Методическая разработка по английскому языку (10 класс) по теме: Задания к газетной статье "Gyms face challenge to get fit for disabled people" для элективного курса.
методическая разработка по английскому языку (10 класс) по теме

The Guardian

Monday 10 September 2012

Gyms face challenge to get fit for disabled people.

Many people find it difficult to use leisure centers, and some say the problem is as much about attitudes as equipment.

To the untrained eye, Barnet Copthall leisure centre looks great. Light, spacious, relatively modern, well-appointed. But as our tour finishes, Anne Taylor delivers a swift and harsh verdict: "The lift is too small, the corridors narrow. The doors are really heavy, and my wheelchair got caught in that dip at the entrance to the changing rooms where the drain was."

She had spotted that the gym had only two pieces of fitness equipment that she could use. And she was not convinced that the changing rooms were particularly wheelchair-friendly. "There were just too many things that just weren't suitable."

Even so, she points out, this gym is far from terrible. A few months ago, inspired by the Paralympics to get active, Taylor had set out to find a gym in her suburban patch of north London. An internet search pulled up 10 nearby gyms but only five were listed as "accessible". Of those, she struck three off her list when she discovered they did not have an automatic entrance door, which she says would prevent her getting into the building unaided.

Later we go to the plush David Lloyd leisure centre in Finchley, the gym she ended up joining. Taylor shows me the custom-built lift and the disabled changing room. She praises the friendliness and thoughtfulness of the staff. Upstairs in the gym, a personal trainer, Louis Rennocks, puts her through her paces on the arm cycle and the lateral pull down weights. "This is what all gyms should be like," she sighs.

As a survey by the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability confirms, disabled people often find it difficult to use gyms, leisure centres and swimming pools. Disability discrimination laws have forced some improvements, but as Phil Lane, a former chief executive of the British Paralympic Association says, "access is still pretty patchy across the country".

Lane, now head of sport and Olympic legacy for GLL, a social enterprise which runs leisure centres on behalf of 26 UK local authorities, including the one at Barnet Copthall, says gyms can struggle to adapt if buildings are old and expensive to refurbish. Cuts to local authority leisure budgets have not helped – over a third of UK councils have cut or closed public sports facilities in the past three years, according a to a recent BBC survey.

But Lane argues that "the root cause of the problem" is not just lack of equipment and facilities but the failure of leisure centres to engage with disabled people. GLL runs accredited inclusive fitness programmes in 16 council areas designed to increase participation, and supports disabled swimming and wheelchair basketball clubs. "You can never have too much equipment, but the nub of the issue is about making adjustments in attitude and culture," says Lane.

Taylor, meanwhile, says going regularly to a gym has transformed her life. She has a neurological condition called dystonia, and lost the use of her legs 13 years ago. "I was never very sporty," she says. When she joined the gym four months ago she couldn't raise her arms above shoulder level.

Back then, it took her 14 minutes to achieve 3km on the arm cycle; now she does 4km in 12 minutes. She's lost two stone and become physically stronger. Once it took her 20 minutes to wheel up the steep hill outside her home to the shops, a trip punctuated by frequent stops to catch her breath. Now it takes her five minutes. She was planning to do a 5km race for charity.

Inaccessible facilities are bound to put disabled people off going to the gym, she says. She admits that the gym she uses is "very expensive". The government's plans to cut disability living allowance will mean gym membership will be unaffordable for many disabled people.

But Taylor says that low levels of physical activity among disabled people cannot just be blamed on gym inaccessibility. She has found it hard, she says, to persuade some of her disabled friends to give it a go. "I've told people, and they say, 'What's the point?' People are scared of gyms, scared of doing sport. People need to come and have a look."

Ex 1: Scan the text and do the task:

 Agree or disagree:

1. Barnet Copthall leisure centre is great for disabled people.
2. Anne Taylor’s friend inspired her to join a gym.
3. Anne Taylor joined Barnet Copthall leisure centre.
4. Anne Taylor didn’t like the staff in David Lloyd leisure centre.
5. Leisure centres are not suitable for disabled people only because of lack of equipment and facilities.
6. The government is going to increase disability living allowance.

Ex 2: Read the text again and correct the wrong sentences from ex.1.

Ex 3: Translate the text. You may use a dictionary.

H.W.: Learn the words and phrases:

Disabled people–

Changing room-

To prevent –

 Improvement –

Enterprise –

lack of smth –

to increase -