American Sports

The United States is a sports-loving nation. Sports in America take a variety of forms:organized competitive struggles, which draw huge crowds to cheer their favorite team to victory;athletic games, played for recreation anywhere sufficient space is found; and hunting and fishing.

Most sports are seasonal, so that what is happening in sports depends upon the time of year. Some sports are called spectator sports, as the number of spectators greatly exceeds the number playing in the game.

Baseball is the most popular sport in the US. It is played throughout the spring and summer,and professional baseball teams play well into the fall. Although no other game is exactly like baseball, perhaps the one most nearly like it is the English game of cricket.

Football is the most popular sport in the fall. The game originated as a college sport more than 75 years ago. It is still played by almost every college and university in the country, and the football stadiums of some of the largest universities seat as many as 80,000 people. The game is not the same as European football or soccer. In American football there are 11 players on each team,and they are dressed in padded uniforms and helmets because the game is rough and injuries are likely to occur.

Basketball is the winter sport in American schools and colleges. Like football, basketball originated in the US and is not popular in other countries. Many Americans prefer it to football because it is played indoors throughout the winter and because it is a faster game. It is a very popular game with high schools, and in more than 20 states, state-wide high school matches are held yearly.

Other spectator sports include wrestling, boxing, and horse racing. Although horse-racing fans call themselves sportsmen, the accuracy of the term is questionable, as only the jockeys who ride the horses in the races can be considered athletes. The so-called sportsmen are the spectators, who do "not assemble" primarily to see the horses race, but to bet upon the outcome of each race.

Gambling is the attraction of horse racing.

1.Hunting and fishing are mainly favored by men, young and old, in the US.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

2.Professional baseball teams can continue to play for a long period of time in the fall after the regular baseball seasons of spring and summer.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

3.Baseball shares many features with the English game of cricket.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

4.Football can be classified as a spectator sport.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

5.Many Americans like basketball better than football because the latter is so harsh that players have to wear special uniforms.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

6.Basketball in American is so popular with universities that nationwide university matches are held yearly.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

7.Horse-racing fans cannot be considered sportsmen because they are spectators whose primary interest is gambling.

A. Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned

答案與解析：

1.C。題干：打獵和釣魚主要受到美國男人、年輕人和老人的喜愛。題干中的核心結構huntingand fishing和并列結構men，young and old可作為答案線索，可發(fā)現(xiàn)答案相關句為首段第二句，但并沒有提到men，young and old，所以選擇C。

2.A。題干：職業(yè)棒球隊在春天和夏天的賽季之后還可以繼續(xù)在秋天打很長時間的球。題干中的關鍵詞Professional baseball teams和the regular baseball seasons of spring and summer可作為答案線索，發(fā)現(xiàn)答案相關句為第二段首句。該句句意與問題句一致，該題主要是考查well into the fall(一直到秋季末)結構的.含義。

3.A。題干：棒球和英國的板球有很多共同之處。利用題干中的線索詞baseball和cricket尋找答案相關句：可以發(fā)現(xiàn)第二段第二句為相關句。該句的句意為“與棒球運動最接近的就是英國的板球”，與題干的句意一致，選擇A。

4.A。題干：足球是一種觀賞類體育項目。利用題干中的關鍵詞football和spectator sport找到答案相關句：第一段最后一句。該題考查考生的推斷能力：既然最大的足球體育館能容納80 000名觀眾，那么根據(jù)spectator sports(觀賞性運動)的定義，足球應該是spectator sports。

5.B。題干：與橄欖球相比，許多美國人更喜歡籃球，因為橄欖球比較激烈而且還要穿特殊的服裝。將題干中的關鍵詞basketball和football作為答案線索找到答案相關句：在第四段，可知美國人喜歡籃球是因為在冬天也可以玩，而且是速度類項目。題干句的說法與該相關句的說法不一致，故選B。

6.A。題干：美國的籃球在大學很流行，全國的大學每年都舉辦比賽。利用題干中的關鍵詞Basketball進行定位，發(fā)現(xiàn)相關內(nèi)容在第四段最后一句，故答案為A。

7.A。題干：賽馬迷們不被認為是運動員，因為他們是觀眾，而且首要興趣是賭博。將題干中的horse.racing fans作為答案線索找到相關句：題干在文章末段。根據(jù)相關句群的句意(賽馬比賽的吸引人之處是賭博，賽馬迷只是對賭博感興趣)，可知題干的說法與這些相關句的說法一致，故選A。