasis on providing clean water,
.improved sanitation and housing

C In the late 1940s the World Health Organisation challenged this physically and medically
oriented view of health. They stated that 'health is a complete state of physical, mental and
social well-being and is not merely the absence of disease' (WHO, 1946). Health and the
.person were seen more holistically (mind/body/spirit) and not just in physical terms

D The 1970s was a time of focusing on the prevention of disease and illness by emphasising
the importance of the lifestyle and behaviour of the individual. Specific behaviours which
were seen to increase risk of disease, such as smoking, lack of fitness and unhealthy eating
habits, were targeted. Creating health meant providing not only medical health care, but
health promotion programs and policies which would help people maintain healthy
behaviours and lifestyles. While this individualistic healthy lifestyles approach to health
worked for some (the wealthy members of society), people experiencing poverty,
unemployment, underemployment or little control over the conditions of their daily lives
benefited little from this approach. This was largely because both the healthy lifestyles
approach and the medical approach to health largely ignored the social and environmental
.conditions affecting the health of people

E During the 1980s and 1990s there has been a growing swing away from seeing lifestyle
risks as the root cause of poor health. While lifestyle factors still remain important, health is
being viewed also in terms of the social, economic and environmental contexts in which
people live. This broad approach to health is called the socio-ecological view of health. The
broad socio-ecological view of health was endorsed at the first International Conference of
Health Promotion held in 1986, Ottawa, Canada, where people from 38 countries agreed and
:declared that

The fundamental conditions and resources for health are peace, shelter, education, food, a
viable income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice and equity.
Improvement in health requires a secure foundation in these basic requirements. (WHO,
1986)

It is clear from this statement that the creation of health is about much more than
encouraging healthy individual behaviours and lifestyles and providing appropriate medical
care. Therefore, the creation of health must include addressing issues such as poverty,
pollution, urbanisation, natural resource depletion, social alienation and poor working
conditions. The social, economic and environmental contexts which contribute to the
creation of health do not operate separately or independently of each other. Rather, they
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are interacting and interdependent, and it is the complex interrelationships between them
which determine the conditions that promote health. A broad socio-ecological view of
health suggests that the promotion of health must include a strong social, economic and
.environmental focus

F At the Ottawa Conference in 1986, a charter was developed which outlined new
directions for health promotion based on the socio-ecological view of health. This charter,
known as the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, remains as the backbone of health
:action today. In exploring the scope of health promotion it states that

Good health is a major resource for social, economic and personal development and an
important dimension of quality of life. Political, economic, social, cultural, environmental,
behavioural and biological factors can all favour health or be harmful to it. (WHO, 1986)

The Ottawa Charter brings practical meaning and action to this broad notion of health
promotion. It presents fundamental strategies and approaches in achieving health for all.
The overall philosophy of health promotion which guides these fundamental strategies and
approaches is one of 'enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health'
.(WHO, 1986)

Questions 1-4

Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage, answer the following questions

.Write your answers in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet

In which year did the World Health Organisation define health in terms of mental, 1
?physical and social well-being

in 1946

Which members of society benefited most from the healthy lifestyles approach to health 2

the wealthy

Name the three broad areas which relate to people's health, according to the socio- 3
ecological view of health

.social, economic ,environmental

During which decade were lifestyle risks seen as the major contributors to poor health 4

1980s and 1990s

Questions 5-9

?Do the following statements agree with the information in the Reading Passage

Choose
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YES if the statement agrees with the information

NO if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the passage

YES/NO/NOT GIVEN Doctors have been instrumental in improving living standards in 5

.Western society

YES/NO/NOT GIVEN The approach to health during the 1970s included the 6
.introduction of health awareness programs

YES/NO/NOT GIVEN The socio-ecological view of health recognises that lifestyle 7

.habits and the provision of adequate health care are critical factors governing health

YES/NO/NOT GIVEN The principles of the Ottawa Charter are considered to be out of 8
.date in the 1990s

YES/NO/NOT GIVEN In recent years a number of additional countries have subscribed 9

.to the Ottawa Charter

Exercise 5:

Sport Science in Australia

The professional career paths available to graduates from courses relating to human
movement and sport science are as diverse as the graduate’s imagination. However,
undergraduate courses with this type of content, in Australia as well as in most other
Western countries, were originally designed as preparation programmes for Physical
.Education (PE) teachers

The initial programmes commenced soon after the conclusion of World War II in the mid-
1940s. One of the primary motives for these initiatives was the fact that, during the war
effort, so many of the men who were assessed for military duty had been declared unfit. The
government saw the solution in the providing of Physical Education programmes in schools,
.delivered by better prepared and specifically educated PE teachers
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Later, in the 1970s and early 1980s, the surplus of Australians graduating with a PE degree
obliged institutions delivering this qualification to identify new employment opportunities
for their graduates, resulting in the first appearance of degrees catering for recreation
professionals. In many instances, this diversity of programme delivery merely led to
degrees, delivered by physical educators, as a side line activity to the production of PE
.teachers

