陜西乾縣一中 葛凱霞

The latest sports craze is not even a sport．According to a recent article，“e-sports” are attracting a large number of audiences．

In e-sports，players and teams compete in popular video computer games such as Dota 2 and Overwatch．Fans fill arenas to watch the action live on huge television screens．

The games have gone far beyond kids playing against each other while they sit on a sofa at home．The International，a major competition for players of Dota 2，awarded$24 million in prizes，with the winner taking home almost$11 million．A recent e-sports competition attracted more than 80，000 fans to the Olympic Stadium in Beijing，China．

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of computer games．I know that some games can be educational，but I think too many kids spend too much time sitting in front of a screen shooting space aliens．I think it would be better if kids spent more time reading or playing real sports such as basketball，baseball and soccer.

And please don't tell me that competitive gaming is a real sport because it requires hand-eye coordination．According to The American Heritage Dictionary，a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill”．I don't think anyone works up much of a sweat playing video games．

Too often，regular sports send kids a kind of message．Competition starts early，when lots of kids are not ready for the ups and downs of games．Tryouts and travel teams come next，giving too many kids the message that they are “not good” at sports．So lots of kids quit sports and start playing more video games．

Maybe everyone in youth sports，including coaches，parents and kids，should think more about the advantages of real sports．

Reading Check

1．What are “e-sports” according to paragraph 2?

A．Easy sports games for kids．

B．Sports events on television screens．

C．Video computer game competitions．

D．The latest sports in the Olympic Games．

2．What does the author think of“e-sports”?

A．They have some negative influences on children．

B．They should be controlled to a certain extent．

C．They should be banned in school．

D．They are not instructive．

3．What does the underlined word “exertion” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Energy．

B．Fitness．

C．Growth．

D．Effort．

4．What is the author's purpose in writing the text?

A．To call on people to pay more attention to traditional sports．

B．To explain the importance of playing sports．

C．To introduce a competition held in Beijing．

D．To introduce a new kind of sport．

Language Study

Difficult sentence

I think it would be better if kids spent more time reading or playing real sports such as basketball，baseball and soccer．

【翻譯】_____________________________________________________________________________

【點石成金】這是一個主從復(fù)合句，it would be better if kids spent more time reading or playing real sports such as basketball，baseball and soccer是賓語從句，省略了從屬連詞that。其中，if kids spent more time reading or playing real sports such as basketball，baseball and soccer是if引導(dǎo)的條件狀語從句，表示假設(shè)。