Speaking Test Part 3:

1. Is sport important?

Yes, in my opinion sport is important. Firstly, it’s a great source of entertainment. People love to watch top-flight sports on TV and in person at sporting venues. Secondly, doing sport is really helpful to stay in shape. Playing sports help build strength, flexibility and improve fitness, and they’re a great way to work off stress after a hard day at work.

2. Do kids do enough sport?

Probably not. It seems like these days kids spend much more time indoors playing computer games or on social media than in sports fields or sports halls. As far as I know, after school sports clubs aren’t as popular as they used to be either, and I see more young people with weight problems, so they can’t be doing very much sport.

3. Is there a difference between the sports that girls do and boys do?

Traditionally yes, some sports were considered boys sports while others were for girls. I know when I was at school only boys played contact sports like rugby and football, while the girls played hockey and netball. Times are changing though, and sports like football and basketball are much more popular with girls than they used to be.

4. How can parents encourage kids to do more sport?

I think it's really important for parents to help their kids get into sport. Probably the best way to do this is to give kids the chance to try out a range of sports, from individual racket sports like tennis or squash to team ball sports like football or rugby. Some kids may even prefer athletics or martial arts. The main thing is to give them a chance to find something they love and then encourage them to do it regularly.

5. Do you think sports stars are paid too much?

That’s a difficult question. It's true that some top-flight sports stars are paid a huge amount of money and in particular, football stars earn massive salaries. But, in sports which are not so popular, like rugby, the players often don't get paid so well. It depends on the popularity of the sport and how much money players can make from sponsorship. At the end of the day, if a player is incredibly popular and makes a lot of money for his team and sponsors, it’s understandable that he or she earns a lot.

6. What are the benefits of international sports events?

I've never really thought about this before, but  I guess a big benefit is that it provides an opportunity for people to get to know about other countries and their cultures. So, for that reason international sport brings countries closer and fosters better international relations. However, sometimes international sport can lead to intense rivalry between supporters too, and at times there is even violence among hooligans, so that’s obviously not good. Overall though, I’d say international sport is really good, and it’s great for different countries to get together to participate in these worldwide events.