Ground Rules

　　Football is a game of inches played on a field measured in yards-English measurements areused to track movements on the field.Teams succeed based on how many yards theyaccumulate or allow. An official NFL (National Football League) football field is a rectangle thatis 120 yards(110 m) long and 53 yards. I foot (49m) wide. Most fields are covered in grass andset in an outdoor (open-air} stadium. Some fields are made of artificial turf, which you'll find inmany of the indoor stadiums.

　　The most essential piece of equipment in a football game is the ball.Official NFL footballs arehandmade by Wilson Sporting Goods Co. The football is an oblong (橢圓形的) sphere and has alengthwise circumference(周線) and a width-wise circumference in the middle of the ball.

　　With the equipment identified and the field set, we can now play a game.An NFL game isdivided into four quarters with an extended halftime break between quarters two and three.Each quarter is 15 minutes long. lf the teams are tied after four quarters of play,they play anadditional overtime period of 15 minutes. Inthe overtime, the first team to score wins.

　　While the game time adds up to one hour, it usually takes three to four hours to play a game.Teams can stop the clock by running out of bounds,throwing an incomplete pass, or calling atime-out, of which they have three per half. Time also stops for each of the two-minutewarnings, observed two minutes prior to the end of the second and fourth quarters.

　　Who's Who

　　An NFL roster allows for no more than 53 players on a team. At any one time, only 11 playersper team are allowed on the field. To understand an NFL roster, you have to identify thethree teams within a team: theoffense. the defense and special teams. Each of these groupshas specialized positions with a specific setof skills.

　　Offense

　　A team's offense is responsible for taking the ball down the field toward its opponent's endzone. To do this. the offense throws the ball from one player to another or holds the ball andruns forward. Here are the basic offensive positions.

　　Quarterback (QB)-This player throws the ball to receivers or hands it off to running backs. Thequarterback is also known as the "field general,"because he's the on-the-field leader.

　　Offensive linemen-These players provide blocking for the quarterback and running backs.Individual linemanpositions include:

　　Center (C)-The center is located in the middle of the line. This player hikes the ball to thequarterback by bringing the ball up between his legs.

　　Guards (LG/RG)-These two players flank the center.

　　Tackles (LT/RT)-The tackles are positioned on the outside of each guard;teams have twotackles.

　　Receivers-Receivers run down the field and catch balls thrown by the quarterback. Receivers areeither wide receivers (WR) or tight ends (LTE/RTE).depending on where they are positioned onthe field.

　　Running backs-Running backs take the ball from the quarterback and run up the field.Depending on the fomation (arrangement of the offensive players, a running back might becalled a tailback (TB), halfback (HB) or fullback (FB).

　　Defense

　　When a team does not have possession of the ball, it is on defense and uses various methodsto prevent theother team's offense from scoring. These players must tackle the offensiveplayer who has the ball to stopthe offense from advancing.Defense will also try to take the ballaway from the offense.

　　Here are the basic defensive positions:

　　Defensive linemen-The linemen put pressure on the quarterback by trying to tackle him beforehe releases the ball. They also try to stop running backs.There are typically three or fourdefensive linemen.

　　Linebackers-When there are four linemen, there is a middle linebacker(MLB) and two outsidelinebackers (OLB). When there are three linemen. there are two inside linebackers (ILB) and twooutside linebackers. Their job is to back up the linemen. as well as contain runners and coverreceivers on some plays.

　　Cornerbacks (CB)-The cornerbacks prevent the wide receivers from catching the ball bybreaking up passes from the quarterback.

　　Safeties-The safeties play deep behind the rest of the defense to prevent a long pass or run.A strong safety (SS) lines up on the side of the field where there are more offensive players.The free safety (FS) plays a deep, middle position.

　　Special Teams

　　If a team has to kick the ball, it uses its special-teams unit. This unit includes the team'skickers, theoffensive line, and players who run down the field to tackle a returner(see below).

　　Placekicker-The placekicker kicks the ball through the goalposts to score points and kicks theball to theother team to start the game and after each scoring possession.

　　Punter-The punter free-kicks the ball if his team cannot advance the ball down the field.

　　Returner-During a kickoff or punt, the returner tries to catch the ball and return it as far as hecan. A player can score a touchdown on a rcturn.

　　Moving the Ball and Finding the End Zone

　　A football game begins with a coin toss to decide which team will receive the opening kickoff.From the opening kickoff, the two teams battle to take possession of the ball. Possessionmeans that a team's offensive unit has the ball.

　　A team can take possession of the ball in several ways:

　　Receiving a kickoff-A team receives a kickoff at the beginning of each half and after the otherteam scores.

