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1、Unit 8 Leisure and Unit 8 Leisure and SportsSports休闲与体育休闲与体育Passage 1 How people Relax in the UKTypical popular pastimes in the UK:Listening to the pop music;Going to pubs;Playing and watching sport;Going on holidays;Doing outdoor activities;Watching TV. Playing SportsThe number of people playing sp
2、orts has risen:One third of the adult population regularly takes part in outdoor sport;About a quarter in indoor sport. Sporting facilities: 体育运动设施Local leisure centers: 当地休闲中心Multi-screen cinemas Multi-screen cinemas have become more common and the number of people going to the cinema increased in
3、the mid-1980s, which had fallen by more than half between 1971 and 1984. This was despite a large increase in the popularity of home videos: Britain has one of the highest rates of home video ownership in the world. British pubsPubs are an important part of British social life and more money is spen
4、t on drinking than on any other form of leisure activities. In a recent survey seven out of ten adults said they went to pubs, one third of them once a week or more often. Holidays?Holidays are the next major leisure cost (time and money), followed by television, radio, musical instruments, and eati
5、ng out. If they have enough money, people travel more and take more holidays. The number going abroad increased from 7 million in the early 1970s to 17 million in the mid-80s, with Spain still the most popular foreign destination. Reading? Reading is still an important leisure activity in Britain.Th
6、e biggest-selling magazines in Britain (after the TV guides) are womens and pop music publications. The best-selling books are not great works of literature but stories of mystery and romantic which sell in huge quantities. Passage 2 American HolidaysBy studying American holidays, it is possible to
7、understand American culture better. In the U. S., there are fedeal (national) holidays, state holidays and annual events. Federal HolidaysOn federal holidays, federal and state offices, banks, schools, and companies close throughout the United States. Most people have day off. There are ten federal
8、holidays now. State holidays are legal holidays in a particular state or states. State offices, banks, schools, and companies in that state close.For annual events, offices and stores do not close, and people work as usual. EasterIt falls on a spring Sunday that varies from year to year (on the firs
9、t Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox)The resurrection of Jesus Christ;A day of religious services and the gathering of the family. (Christians)Coloring hard-boiled eggs and candy. (children)Christmas DayDecember 25;Marks the birth of the Christ Child;Decorating ho
10、uses and yards with lights, putting up Christmas trees, giving gifts, and sending greeting cards.New Years DayJanuary 1;The celebration of this holiday begins the night before, when Americans gather to wish each other a happy and prosperous coming year. Thanksgiving Day: AmericanThe fourth Thursday
11、in NovemberThanksgiving feast: roast turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, pumpkin pie; Before the meal begins, families or friends usually pause to give thanks for their blessings, including the joy of being united for the occasion. Independence DayThe Fourth of July;Honors the nations birthdaythe sig
12、ning of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776;It is a day of picnics and patriotic parades, a night of concerts and fireworks.The flying of the American flag is widespread. Martin Luther King DayThe third Monday of January, which was declared a national holiday;His assassination: 1968;Cons
13、idered a great American because of his tireless efforts to win civil rights for all people through nonviolent means. Presidents DayThe third Monday in February; George Washington, hero of the Revolutionary War and first president of the United States;Abraham Lincoln, the president during the Civil W
14、ar.Memorial DayThe fourth Monday of May;This holiday honors the dead;It has become a day on which the dead of all wars, and the dead generally, are remembered;Special programs held in cemeteries, churches, and other public meeting places. Labor DayThe first Monday of September;It honors the nations
15、working people, typically with parades;It marks the end of the summer vacation season and the opening of th school year.Columbus DayOn October 12, 1492, Italian navigator Christopher Columbus landed in the New World. Although most other nations of the Americans observe this holiday on October 12, in
16、 the United States it takes place on the second Monday in October. Veteran DayNovember 11, the day when World War I ended in 1918; This holiday was established to honor Americans who had served in World War I;It now honors veterans of all wars.Veterans organizations hold parades, and the president c
17、ustomarily places a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River in Washington D. C. Valentines Day and Halloween: not holidaysOn February 14, Valentines Day, Americans give presents, usually candy or flowers, to the ones they love;On October 31,
18、 Halloween, American children dress up in funny or scary costumes and go “tricking or treating”: knocking on doors in their neighborhood. Small gifts of candy or money are given. Adults may also dress in costume for Halloween parties. Passage 3 Sports in BritainThe British have always been a nation
19、of sport lovers. Many sports which nowadays are played all over the world grew up to their present-day form in Britain. Football, horse racing, golf, lawn tennis and rowing. Association football (soccer) 英式足球The most popular sport in Britain; Played in most of the schools;Thousands of amateur teams
20、for young men all over the country; Most people watch it on Saturday afternoons at the local stadium.Rugby football 橄榄球More popular than association football in certain regions;The traditional game of most “public schools”.It is played with an oval ball which is carried rather than kicked, and playe
