4.20. Milhares de palavras essenciais para o vocabulário em inglês: Palavras de esportes e atividades físicas

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Essential English Vocabulary for the TOEFL Exam: Sports and Physical Activities

Essential English Vocabulary for the TOEFL Exam: Sports and Physical Activities

Preparing for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requires not only a strong grasp of grammar and writing skills but also a comprehensive vocabulary. A significant part of enriching your vocabulary involves understanding words related to common topics, such as sports and physical activities. This knowledge not only aids in the reading and listening sections of the TOEFL but also provides you with a wider range of language to express yourself in the speaking and writing sections.

Common Sports and Physical Activities Vocabulary

The world of sports is vast and varied, encompassing everything from team sports to individual physical activities. Below is a list of essential sports-related vocabulary that will be beneficial for your TOEFL preparation:

  • Athletics: This term generally refers to competitive sports that involve physical skill and strength. Common athletic events include track and field, cross-country running, and marathons.
  • Baseball: Known as America's pastime, this bat-and-ball game is played between two teams who take turns batting and fielding.
  • Basketball: A team sport in which two teams, typically of five players each, try to score by shooting a ball through a hoop elevated 10 feet above the ground.
  • Boxing: A combat sport where two people throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring.
  • Cricket: A bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the center of which is a 22-yard pitch with a wicket at each end.
  • Cycling: The use of bicycles for transport, recreation, exercise, or sport. Events can be divided into road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, and BMX.
  • Diving: The sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, usually while performing acrobatics.
  • Football (Soccer): A team sport played by a team of 11 players with a spherical ball. It is the most popular sport in the world.
  • Golf: A club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
  • Gymnastics: A sport that includes exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and endurance.
  • Hockey: The term 'hockey' can refer to field hockey or ice hockey, and both are team sports played with a puck or ball and sticks.
  • Martial Arts: Various sports or skills, mainly of Japanese origin, that originated as forms of self-defense or attack, such as judo, karate, and kendo.
  • Rowing: The sport of racing boats using oars. It can be done on rivers, lakes, or the ocean.
  • Rugby: A team sport that originated in England and involves carrying, passing, kicking, and grounding a ball to score points.
  • Swimming: The self-propulsion of a person through water, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival.
  • Tennis: A racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles).
  • Volleyball: A team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court.
  • Weightlifting: A sport in which the athlete attempts a maximum-weight single lift of a barbell loaded with weight plates.
  • Yoga: A group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control and still the mind.

Physical Activity and Exercise Terms

Beyond competitive sports, discussing physical activities and exercise is also crucial for your TOEFL vocabulary. Here are some key terms related to general physical fitness and exercise:

  • Aerobics: A form of exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness.
  • Cardiovascular/Cardio: Exercises that raise your heart rate and keep it elevated for a period of time. These exercises are good for your heart and can help with weight loss.
  • Circuit Training: A form of body conditioning or resistance training using high-intensity aerobics.
  • Flexibility: The quality of bending easily without breaking, which is important in many sports and physical activities.
  • Interval Training: A type of physical training that involves bursts of high-intensity work interspersed with periods of low-intensity work or rest.
  • Resistance Training: Any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in strength, tone, mass, and/or endurance.
  • Stamina: The ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort.
  • Strength Training: A type of physical exercise specializing in the use of resistance to induce muscular contraction which builds the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles.
  • Stretching: A form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone.
  • Warm-up: The practice of preparing for physical exertion or a performance by exercising or practicing for a short time beforehand.

Conclusion

Mastering vocabulary related to sports and physical activities can significantly enhance your TOEFL performance. Familiarity with these terms will not only help you understand passages and listen to conversations more effectively but also provide you with the language tools to discuss your interests, experiences, and opinions on these topics. Whether you are describing the rules of a game, discussing a favorite sport, or explaining an exercise routine, a rich sports vocabulary is an asset in achieving a high score on the TOEFL exam.

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254.21. Milhares de palavras essenciais para o vocabulário em inglês: Gírias e jargões contemporâneos

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