Sports and Fitness
Your good intentions to get in shape may inspire you to take up
You've certainly got a lot of activities to choose from. Which ones appeal most and why? Use the verb
The most popular sport in the Spanish-speaking world is soccer, el fút-bol. It's played by young and old everywhere — in empty lots, in streets and parks, on beaches, and, of course, in professional stadiums. In Mexico, Venezuela, and the Caribbean islands, el béisbol is also enormously popular. How many Hispanic baseball players can you name?
TRACK 38
Listen to Track 38 and answer some questions about some of your activities, interests, and preferences. You'll also hear sample answers for each one. (The text is not shown here because this is meant to be a more challenging exercise.) Of course, your answers may be quite different and still be perfectly correct. You can see the questions and the answers written out in Appendix D.
I'm Going to Quit … and Start …
Sometimes getting back in shape involves changing habits. You might have to stop smoking, eating fast food, or watching too much TV. You might start eating better and exercising more. In Spanish these structures are a bit different from English. To say you are going to stop smoking, you would say:
The formulas dejar de + infinitive and empezar a + infinitive can be conjugated in any tense or in combination with other verbs. For example, you can talk about what you do every year: Cada año dejo de … or empiezo a …, what you are doing right now: estoy dejando de …, what you're going to do in the future: voy a empezar a …, as well as what you want to or prefer to do: quiero / prefiero dejar de. . . .
It's important to stop eating fast food and to start eating well.)
(We don't want to lift weights; we're going to start practicing yoga.)
(Juan says he's going to run a marathon every year.)
(I'm going to talk to my doctor because I feel very tired.)
(I want to be in shape, so I'm going to practice more sports.)
TRACK 39
Listen to Track 39 to hear some example resolutions. (The text is not shown here because this is meant to be a more challenging exericise.) Then repeat each example after you hear it.
