Lesson 6
The sporting spirit
體育的精神
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題.
How does the writer describe sport at the international level?
I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations, and that if only the common peoples of the would could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the hattlefield. Even if one didn't know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce if from general principles.
Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive. You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win. On the village green, where you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved, it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise: but as soon as a the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused. Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this. At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare. But the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players but the attitude of the spectators: and, behind the spectators, of the nations who work themselves into furies over these absurd contests, and seriously believe -- at any rate for short periods -- that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.
GEORGE ORWELL The sporting spirit
New words and expression
goodwill
n. 友好
cricket
n. 板球
inclination
n. 意愿
contest
n. 比賽
orgy
n. 無節(jié)制的，放蕩
deduce
v. 推斷
competitive
adj. 競爭性的
patriotism
n. 地方觀念，愛國主義
disgrace
v. 使丟臉
savage
adj. 野性的
combative
adj. 好斗的
mimic warfare
模擬戰(zhàn)爭
behaviour
n. 行動，舉止
absurd
adj. 荒唐的
The sporting spirit
體育的精神
First listen and then answer the following question.
聽錄音，然后回答以下問題.
How does the writer describe sport at the international level?
I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations, and that if only the common peoples of the would could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the hattlefield. Even if one didn't know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce if from general principles.
Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive. You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win. On the village green, where you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved, it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise: but as soon as a the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused. Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this. At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare. But the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players but the attitude of the spectators: and, behind the spectators, of the nations who work themselves into furies over these absurd contests, and seriously believe -- at any rate for short periods -- that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.
GEORGE ORWELL The sporting spirit
New words and expression
goodwill
n. 友好
cricket
n. 板球
inclination
n. 意愿
contest
n. 比賽
orgy
n. 無節(jié)制的，放蕩
deduce
v. 推斷
competitive
adj. 競爭性的
patriotism
n. 地方觀念，愛國主義
disgrace
v. 使丟臉
savage
adj. 野性的
combative
adj. 好斗的
mimic warfare
模擬戰(zhàn)爭
behaviour
n. 行動，舉止
absurd
adj. 荒唐的