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大學英語四級閱讀理解 體育專題一
Sporting activities are essentially forms of hunting behavior. Viewed biologically, the modern foot-baller is in reality a member of a hunting group. His killing weapon has turned into a harmless football and his prey into a goal-mouth. If his aim is accurate and he scores a goal, he enjoys the hunter’s triumph of killing his prey.
To understand how this transformation has taken place we must briefly look back at our forefathers. They spent over a million years evolving as cooperative hunters. Their very survival depended on success in the hunting-field. Under this pressure their whole way of life, even their bodies, became greatly changed.
They became chasers, runners, jumpers, aimers, throwers and prey-killers. They cooperated as skillful male-group attackers.
Then about ten thousand years ago, after this immensely long period of hunting their food, they became farmers. Their improved intelligence, so vital to their old hunting life, was put to a new use - that of controlling and domesticating their prey. The hunt became suddenly out of date. The food was there on the farms, awaiting their needs. The risks and uncertainties of the hunt were no longer essential for survival.
The skills and thirst for hunting remained, however, and demanded new outlets. Hunting for sport replaced hunting for necessity. This new activity involved all the original hunting sequences but the aim of the operation was no longer to avoid starvation. Instead the sportsmen set off to test their skill against preys that were no longer essential to they survival. To be sure, the kill may have been eaten but there were other simpler ways of obtaining a meaty meal.
1. The author uses the example of the football game to tell us ____.
A) sporting activities are forms of biological developments
B) the difference between sports and hunting
C) the reason why man used to go in for hunting
D) sporting activities have actually evolved from hunting
2. In hunting what is equivalent to a goal-mouth in football match is ____.
A) a killing weapon
B) a hunting field
C) a prey
D) a member of a hunting group
3. According to the author, our ancestors survived as hunters for over a million years basically through their ____.
A) common sense
B) cooperation
C) farming knowledge
D) adventures
4. The world "activity"(Line 2, Para.5) refers to ____.
A) sporting activities
B) domesticating wild animals
C) growing crops
D) hunting
5. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of this passage?
A) Sporting activities satisfy the desire of modern men to practice hunting skills which the forefathers developed for survival.
B) It is farming that brings human into close contact with nature.
C) Sporting activities are vital to human existence because they excuse humans from risks and uncertainties.
D) It is farming that makes hunting completely out of date and unnecessary.
答案分析： 1. D) sporting activities have actually evolved from hunting對應原文第一句Sporting activities are essentially forms of hunting behavior.
2. C )a prey對應原文學His killing weapon has turned into a harmless football and his prey into a goal-mouth.
3. B)cooperation對應原文They spent over a million years evolving as cooperative hunters.
4. A)sporting activities. 出現地點：This new activity involved all the original hunting sequences but the aim of the operation was no longer to avoid starvation. 注意前一句Hunting for sport replaced hunting for necessity.
5. A)Sporting activities satisfy the desire of modern men to practice hunting skills which the forefathers developed for survival為本文主旨.
參考譯文： 追根溯源，體育運動是由狩獵活動演變而來的。從生物學的角度來講，現代足球運動員實際上就相當於獵隊中的成員，只是捕殺獵物的武器變成了沒有殺傷力的足球，獵物變成了球門。如果球員射門準確，進球得分，便能享受到獵人成功捕殺獵物那一刻勝利的喜悅。
要理解狩獵活動是如何轉變為體育運動的，我們必須簡略地回顧一下祖先的生活方式。100多萬年以來，我們的祖先以集體狩獵為生，慢慢繁衍。他們的生死正是取決於獵場上的成敗。在如此大的生存壓力之下，祖先們的整個生活方式，甚至生理結構都發生了極大的改變。
他們開始追逐、奔跑、跳躍、射擊、投擲和屠宰。男人們組成獵隊，運用獵術，合作狩獵。
為了食物而狩獵的漫長歲月過去之後，大約在1萬年以前，祖先們開始從事牧業。對舊時狩獵生活至關重要的智力也得以提高，並派上了新的用場-馴養獵物。一時間，狩獵變得過時了。食物就在農場上，隨需隨取。風險不定的狩獵對生存不再是至關重要了。
