四级冲刺练习阅读（181）

　　American Sports

　　In the fall, Monday nights and Saturday and Sunday afternoons see American stadiums filled with football fans, with millions of other fans sitting before television sets at home to watch the game and yell their advice and applause. Then when the game is over, everyone discusses the various runs and penalties, the performance of the various players, and the decisions of the referees. On following days, the sports pages of the newspapers further analyze and criticize and give details of the lives of the outstanding players, for the game now rivals baseball as a popular American spectator sport, and football players are highly paid national celebrities. Famous college and professional coaches and outstanding quarterbacks get the fame that used to be reserved for Hollywood actors.

　　Football originated as a college sport more than seventy-five years ago. It is still played by almost every college and university in the country, and the football stadiums of some of the large universities seat as many as 80,000 people.

　　The game is not the same as European or South American football or soccer. In American football there are 11 players on each team who dress in padded uniforms and helmets because the game is rough and injuries are common. The object of the game is to carry or pass the football forward across the opponents goal or scoring line. The team with the ball has four chances, called downs, to gain a minimum of 10 yards. If the team is unsuccessful, the ball is turned over to the opposing team, which then has four chances to advance the ball the minimum 10-yard distance.

　　Anyone who has not attended a large college football game has missed one of the most colorful aspects of American college life. Between the two halves of the game, the playing field is taken over by the musical bands of the rival institutions, which take turns executing intricate marching formations as they play their instruments. Trained and uniformed student dressed to represent the college mascot performs antics during the game to entertain the crowd.

　　Outstanding high school football players are usually lured to a particular college or university by offers of scholarships and free room and board. Football is so popular and the urge to win is so keen that many colleges heavily subsidize outstanding players. Attendance at games is so large that a college or university may finance its entire athletic program from ticket sales, and professional teams get recruits from college teams.

　　The fall season also sees the World Series in baseball to determine the champion professional team of the nation. Baseball professionals are organized into major and minor leagues. The best players from the minor leagues are recruited into a ball club that is a member of either the National League or } the American League. The team that wins the most games in its league then, in October, plays the champion of the other league in the World Series, a series of games to determine the best team in the nation. Heroes in baseball are talked about and remembered as in perhaps no other sport. School children look up to the pitcher or batter who is currently making a high score for his team.