　　Turnover-A team recovers a ball dropped by the other team (fumble)or picks off a ball thrownby the other team's quarterback (interception).

　　Safety-A player is tackled in his own end zone, meaning the end zone his team is defending, sothe other team gets the ball though a free kick.

　　Punt-The defensive team stops the offensive team from getting 10 yards in three downs, andthe offensive team free-kicks, or punts, the ball to the other team on third down.

　　Turnover on downs-The offensive team fails to advance the ball lO yands in four downs andhas to surrenderthe ball to the other team.

　　For those new to the sport the last two scenarios on this list may not make sense. One of themost confusing concepts of American-style football is the down-and-distance system. Everytime a team takes possessionof the ball, it is given a set of four downs, or attempts, to movethe ball l0 yards. If the team can movethe ball lO yards or more Within four downs, the teamgets another set of four downs to go another l0 yards, and so on. For instance, if a teamadvances 3 yards on first down, the next play is second down with 7 yards to go (second and7); if the team then advances 5 yards on second down, the next play is third and 2; if the teamthen advances 2 or more yards on third down, the next play is back to first and lO, wich awhole new set of four downs during which to advance the ball.

　　美國(guó)橄欖球

　　美國(guó)橄欖球是一項(xiàng)獨(dú)特的運(yùn)動(dòng)，它是一種以攻占陣地得分的比賽。兩隊(duì)隊(duì)員進(jìn)入球場(chǎng)，每一隊(duì)都會(huì)盡量堅(jiān)守自己的每寸陣地不讓對(duì)方攻入。每個(gè)隊(duì)都想既能防守住自己的后方陣地又能攻入對(duì)方的前線陣地。最后，他們都想攻占足夠的陣地以求達(dá)陣得分或射門得分。

　　基本規(guī)則

　　橄欖球是在以碼計(jì)算的場(chǎng)地上進(jìn)行的寸土必爭(zhēng)的“英寸游戲”，采用英式度量單位來(lái)測(cè)量場(chǎng)上的活動(dòng)。[l]比賽的勝負(fù)由球隊(duì)累積的或推進(jìn)的碼數(shù)來(lái)決定。一個(gè)正式的NFL(美國(guó)全國(guó)橄欖球聯(lián)盟)球場(chǎng)是一個(gè)120碼(l1O米)長(zhǎng)，53碼l英尺(49米)寬的長(zhǎng)方形。大多數(shù)場(chǎng)地都建在戶外的(露天的)體育場(chǎng)上，地上植有草坪。一些場(chǎng)地植的是人造草皮。這種草皮在很多室內(nèi)體育場(chǎng)非常普遍。

　　一場(chǎng)橄欖球比賽最必要的器材是橄欖球。正式的NFL橄欖球是由威爾遜體育用品公司手工制作的。橄欖球是一個(gè)橢圓形的球體，球的中間標(biāo)有縱向的和橫向的周長(zhǎng)線。

　　有了器材和場(chǎng)地，我們就可以進(jìn)行一場(chǎng)比賽了。NFL的比賽分成4節(jié)，在第2節(jié)和第3節(jié)之間有中場(chǎng)休息。每節(jié)持續(xù)15分鐘。如果全場(chǎng)4節(jié)打成平局，就再打l5分鐘的加時(shí)賽。[2]在加時(shí)賽中，先得分者獲勝。

　　雖然比賽時(shí)間總計(jì)一個(gè)小時(shí)。但打一場(chǎng)比賽通常都要花上3到4個(gè)小時(shí)。球隊(duì)可能因?yàn)榍虺鼋纭髑蛭赐瓿苫蚝艚袝和６鴷簳r(shí)中止比賽計(jì)時(shí)。[3]每隊(duì)每半場(chǎng)允許3次暫停。半場(chǎng)和終場(chǎng)結(jié)束前兩分鐘，裁判會(huì)吹哨子叫暫停以提醒比賽時(shí)間，這也會(huì)導(dǎo)致比賽計(jì)時(shí)的停止。

　　球員角色分配

　　NFL規(guī)定各隊(duì)比賽大名單上的球員不能超過(guò)53名。任何時(shí)候，每個(gè)隊(duì)都只能有11名球員上場(chǎng)。[4]為了了解NFL的比賽大名單，你必須要識(shí)別每個(gè)球隊(duì)里的3組球員：進(jìn)攻組、防守組和特勤組。各組在比賽時(shí)都有專門的位置，各自也有一套專門的技能。

