Lesson Six SPORTS (II)

Part B Macro-Listening (Tapescripts, Notes, Exercises with Key)
Passage 1
Americans Enjoy Sports
Tapescript
Americans enjoy sports. The three national sports are American football, played in the fall; basketball, played in the winter; and baseball ...., played in the summer. The crowds at these events may surprise you. The World Series and the Super Bowl Will attract tens of thousands of fans to the stadium and there will be much shouting and cheering, but even if the spectators become very angry there is rarely any violence.
Besides these big events, sports as recreation is enjoyed throughout the country. golf, tennis, tiding, sailing, surfing, jagging, and even parachuting, are popular recreational activities. You will find that the equipment for these sports can often be rented, so that even visitors are not excluded. Playing the sport you like is considered an essential part of a person's life, Luckily, the great natural resources such as lakes, mountains and vast seacoasts in the country allow Americans the space they need to enjoy themselves.
Passage 2
The Olympic Games
I. Tapescript
The Olympic Games are held every four years in a different city in the world. Athletes from many countries compete in a variety of sports which are divided into winter and summer games.
The Olympics began in Greece more than 2,700 years ago. The games were originally part of a religious festival in honor of the Greek Gods. Eventually, the games became the most important festival in all of Greece.
The first recorded Olympic competition was held in 776 B.C. It was held in an outdoor stadium which was about 200 meters long and 30 meters wide. The stadium was in a valley, and about forty thousand people watched the event. The first thirteen Olympics consisted of only one race running.
Since 776 B.C. the games had been held regularly for about 1,200 years. In the year397 the Olympics were prohibited by the Roman Emperor.
It was not until 1896 that the first Olympics of modem times were held in Athens. From then on the games are held every four years regularly. The Olympics have become the world's most important athletic events and a symbol of the sporting friendship of all the people of the world.