柯灵思英语-英语听力高手11（在线收听）

Football

One of the most surprising things about football in England to a stranger is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most if the important teams. He has photographs of them and knows the results of a large number off matches. He will tell you, with a great air of authority, who he expects will win such and such a match, and his opinion is usually as valuable as that of men three or four times his age.

 In England, it is believed that education is not only a matter of filling a boy's mind with facts in a classroom; education also means character training; and one of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially team games, where the boy has to learn to work with others for his team, instead of working selfishly for himself alone. Football is a good team game, it is good exercise for the body, it needs skill and a quick brain, it is popular and it is cheap. As a result, it is the school's favorite game in the winter.