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Words
in the News |
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INTRO
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Ten
years ago the Berlin wall collapsed and with it East Germany as a
sporting superpower. BBC correspondent Harry Peart reported. |
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11
November 1999
Downfall
of a sporting superpower
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NEWS
1
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Listen
to the first part of the report |
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Soon
after the wall was built, the East German Government decided that
domination in sport was to be a major propaganda tool.
A disproportionate amount of scarce money was poured
into elite sporting clubs. Talent-spotters scoured
the land for potential youngsters as young as eight who had
the essentials to become future stars. From 1968, when East
Germany first appeared as a separate state in the Olympics, until
its last outing in 1988, it won more than 500 medals. During the
same period, only the Soviet Union and the United States took home
more. From BBC correspondent Harry Peart
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WORDS
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domination
in sport: being the leading sporting nation
propaganda:
information often inaccurate or biased used to influence people
propaganda tool: something used to support propaganda
scarce:
if something is scarce there is not much of it
talent-spotter: in this case a person whose job it is to go
round looking for people with natural sporting ability. Also commonly
known as a talent-scout
scoured the land: made a thorough search throughout
the country
essentials: all the necessary requirements |
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| NEWS
2 |
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But
the breaching of the wall brought the whole sporting structure
crashing down. One month afterwards, public resentment forced the
Government to withdraw its subsidies to the sports ministry
and the sports clubs. There was public backlash against the
privileged elite who had a life of relative luxury and
received payments for winning medals. |
| WORDS |
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breaching:
in this case, breaking through the wall
withdraw its subsidies: remove its financial support
backlash: a strong negative public reaction to a situation
privileged elite: in this case a small group which had advantages
the general public did not have
relative: in comparison with a specific group; in this case
comparing the East German public with the elite sporting stars
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