Whilst the need to produce Physical Education teachers remains a significant social need,
and most developed societies demand the availability of quality leisure programmes for
their citizens, the career options of graduates within this domain are still developing. The
two most evident growth domains are in the area of the professional delivery of sport, and
.the role of a physical lifestyle for community health

The sports industry is developing at an unprecedented rate of growth. From a business

perspective, sport is now seen as an area with the potential for high returns. It is quite
significant that the businessman Rupert Murdoch broadened his business base from media
to sport, having purchased an American baseball team and an Australian Rugby League
competition, as well as seeking opportunities to invest in an English football club. No
business person of such international stature would see fit to invest in sport unless he was
satisfied that this was a sound business venture with ideal revenue-generating
.opportunities

These developments have confirmed sport as a business with professional management

structures, marketing processes, and development strategies in place. They have indicated
new and developing career paths for graduates of human movement science, sport science,
exercise science and related degrees. Graduates can now visualise career paths extending
into such diverse domains as sport management, sport marketing, event and facility
management, government policy development pertaining to sport, sport journalism, sport
.psychology, and sport or athletic coaching

Business leaders will only continue their enthusiasm for sport if they receive returns for
their money. Such returns will only be forthcoming if astute, enthusiastic and properly
educated professionals are delivering the programs that earn appropriate financial returns.
The successful universities of the 21st century will be those that have responded to this
.challenge by delivering such degrees

A second professional growth area for this group of graduates is associated with community
health. The increasing demand for government expenditure within health budgets is
reaching the stage where most governments are simply unable to function in a manner that
is satisfying their constituents. One of the primary reasons for this problem is the unhelpful
emphasis on treatment in medical care programmes. Governments have traditionally given
their senior health official the title of ‘Minister for Health’, when in fact this officer has
functioned as ‘Minister for Sickness and the Construction of Hospitals’. Government focus
simply has to change. If the change is not brought about for philosophical reasons, it will
occur naturally, because insufficient funding will be available to address the ever-increasing
.costs of medical support

Graduates of human movement, exercise science and sport science have the potential to
become major players in this shift in policy focus. It is these graduates who already have the
skills, knowledge and understanding to initiate community health education programmes to
reduce cardio-vascular disease, to reduce medical dependency upon diabetes, to improve
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workplace health leading to increased productivity, to initiate and promote programmes of

activity for the elderly that reduce medical dependency, and to maintain an active lifestyle
for the unemployed and disadvantaged groups in society. This is the graduate that
governments will be calling upon to shift the community focus from medical dependency to
.healthy lifestyles in the decades ahead

The career paths of these graduates are developing at a pace that is not evident in other
professions. The contribution that these graduates can make to society, and the recognition
of this contribution is at an unprecedented high, and all indications are that it will continue
.to grow

Questions 1-8: Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading
Passage 1 ? Write

if the statement agrees with the information TRUE

if the statement contradicts the information FALSE
if there is no information on this NOT GIVEN

.T/F/NG Sport is generally regarded as a profitable area for investment 1

.T/F/NG Rupert Murdoch has a personal as well as a business interest in sport 2

.T/F/NG The range of career opportunities available to sport graduates is increasing 3

.T/F/NG The interests of business and the interests of universities are linked 4

T/F/NG Governments have been focusing too much attention on preventative 5

.medicine

.T/F/NG It is inevitable that government priorities for health spending will change 6

.T/F/NG Existing degree courses are unsuitable for careers in community health 7

T/F/NG Funding for sport science and related degrees has been increased 8
.considerably

SPEAKING

Part 1 Questions: Ask and answer the following questions

1) Do you have a healthy diet?

2) Is it important to you to eat healthy food?
3) Do you and your friends eat much junk food?
4) What do you do to stay healthy?
5) How often do you exercise?Do you like sports?
6) Are you good at sports?
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7) What sport did you play when you were a child?

?Which do you prefer: individual sports or team sports )8

9) Do you think it is important to exercise/play a sport?

10) Do you prefer watching or playing sports?
?Do you often watch sports live or on TV )11

12) What is the most popular sport in your country?

13) What sport would you like to try in the future?
14) What do you do to keep fit?
15) What do you think is more important, eating healthily or doing exercise?
16) Do you have a good public health system in your country?
17) Do you think technology is helping us to keep fit?
18) Is it easy to find places to exercise in your hometown?
19) What are the health benefits of playing sports?