A
Once upon a time, when you first attended a youth sporting event, your parents probably weren't expecting you to become a professional athlete.They signed up for a basketball, football or swimming course for you in the hope that you might learn lessons about winning gentlemanly, losing with dignity (尊严) and insisting on it when things get hard.Yes, playing games is good exercise, but it is the life lessons that matter most.
For many of us, instead of looking to improve our minds and spirits, we began judging progress only by the size of our muscles or the numbers on a weighing machine.The thought that athletic competition is about greater life lessons and the building of character has been further undermined (削弱) by headlines about professional athletes.
“And yet there's still strong evidence that sports strongly improve certain personal qualities，” says Angela Lumpkin, Professor of the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas.And that's true for athletes of any age.Amateur sports (业余体育运动) provide a safe place for competition.They also provide a practice ground for managing stress.
The advantages of taking part in a sport can seep (渗透) into your professional life, too.In basketball, for example, “Getting everyone to play the right role on the court is the key to success，” says Alan Arlt, the founder of the Life Time Fitness basketball program Ultimate Hoops.“That is certainly useful in the business world, where everyone understands their role in the organization.”“In athletic events, you go through good and bad times often in the period of two hours，” says former NBA head coach Flip Saunders.“Do you have the calm manner to settle yourself down, or do you totally lose it and get thrown out of the game which hurts both you and your team? All of that oncourt experience has a real effect on how you deal with reallife situations.”
语篇解读：参加体育运动不仅是为了强身健体，更重要的是为了提高人的智商和情商。
1．What would parents expect when their children joined in sports?
A．To win as many games as possible.
B．To improve their health.
C．To make more friends.
D．To get through difficulties.
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第一段的“...in the hope that you might learn lessons about winning gentlemanly, losing with dignity (尊严) and insisting on it when things get hard”可知，家长让孩子参加体育运动是希望孩子在运动的过程中学会如何面对困难。
2．What can we learn from Paragraph 2?
A．People play sports to build their character.
B．People still hold the idea that sports can keep us fit.
C．People keep playing sports to improve minds and spirits.
D．People pay more attention to the news of professional athletes.
解析：选D 推理判断题。根据第二段的“The thought that athletic competition is about greater life lessons and the building of character has been further undermined (削弱) by headlines about professional athletes.”可知，运动对人性格的培养并没有被大家过多关注，反倒是专业运动员的一些花边新闻引起人们的更多关注。
3．Amateur sports are mentioned in Paragraph 3 in order to ________.
A．support Lumpkin's idea
B．introduce the next topic
C．show another piece of evidence
D．show the main idea of the paragraph
解析：选A 推理判断题。根据第三段内容可知，列举业余运动是为了证明Lumpkin的观点。
4．According to the last paragraph, the sports experience has a real effect on ________.
A．how to succeed in the future
B．how to keep calm in certain situations
C．how to deal with reallife situations
D．how to understand the role on the court
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据最后一段的“All of that oncourt experience has a real effect on how you deal with reallife situations.”可推知，运动体验对如何处理真实的生活情境有真正的影响。
