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.
【英语四级阅读200篇: Unit 46 passage 1】相关文章:
最新
2016-10-18
2016-10-11
2016-10-11
2016-10-08
2016-09-30
2016-09-30