　　進(jìn)攻

　　球隊(duì)的進(jìn)攻組負(fù)責(zé)將球帶到對(duì)方的終極戰(zhàn)區(qū)，為了做到這一點(diǎn)，進(jìn)攻球員要將球從一名隊(duì)員手中傳到另一名隊(duì)員手中，或者抱著球向前沖。這是基本的進(jìn)攻方位：

　　四分衛(wèi)(QB)——四分衛(wèi)隊(duì)員負(fù)責(zé)把球傳給接球手或跑鋒。[5]四分衛(wèi)也被稱為“賽場(chǎng)上的主帥”，因?yàn)樗琴悎?chǎng)上的指揮者。

　　進(jìn)攻踐員——這些隊(duì)員負(fù)責(zé)阻止對(duì)方對(duì)四分衛(wèi)和跑鋒的截殺。各個(gè)線員的位置包括：

　　[6]中鋒(C)——中鋒站在對(duì)陣線的中間位置，常常是從兩腿間將球傳給四分衛(wèi)。

　　中衛(wèi)(LG/RG)——左右中衛(wèi)分別位于中鋒的兩側(cè)。

　　擒衛(wèi)(LT/RT)——擒衛(wèi)位于每個(gè)中衛(wèi)的外圍;每個(gè)球隊(duì)有2名擒衛(wèi)。

　　接球手——接球手負(fù)責(zé)在場(chǎng)中跑動(dòng)以接住四分衛(wèi)傳出的球。接球手可以連外接手(WR)也可以是邊鋒(LTE/RTE)，這取決于他們?cè)趫?chǎng)上的位置。

　　跑鋒——跑鋒負(fù)責(zé)從四分衛(wèi)那里接到進(jìn)球后進(jìn)行特定的跑動(dòng)。根據(jù)進(jìn)攻隊(duì)員的陣式(排列)，跑鋒可以叫做后跑鋒(TB)、半跑鋒(HB)或者全跑鋒(FB)。

　　防守

　　一個(gè)隊(duì)手上沒(méi)有球時(shí)，它就需要防守，運(yùn)用各種各樣的方法阻止對(duì)方的進(jìn)攻得分。這些隊(duì)員必須阻截對(duì)方帶球的進(jìn)攻隊(duì)員前進(jìn)。防守隊(duì)員也將努力從對(duì)方進(jìn)攻隊(duì)員那里搶球。

　　這是基本的防守方位：

　　防守線衛(wèi)——防守線衛(wèi)在對(duì)方的四分衛(wèi)將球傳出前盡量對(duì)其進(jìn)行阻截以便給他施加壓力。他們也會(huì)盡量地對(duì)跑鋒進(jìn)行攔截。一個(gè)隊(duì)通常有3或4個(gè)防守線衛(wèi)。

　　線后衛(wèi)——有4個(gè)防守線衛(wèi)的時(shí)候，就有1個(gè)中線衛(wèi)(MLB)和2個(gè)外線衛(wèi)(OLB)。有3個(gè)防守線衛(wèi)時(shí)，就有2個(gè)內(nèi)線衛(wèi)(ILB)和2個(gè)外線衛(wèi)。他們的任務(wù)是支援防守線衛(wèi)，以及在某些情況下隨著進(jìn)攻方外接手跑動(dòng)，阻止外接手成功接球。

　　角衛(wèi)(CB)-角衛(wèi)通過(guò)攔截對(duì)方四分衛(wèi)的傳球以阻止外接手成功接球。

　　安全衛(wèi)——[7]安全衛(wèi)安置在防守線的最后以防止長(zhǎng)距離的傳球或跑動(dòng)。強(qiáng)衛(wèi)(SS)在對(duì)方進(jìn)攻球員更多的地方列陣。游衛(wèi)(FS)則在靠近外場(chǎng)線的中間位置活動(dòng)。

　　特勤組

　　如果一個(gè)隊(duì)要開(kāi)始踢球了，它就會(huì)使用它的特勤組成員。這個(gè)組包括踢球手、發(fā)球手，以及在場(chǎng)上跑動(dòng)攔截回攻員的球員(見(jiàn)以下說(shuō)明)。

　　射手-[8]射手負(fù)責(zé)將球踢進(jìn)球門得分，以及在每次得分后開(kāi)球。

　　棄踢員——棄踢員在本隊(duì)無(wú)法推動(dòng)球前進(jìn)的情況下自由踢球。

　　回攻員——在開(kāi)球或棄踢球的時(shí)候，回攻員會(huì)試圖搶球然后盡快進(jìn)行回攻。球員在回攻的時(shí)候可能會(huì)達(dá)陣得分。

