Great rivals Reading and vocabulary Look at the photos and answer the questions. 1 Whatare the people famous for? 2. Who are/were their biggest rivals? 3. What else doyou know about them? 2 Read the texts about great rivals. Close your books. Choose one of the texts. Work in pairs and take turns explaining who won and how. Chess rivals In July 1972, Bobby Fischer from the USA took on Boris Spassky from the USS in the World Chess, ‘Championships. The Soviet players had won every championship since 1948 and the determined, thoughtful Spassky vas the clear favourite. Howevor Fischer was fiercely competitive, some even called him stubborn anc arrogant, and his desir to win was huge. ‘The battle started on { {th July and Fischer lost the fst ‘wo games. Two-nl to Spassky ~ usually an unbeatable, lead in chess. But suddenly, before the ti game, the Unpredictable Fischer lost his temper and threatened to uit unless the next game was played in a different room: Spassky, reasonable as always, agreod but the fuss Lnsettied him and he started to lose games. The longer the championship went on, the more confident Fischer became and the final score, two months later, was 12.5 points to Fischer and 8.5 points to Spassky. Fischer was the new king of chess! Basketball rivals in September 1972, the USSA took on the USAin the Oyrpic basketball inal. American teams had wen every Olympic basketball final since 1986 and the Americans wor the clarfavourtes, However they wore als by fer the youngest team to represent the USA, whi the Soviet team were tough ard determined. The rvaky between the two teams was intone The bate tok place on Sth September. The inexperienced American team quick went behind to the bold Soviets, However he Americen team fought back end wth jst tree seconds remaining they scoved and want ahead, 50:49, With so i time remairing, it looked Ike the match was over but suddenly he Sovet team did something remarkable: they thvew the bal rom cone en ofthe court to the other and scored the winning (goal. The USSR was the new king of basketball Serena Wiliams Clee Work in pairs, Look at the words in boldin the text and guess their meanings. Match the words in bold in the text with meanings Laz, Someone who: 1. always tries very hard 2 refuses to change his/her mind 3 believesin his/her own abilities does things you don't expect has litle knowledge o perience bbohaves in an unpleasant way because they feel they are better than o 7 isfeirandsensible 8 doesn't lt others stop them achieving thei goal 9 isstrong andnot afraid to 10 is quiet and serious 11. isnot afraid of taking risks 12. surprisesother people in a very positive way 3.4 Listen and rephrase the descriptions of people with the adjectives from Exercise 3, ‘Speaker: r or your app for more vocabulary and practice. page:Grammar 5 a Read some opinions about the people and teams in Exercise2. Who are they talking about: Spassky, Fischer, the Soviet team or the American team? a ‘think he was as good as the other guy. but nat as bold or arrogant’ ‘He played slightly more aggressively’ "The longer the match wenton, the more remarkably they played! "Ithink they were just abit less experienced. He sounds lke he was much morereasonable" "Tomy mind, he was less of a gentleman! "They were by far the youngest team ever to represent theircountry! Complete the grammar box with the sentences from Exercise 5a. Comparatives and superlatives Use adjective + -eror more/iess adjective (+ thar) ‘to compare one thing to another. ‘When the difference is small, use 2 bitslightiy. ‘When the difference isbig. use much/somerch/a lot! far/farto0. Ho was much calmer and politer than his rival 2 ‘You canalso use as +adjective + as + noun to say that two things are similar. This soften used with a negative, guess he wasn'tas traditional as hs rival, Use aiective + -estor the most/the least + adjective to ‘compare one thing to all the others in that group. When the litference is big. use by far ItSby far the most famous chess match ever. Use moretiess + adverb to compare how tivo things are done. They started more strongly than the other team. Sometimestis possible to compare two people or things. Using more/less of a + noun. Notice how you can use two comparative adjectives or adverbs to say that one thing results inanothe, The longer the championship vent on. the more confident Fischer became, Ga Qs Listen and notice how we emphasise big differences and small differences. 1 a isnot quite as good. b ItSsnowhere near as good. 2 a She'sabit ore competitive than me She's somuch more competitive than me 3 a Theyrenot quite asconfidentas last time b Theyrenotneariyas confdentaslast time, Which word in each sentenceis emphasised when the speaker describes. big difference? € Listenagain and repeat. 7 Complete the text with the comparative or superlative form of the words in brackets. aig] ae & | : Inthe early 1990s, Tonya Harding and Nency Kerigan ‘were competing ta be 1____ (good) Amrican figure skater. Nether skater was the clear favourite, but each \was #____{as / compettivg the other, Haring’ fe had been dificult. Ithad been = (much hard) and 4 (er / stable) than Kerigan's, Harding ‘was 5 far /tough) ofthe two andthe ®§_. the —_(old/ get /tough / become). By contrast, Kerigan was 7 (bit / thought) ana {famiy person), She came from a (far/ stable) background and was considered to be (Clegant), and consequently she was ""__(ot ppopuiar than Harding. The day before the 1984 US championships, a man attacked Kerrigan, she was tunable to compete and Herding won the championships. But over ime people became suspicious of Harding. She -was lator stripped of tha tite, although she said she had ‘no prior knowledge’ ofthe attack. $8 _campae yours wth ther paola you knoe Speaking a 91a Workin pairs. Student A: Turn to page 168. Student B:Turn to page 167. Explain why your partner’ inventor. Wentor was better than your 10.2 Workasaciass. Make alist of famous rivals, e.g. actors, sports stars or business people. b Choose a set of rivalsand make notes about them, e.g, their character, background, achievements. 11 Work in pairs. Take turns telling each other about the rivals you have chosen. What Is your opinion about them? Presto} Notts Pree Pe