One country received its second-place medals with visible indignation after the hockey. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions. They were convinced that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents' victory was unfair. Their manager was in a rage when he said, "This wasn't hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished." The president of the Federation said later that such behavior. could result in suspension of the team for at least three years.
The American basketball team announced that they wouldn't yield the first place to Russia, after a disputable end to their contest. The game had ended in disturbance. It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other, and another player popped it into the basket. It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. An appeal jury debated the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals.
Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism.
According to the author, recent Olympic Games have______.
A. created goodwill between the nations
B. bred only false national pride
C. barely showed any international friendship
D. led to more and more misunderstanding and hatred
The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town-and-country planning, has in my opinion resulted in disproportionate attention for forms of recreation far from home, whereas there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighborhood of the home. We have come to the conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities at and around home. So it is obvious that recreation in the open air has to begin at the street-door of the house. The urban environment has to offer as many recreation activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more obligatory activities can also have a recreative aspect.
The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets, because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot for enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street-door of your house is closed after you.
According to the author, the importance of green-space in the urban environment______.
A. is still unknown
B. is usually neglected
C. is being closely studied
D. has been fully recognized
Conflict And Competition
1 The question of whether war is inevitable is one which has concerned many of the world's great writers. Before considering the question, it will be useful to introduce some related concepts. Conflict, defined as opposition among social entities directed against one another, is distinguished from competition, defined as opposition among social entities independently striving for something which is in inadequate supply. Competitors may not be aware of one another, while the parties to a conflict are. Conflict and competition are both categories of opposition, which has been defined as a process by which social entities function in the disservice of one another. Opposition is thus contrasted with cooperation, the process by which social entities function in the service of one another. These definitions are necessary because it is important to emphasize that competition between individuals or groups is inevitable in a world of limited resources, but conflict is not. Conflict, nevertheless, is very likely to occur, and is probably an essential and desirable element of human societies.
2 Many authors have argued for the inevitability of war from the premise that in the struggle for existence among animal species, only the fittest survive. In general, however,this struggle in nature is competition, not conflict. Social animals, such as monkeys and cattle, fight to win or maintain leadership of the group. The struggle for existence occurs not in fights, but in the competition for limited feeding areas and for the occupancy of areas free from meat-eating animals. Those who fail in this competition starve to death or become victims to other species. The struggle for existence does not resemble human war, but rather the competition for the necessities of life that are insufficient to satisfy all.
3 Among nations there is competition in developing resources, trades, skills, and a satisfactory way of life. The successful nations grow and prosper, the unsuccessful decline while it is true that this competition may induce efforts to expand territory at the expense of others, and thus lead to conflict, it cannot be said that war-like conflict among other nations is inevitable, although competition is.
According to the author which of the following is inevitable?
A. War.
B. Conflict.
Competition.
D. Cooperation.
God and My Father
1 I thought of God as a strangely emotional being. He was powerful; he was forgiving yet obdurate, full of warmth and affection. Both his wrath and affection were fitful, they came and they went, and I couldn't count on either to continue: although they both always did.In short God was much such a being as my father himself.
2 What was the relation between them, I wondered — these two puzzling deities?
3 My father's ideas of religion seemed straightforward and simple. He had noticed when he was a boy that there were buildings called churches; he had accepted them as a natural part of the surroundings in which he had been born. He would never have invented such things himself. Nevertheless they were here. As he grew up he regarded them as unquestioningly as he did banks. They were substantial old structures, they were respectable, decent, and venerable. They were frequented by the right sort of people. Well, that was enough.
4 On the other hand he never allowed churches — or banks — to dictate to him. He gave each the respect that was due to it from his point of view; but he also expected from each of them the respect he felt due to him.
5 As to creeds, he knew nothing about them, and cared nothing either; yet he seemed to know which sect he belonged with. It had to be a sect with the minimum of nonsense about it; no total immersion, no exhorters, no holy confession. He would have been a Unitarian,naturally, if he'd lived in Boston. Since he was a respectable New Yorker, he belonged in the Episcopal Church.
6 As to living a spiritual life, he never tackled that problem. Some men who accept spiritual beliefs try to live up to them daily; other men who reject such beliefs, try sometimes to smash them. My father would have disagreed with both kinds entirely. He took a more distant attitude. It disgusted him where atheists attacked religion: he thought they were vulgar. But he also objected to having religion make demands upon him — he felt that religion was too vulgar, when it tried to stir up men's feelings. It had its own proper field of activity, and it was all right there, of course; but there was one place religion should let alone, and that was a man's soul. He especially loathed any talk of walking hand in hand with his Savior. And if he had ever found the Holy Ghost trying to soften his heart, he would have regarded its behavior. as distinctly uncalled for; even ungentlemanly.
The writer says his father's idea of religion seemed straightforward and simple becausehis father
A. had been born in natural surroundings with banks and churches.
B. never really thought of God as having a real existence.
C. regarded religion as acceptable as long as it did not interfere.
D. regarded religion as a way that he could live a spiritual life.