　　帶球找到終極戰(zhàn)區(qū)

　　[9]一場(chǎng)橄欖球比賽開(kāi)始時(shí)以擲硬幣來(lái)決定哪一隊(duì)先開(kāi)球。一開(kāi)球，兩隊(duì)就對(duì)球的占有權(quán)進(jìn)行爭(zhēng)奪。對(duì)球的占有權(quán)意味這球在該隊(duì)的進(jìn)攻組手上。

　　球隊(duì)可以以幾種方式取得對(duì)球的占有權(quán)：

　　得到開(kāi)球權(quán)——球隊(duì)在每半場(chǎng)開(kāi)始時(shí)和對(duì)方隊(duì)得分后取得開(kāi)球權(quán)。

　　對(duì)方失誤——球隊(duì)重新?lián)尩綄?duì)方掉在地上的球(失球)或是接到對(duì)方四分衛(wèi)擲出的球(搶球)。

　　安全——球員在本方極陣也就是他所在的球隊(duì)要防守的區(qū)域被擒殺，因此對(duì)方球隊(duì)就可白白得球。

　　棄踢——防守組使對(duì)方進(jìn)攻組在3次進(jìn)攻之后都不能將球推進(jìn)10碼，對(duì)方在第3次進(jìn)攻后隨意將球踢開(kāi)，或棄踢球。

　　進(jìn)攻權(quán)換手——[10]進(jìn)攻方在4次進(jìn)攻后都不能將球推進(jìn)1O碼.不得不將球讓給對(duì)方。

　　對(duì)于那些對(duì)這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)不熟悉的人來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)條目上的最后兩種情況可能沒(méi)有什么意義。美式橄欖球最令人困惑的概念之一就是進(jìn)攻機(jī)會(huì)——距離系統(tǒng)。每當(dāng)一個(gè)隊(duì)取得對(duì)球的占有權(quán)時(shí)，它就會(huì)得到4次可能將球推進(jìn)10碼的進(jìn)攻機(jī)會(huì)。如果球隊(duì)能在這4次進(jìn)攻球成功推進(jìn)10碼或超過(guò)10碼，該隊(duì)就可以得到可能將球再推進(jìn)10碼的新一檔的4次進(jìn)攻機(jī)會(huì)，如此推進(jìn)。例如，一隊(duì)在第l次進(jìn)攻中前進(jìn)了3碼,下一次進(jìn)攻也就是第2次進(jìn)攻還需前進(jìn)7碼(2進(jìn)7);如果該隊(duì)在第2次進(jìn)攻中推進(jìn)了5碼，那么下一次進(jìn)攻也就是第3次進(jìn)攻就還要推進(jìn)2碼;如果在第3次進(jìn)攻中推進(jìn)2碼或超過(guò)2碼，下一次進(jìn)攻就回到l進(jìn)10，進(jìn)入另一檔的4次進(jìn)攻，繼續(xù)將球向前推進(jìn)。

　　1.The success of a team is measured by means of_______________________.

　　A) the yards it gains

　　B) the field goals it scores

　　C) the strategy it uses

　　D) the touchdowns it scores

　　2.When the teams need to play the overtime period,the teamthat__________________wins.

　　A) gains more ground

　　B) gets more touchdowns

　　C) scores before the other

　　D) gets the first penalty kick

　　3.How many timeouts are the teams allowed to have?

　　A) Two for each quarter.

　　B) Three for each half.

　　C) Three for each quarter.

　　D) Two for each half.

　　4.What is included in an NFL roster?

　　A) All the players on the team.

　　B) The substitute players and coaches.

　　C) Only the players allowed on the field.

　　D) The offense,the defense and special teams.

　　5.The role of the on-the-field leader is played by ______________________.

　　A) a receiver

　　B) a quarterback

　　C) a running back

　　D) an offensive lineman

　　6.Usually, offensive linemen consist of at least_______________players.

　　A) three

　　B) four

　　C) five

　　D) six

　　7.In the defense team, the deepest defensive position is playedby_________________.

　　A) defensive linemen

　　B) linebackers

　　C) cornerbacks

　　D) safeties

　　8.Kicking a ball through the goalposts to gain points is the responsibilityof____________________.

　　9.The right of a team's opening kickoff is usually determinedby___________________.

　　lO.The offensive team will lose possession of the ball if it fails to gain lO yardsin__________________.