21、rs try to stop the man with the ball by throwing him bodily to the ground. Cricket: most English of GamesIts comparative slowness and quietness: reflect the English character. Not nearly as popular as football.Annual “test matches” between England and other Commonwealth countries, especially Austral
22、ia. Tennis: 网球运动The game which both men and women are most likely to play after leaving school is tennis;Some join a tennis club, but most find a partner and go to one of the thousands of public tennis courts which can be hired by the hour. The amateur sport has given way to professionalism. Bowls:
23、保龄球The old people, men and women, may be playing bowls on the public bowling-green;It is a peaceful game, yet one demanding considerable judgment, since the bowls are weighed so as to roll in a slight curve. Golf: another outdoor gameA game many men and women of all ages become passionately fond of;
24、 Played over an area of countryside containing eighteen small holes, each indicated by a flag, and each one several hundreds of yards away from the next. Boat race: 赛艇An annual race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities; It takes place on a stretch of the River Thames; It gives rise to weeks of
25、nation-wide comment and discussion every year. Sports for GamblingOne reason for the great interest in sport in Britain is the Englishmans fondness for a litter “flutter”;Gambling has always been an integral part of such sports as horse-racing and dog-racing and, in recent times, doing the “football
26、 pools” has become a national pastime. Horse-racingA betting sport, studied eagerly by many people who seldom see a horse. The horses are owned and trained by a few rich people, and usually ridden by professional jockeys. Football “pools”: 以橄榄球比赛的输赢赌博Football pools provide amusement for millions of
27、people, both men and women. Filling the pools: forecasting wins, losses and draws on a printed form, takes place during the week; then on Saturdays, all these millions of people listen to their radio or television set to check their forecasts. Anyone who get them all right will win a very large sum
28、of money. Passage 4 The Meanings of Football in the United StatesAmerican football: 美式足球；橄榄球America has developed some spectator sports of its own which are little practiced elsewhere, in particular American football and baseball. American football (1)Football is derived from the English game of rug
29、by, which has been adopted in other English-speaking countries but only in a few parts of Europe (notably in southwestern France). American football (2)Requires very sophisticated equipment and considerable organization;A game which cannot easily be adapted to an empty patch of ground where boys use
30、 coats for a goal;It is played at school, but by its nature it tends to attract a rather restricted group of boys, and normally played by those who hope to become serious players. American football (3)There are many professional football teams, and they play in large stadia on Saturday afternoons, o
31、ften before large crowds. The game is played with an oval ball; players may carry it and tackle each other (so that one player may throw another down as part of the game). American football (4)The rules are complicated, and the game is inherently dangerous. Many players have been seriously injured o
32、r even killed in the past, but in order to avoid such injuries the most elaborate protective clothing has been developed. American football (5)With dramatic protection for his head, shoulders and chest, and a visor over his face, a player when fully equipped looks like a ferocious and malevolent vis
33、itor from another planet. American football (6)The average football player looks formidable enough in private life, with his close-cropped hair and well-trained toughness, but a team of these armored giants looks frightening indeed. Meanings of Football in the U. S. (1)Football in the United States
34、displays themes particularly important in the society: sexuality, technological complexity, coordination, and specialization, as well as the tendency to violence, although that violence is expressed within the framework of teamwork, specialization, and mechanization. Meanings of Football in the U. S
35、. (2)“The football team looks very much like a small scale model of the American corporation: compartmentized, highly sophisticated in the coordinated application of a differentiated, specialized technology, turning out a winning product in a competitive market. ”Meanings of Football in the U. S. (3
36、)译文：橄榄球球队就像一个小型美国公司：各部划分清楚、在不同的专门技术的协调应用方面非常完善、在竞争激烈的市场中生产出致胜的产品。The football game is a model of the way their own world works. Because football is a small-scale model of that world, it allows us to understand it. Meanings of Football in the U. S. (4)It “renders visible and directly comprehensible a
37、 system that is far too large and complex to be directly comprehended by any individual. ”How many of us can understand the interconnections among all aspects of the American economic system? Football is a model of the traditional route to successDedication, hard work, and self-sacrifice for the goo
38、d of others (here, the football team) are held up as the basic principles on which success is based and are the characteristics most praised in individual players. Football is a model of the traditional route to successFootball is the staging of a real event in which the principles of success are sh
39、own to work. The success model is also illustrated in football commentary. The accomplishments of each player are compared with those of others, and the rewards of the systemmoney and recognitionare extended to the players on the basis of their performances. Football is a model of the traditional ro
40、ute to successTo the extent that football is a model of the real world, the audience sees the actors being evaluated according to objective criteria and rewarded according to performance. This process is at the ideological core of the traditional culture of the United States and is ultimately related to the productive process in the society.
