World News for Students of English

02-10-2014 07:00

Despite Broghil Valley being a highly isolated region in the northernmost valley of the Chitral district of Pakistan, it hosts a world sport known as yak polo.

Yes, you did hear correctly, yak polo is played at an altitude of nearly 13,000 feet (almost 4 km) above sea level, and is a major attraction of the annual Broghil festival.

The special sporting event is played riding on yaks instead of horses in the Himalaya and Hindu Kush mountain ranges of the country.

Each polo team has six players who rush towards the opponent’s goal posts.

The area lacks basic facilities; many of its people have never travelled outside the region and are not familiar with modern facilities like electricity, access to health facilities or clean drinking water.

The yak polo players say the animals are expensive to buy and they are hoping for financial assistance to keep the sport alive.

Difficult words: isolated (the area is far away from lots of people or big cities), yak (animal which looks like a hairy cow), annual (happening every year), rush (move fast), lack (doesn’t have), facility (resource).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com