American football has a reputation for being a brutal and dangerous game.(31)______.The players hurl themselves at each otherfiercely,but today their uniforms and helmets (fitted with visors to protect their faces)are so skillfully padded that(32)______. By comparison,the rugby player is almost naked, having only a thin jersey and a pair of shorts to protect him from his opponents' boots and tackling.
(33)_______—more important than the professors, some say! The coach picks promising football players from the high schools,and recommends that(34)______.This is the only way some boys from poor families with no intellectual background can get to college.Quite a few of these students go on to become professional football players.The names of professional football clubs are as welI known to Americans as professional soccer clubs are to Europeans and South Americans.
The Americans are addicted to crazes.(35)______,they do so wholeheartedly,and often the rest of the world follows their lead. Jogging is anexample of this.The Americans now have another craze, a game which most other countries call “football"', but which they call soccer.(36)______and gaining in popularity on baseball. It is being run by big business and TV advertisers, who are doing everything they can to sell it to the public.They are employing famous fashion designers to design novel uniforms for the players.They have introduced a musical background to the games,and there is a big screen in the stadium (37)______. Most important,they have hired, at enormous expense,famous coaches and players from Europe and South America.(38)______,including the offside rules to make the game more exciting.
Soccer games can now draw crowds of over 70 thousand in cities (39)______.The soccer stadiums are much more luxurious than the vast majority of European and South American League grounds.There is a seat for everyone and a parking lot for 25 thousand cars. (40)______,like any other promising American product.
(From Two Kinds of Football)
A.Soccer is spreading like wildfire through all the States
B. where the likeness between the two games ends
C. where baseball attracts a mere 20 thousand spectators
D.which explains to spectators what is happening
E.who march like well-drilled soldiers during the half-time show
F.When they take something up
G.there are few serious injuries
H.They have also changed some of the rules
I.The football coach is a very important member of the college staff
J.they be given scholarships
K.Soccer is being brilliantly promoted
L.This reputation is not really deserved
【正确答案】：31.L
32.G
33.1
34.J
35.F
36.A
37.D
38.H
39.C
40.K
