Don"t Take the Fun Out of Youth Sports
When I joined a private football league a few years ago, the sport meant everything to me. My coach said that I had lots of potential, and I became captain of my 1 . That was before all the fun was taken out of 2 . At first, everyone on the team got 3 playing time. Then the team moved up to the top division after winning all its games, and the 4 started. Some parents, who had paid the coach extra so their daughters could have 5 one-on-one training, got angry when she didn"t give them more playing time in our 6 . The coach was replaced. The new coach, however, took all the fun out of the game: all we did during practice was 7 . I always wished to God that it would rain so we would not have the 8 . Of course, all teams run drills; they are 9 . But we ran so much that, afterwards, we had trouble 10 . Younger people shouldn"t be doing exercises 11 for 18-year-olds. I was very thin 12 I started football, but as a member of this team I wouldn"t eat much, because I was afraid of being too 13 to run. I feared making mistakes, and the added pressure caused me to make more than my usual 14 . Is all this pressure necessary? I 15 up leaving the football team. Four other girls did the same, and two of them stopped playing football completely. That"s 16 , because they had so much potential. They were just burned-out with all the pressure they 17 from the coach or their parents. I continued playing football at school and 18 my love for it. I joined a private team coached by my school coach. When I started playing 19 him, he told me I needed to relax because I looked nervous. After I 20 down, I played better. When you enjoy something, it"s a lot easier to do it well.
1. A. class B. club C. team D. board
2. A. playing B. living C. learning D. working
3. A. great B. equal C. right D. extra
4. A. business B. struggle C. attempt D. pressure
5. A. free B. private C. good D. basic
6. A. matches B. courses C. lessons D. programs
7. A. jump B. play C. run D. shoot
8. A. duty B. meeting C. operation D. training
9. A. necessary B. boring C. scientific D. practical
10. A. speaking B. moving C. sleeping D. breathing
11. A. used B. intended C. made D. described
12. A. till B. since C. before D. because
13.A. full B. tired C. lazy D. big
14. A. size B. share C. space D. state
15. A. gave B. kept C. ended D. picked
16. A. sad B. shameful C. silly D. serious
17. A. received B. suffered C. brought D. felt
18. A. reconsidered B. rediscovered C. re-formed D. replaced
19. A. at B. by C. for D. around
20. A. fell B. stepped C. slowed D. calmed
答案：
1—5CABDB 6—10ACDAD 11—15BCABC 16—20ADBCD