　　1.[定位]根據(jù)題干中的success查找到第1個(gè)小標(biāo)題Ground Rules部分的首段第2句。

　　解析：原文中的based on...表明判斷一個(gè)隊(duì)伍成功與否的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是什么，因此based on后的介詞賓語(yǔ)為本題答案。其他三個(gè)選項(xiàng)在該段均未提及。

　　2.[C][定位]根據(jù)題干中的overtime查找到第1個(gè)小標(biāo)題Ground Rules部分的第3段末句。

　　解析：選項(xiàng)C是對(duì)原文該句的同義改寫，為本題答案。其他選項(xiàng)與overtime period的內(nèi)容無(wú)關(guān)，且在該段也未提及。

　　3.[B][定位]根據(jù)題干中的timeouts查找到第1個(gè)小標(biāo)題Ground Rules部分的第4段第2句。

　　解析：原文該句句末的非限制性定語(yǔ)從句表明本題應(yīng)選B。其他選項(xiàng)均無(wú)原文依據(jù)。

　　4.[D][定位]根據(jù)題干中的NFL roster查找到第2個(gè)小標(biāo)題Who's Who部分的首段。

　　解析：在四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，只有選項(xiàng)B沒(méi)有原文依據(jù)，其他三個(gè)選項(xiàng)均可在原文找到部分或全部詞語(yǔ)。其中，選項(xiàng)A不正確，因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)橄欖球隊(duì)的全體隊(duì)員可能超過(guò)53人，但根據(jù)該段首句，roster里只能包括最多53個(gè)球員的名字，由此可見(jiàn)，選項(xiàng)A與原文不符;選項(xiàng)C中的only顯然過(guò)于絕對(duì)，與該段首句不符;原文該段第3句暗示不論roster里面有多少成員名字，肯定得包括the offense，the defense and special teams，由此可見(jiàn)，選項(xiàng)D為本題答案。本題也可通過(guò)對(duì)比選項(xiàng)和原文，看看哪個(gè)選項(xiàng)與原文重合度最高，由此也可確定選項(xiàng)D為本題答案。

　　5.[B][定位]根據(jù)題干中的on-the-field leader查找到第2個(gè)小標(biāo)題Who's Who部分的次標(biāo)題Offense下第2段末句。

　　解析：只要根據(jù)題眼定位原文，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)選項(xiàng)B為本題答案。

　　6.[C][定位]根據(jù)題干中的offensive linemen查找到第2個(gè)小標(biāo)題Who's Who部分的次標(biāo)題Offense下第3段。

　　解析：原文該段逐一介紹了各個(gè)offensive linemen的位置，以及每個(gè)位置人員的分配情況，只要將里面提到的數(shù)字簡(jiǎn)單相加：1個(gè)center+2個(gè)guards+2個(gè)tackles=5個(gè)，即可得出本題答案為選項(xiàng)C。

　　7.[D][定位]根據(jù)題干中的deepest查找到第2個(gè)小標(biāo)題Who's Who部分的次標(biāo)題Defense下末段首句。

　　解析：根據(jù)題干中的defense一詞可將搜索范圍限定于第2個(gè)小標(biāo)題下，然后逐一在各個(gè)段落尋找與deep有關(guān)的信息，不難發(fā)現(xiàn)題干中的the deepest defensive position與原文deep behind the rest of thedefense同義，因此本題應(yīng)選D。

　　8.[placekickers]

　　[定位]根據(jù)題干中的Kicking等詞查找到第2個(gè)小標(biāo)題Who's Who部分的次標(biāo)題Special Teams下第2段。

　　解析：空白此應(yīng)為名詞(詞組)。題干中的kick和goalposts只能同時(shí)在第2個(gè)小標(biāo)題Who's Who部分的次標(biāo)題Special Teams下第2段有關(guān)placekickers的段落找到，因此可以確定placekickers為本題答案。

　　9.[a coin toss]

　　[定位]根據(jù)題干中的opening kickoff查找到第3個(gè)小標(biāo)題Moving the Ball and Finding the End Zone部分的首段首句。

　　解析：空白處應(yīng)為名詞(詞組)或現(xiàn)在分詞(詞組)。原文該句中的with a coin toss to decide...表明開(kāi)球權(quán)由a coin toss決定，因此，本題答案為a coin toss。

　　10.[four downs]

　　[定位]根據(jù)題干中的possession等詞查找到倒數(shù)第2段。

　　解析：空白處應(yīng)為名詞(詞組)，作in的賓語(yǔ)。題干中的lose possession of the ball與原文該段中的surrender the ball to the other team同義，由此可見(jiàn)，該句介紹了在什么情況下進(jìn)攻的隊(duì)伍將失去控球權(quán)，這正是本題要求查找的內(nèi)容，因此原文中in后的介詞賓語(yǔ)four downs為本題答案。