Sporting activities are essentially modified forms of hunting behavior. Viewed biologically, the modern footballer is in reality a member of a hunting group. His killing weapon has turned into a harmless football and his prey into a goalmouth. If his aim is accurate and he scores a goal, he enjoys the hunter’s triumph of killing his prey.

To understand how this transformation has taken place we must briefly look back at our forefathers. They spent over a million years evolving as cooperative hunters. Their very survival depended on success in the hunting-field. Under this pressure their whole way of life, even their bodies, became greatly changed. They became chasers, runners, jumpers, aimers, throwers and prey-killers. They cooperated as skillful male-group attackers.

Then about ten thousand years ago, after this immensely long period of hunting their food, they became farmers. Their improved intelligence, so vital to their old hunting life, was put to a new use—that of controlling and domesticating their prey. The hunt became suddenly out of date. The food was there on the farms, awaiting their needs. The risks and uncertainties of the hunt were no longer essential for survival.

The skills and thirst for hunting remained, however, and demanded new outlets. Hunting for sport replaced hunting for necessity. This new activity involved all the original hunting sequences but the aim of the operation was no longer to avoid starvation. Instead the sportsmen set off to test their skills against prey that were no longer essential to their survival. To be sure, the kill may have been eaten but there were other much simpler ways of obtaining a meaty meal.

1. The author believes that sporting activities            .

   A) are forms of biological development      B) have actually developed from hunting

   C) are essentially forms of taming the prey   D) have changed the ways of hunting

2. In a football game what is equal to the prey in hunting is       .

   A) any member of the opposing team        B) the goal keeper

   C) the goal-mouth                       D) the football

3. For over a million years, our forefathers were basically         .

   A) successful farmers                    B) co-operating hunters

   C) runners and jumpers                  D) skillful sportsmenwww.Examw.com

4. The word "operation" (Para. 4) refers to          .

   A) sports activities     B) hunting      C) prey killing     D) domesticating animals

5. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

A) It is farming that gives human beings enough leisure time for sporting activities.

B) Farming is very important in human civilization because it saves human beings from risks and uncertainties of hunting for survival.

C) It is hunting that provides human beings with much simpler ways of obtaining meaty meals.

D) Sporting activities satisfy the desire of modern man to exercise hunting skills which his forefathers developed for survival.

参考答案 Passage 11.  B C B A D

体育活动实质上是演变了的狩猎行为。从生物学的角度来看，现代的足球运动员实际上是狩猎群体中的成员，其捕猎武器演变成了无伤害性的足球，猎物演变成了球门。如果瞄准准确，他就得到一分，享受着捕杀猎物胜利的喜悦。
要理解这一转化是怎么发生的，我们就得简要回顾一下我们的祖先。作为相互合作的猎手，他们经历了一百万年的演化，（在这个漫长的演化过程中）他们的生存依赖于狩猎场上的成功。这一巨大的压力大大地改变了他们的生活方式，甚至也改变了他们的躯体。他们学会了追逐、奔跑、跳跃、标准、投掷和猎杀。他们是相互合作的男性捕猎团体。
在经历了这一漫长的靠捕猎获取食物的时期之后，他们在大约一千年前演变成农民。在狩猎生活中，他们的智慧得到了大大的提高，他们用这些智慧控制饲养猎物。（这样）狩猎一下子就显得过时了，食物生长在农田里，随时可以满足他们的需求。他们不在需要为生存而经历狩猎的风险和不稳定了。
然而，他们依然拥有狩猎的技术，也有狩猎的强烈愿望，这种技术需要有所应用，这种欲望需要有所释放，这样，狩猎是为了体育而不是生存。这种新的活动包含原始狩猎的所有过程，但是其目的不再是为了避免饥饿。运动员们出发去检验他们的捕杀猎物的技术，而这些技术不再是生存所需。可以肯定的是，他们也会食用他们捕杀的猎物，但是他们其实有更简单的获取食物的方法。