American Football

American football. Written by Luanne Silver. Focus question. What is American football and how did it become America's favorite sport?

美式橄榄球。 作者：卢安·西尔弗 核心问题： 什么是美式橄榄球，它又是怎么成为美国最受欢迎的运动的？

Six seconds to go. The date is January 30, 2000. The Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis Rams are playing in the Super Bowl, American football's greatest game. With the Rams ahead, 23 to 16, the Titans are at the Rams' 10 -yard line. There are only six seconds left in the game. Titans quarterback Steve McNair passes the ball to wide receiver Kevin Dyson, whose outstretched arm comes up just one yard, 0 .91 meters short of the end zone. The crowd goes wild as the Rams win their first Super Bowl championship. With exciting game endings like this, it isn't hard to see why the spectacular

比赛还剩6秒。 这天是2000年1月30日。 田纳西泰坦队和圣路易斯公羊队正在打超级碗——这是美式橄榄球最高规格的赛事。 现在公羊队23比16领先，泰坦队攻到了公羊队的10码线处。 比赛只剩下最后六秒钟了。 泰坦队四分卫史蒂夫·麦克奈尔把球传给外接手凯文·戴森，戴森伸长手臂够达阵区，仅仅差了1码（0.91米）没能达阵。 公羊队拿下队史首个超级碗冠军，观众瞬间沸腾了。 有这么扣人心弦的比赛收尾，不难理解为何这项精彩的

America's Favorite Sport American football is the most popular sport in the United States. More fans attend football games and watch football games on TV than any other sport. About 70 ,000 fans attend each National Football League NFL game.

美国最受欢迎的运动 美式橄榄球是美国最受欢迎的运动。 比起其他运动，有更多观众会到现场看球或是在电视上看橄榄球比赛。 美国国家橄榄球联盟（NFL）的每场比赛，都有约7万名观众到场观赛。

Football in other countries About 70 countries around the world have American football teams. The sport is not as popular as some other sports, but interest in the game is growing. Canada has had its own form of football for more than 100 years. Canadian football is like American football. However, the field size, number of players, and some of the rules are different. Arena football, an indoor version of American football, has been around since the 1980s. Its fast games take place on a small playing field.

其他国家的橄榄球 全球约有70个国家拥有美式橄榄球队。 这项运动虽然不如其他一些运动普及，但人们对它的兴趣正在不断增长。 加拿大发展出自己形式的橄榄球已经有一百多年历史了。 加拿大橄榄球和美式橄榄球十分相似。 不过场地大小、球员人数还有部分规则有所不同。 竞技场橄榄球是美式橄榄球的室内版本，从20世纪80年代就已经出现了。 这种节奏飞快的比赛在小型场地上进行。

A new sport is born. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, students at several North American schools started playing two games from England. Soccer, which is also called football in parts of the world, was mainly played with the feet. Rugby, short for rugby football, was played with hands as well as feet. Yale, in Connecticut, was one of the schools that played rugby. Walter Camp, a Yale student from 1876 to 1881, suggested changes to the game's rules.

一项新运动诞生了。 19世纪60年代末到70年代初，北美好几所学校的学生开始玩两种源自英国的运动。 足球，在世界不少地区也叫football，这项运动主要用脚踢球。 橄榄球，也就是英式橄榄球的简称，既可以用脚也可以用手。 康涅狄格州的耶鲁大学，是当时玩英式橄榄球的学校之一。 1876到1881年在耶鲁读书的沃尔特·坎普，提议修改这项运动的规则。

Playing the game. During a football game, two teams try to move the ball into the other team's end zone to score points. Each team has two platoons of 11 players each. Teams also have a third platoon for kicking. The offensive line or platoon tries to score and the defensive platoon tries to stop the other team from scoring. The two platoons take turns playing. When Team A has control of the ball, its offensive unit plays Team B's defensive platoon. When Team B has control of the ball, its offensive platoon plays Team A's defensive platoon. A quarterback is the leader of each offensive platoon.

比赛规则。 橄榄球比赛中，两队都要努力把球攻进对方的达阵区来得分。 每支球队有两组球员，每组各11人。 球队还有第三组专门负责踢球的特勤组。 进攻组负责推进得分，防守组负责阻止对方得分。 两组轮流上场比赛。 A队持球时，A队的进攻组对阵B队的防守组。 B队持球时，B队的进攻组对阵A队的防守组。 四分卫是每支进攻组的核心领袖。