你喜歡打籃球嗎？還是喜歡看籃球賽？但你知道籃球運動是怎麼誕生的嗎？其實籃球運動的歷史不過一百二十多年，發明者是美國麻薩諸塞州一名加拿大籍的教會體育老師。來聽這段有趣的故事吧！
Born in a small town in Ontario, Canada in 1861, James A. Naismith lost his parents to typhoid when he was nine years old. He went to live on an uncle’s farm, where he helped with chores and spent his free time playing with a group of local boys. They enjoyed all kinds of sports, but their favorite game was “duck on the rock,” which involved trying to knock a stone off of a tall rock by throwing smaller stones up at it.
一八六一年生於加拿大安大略省一個小鎮的詹姆斯奈史密斯，九歲時父母因傷寒過世。他前往一個叔叔的農場居住，協助料理雜務，閒暇時則和當地一群男孩嬉戲。他們喜歡各式各樣的運動，但他們最喜歡的遊戲是「擊落石頭」。玩法是以岩石高處上的一塊石頭為目標，試著投擲較小的石頭將之擊落。
Naismith’s interest in sports continued during his studies at McGill University, where he played on the football, rugby and soccer teams and earned a B.A. in physical education. After next earning a master’s in religion at Presbyterian College, he combined his two areas of study by accepting a position as a P.E. teacher at the YMCA Training School in Massachusetts. In 1891, the department head asked Naismith to come up with a safe indoor game to keep students busy during the cold winter months between football and baseball seasons.
就讀麥克基爾大學期間，奈史密斯仍維持著對運動的興趣，他在學校踢美式足球、 橄欖球和足球校隊，並獲得體育學學士。接下來，在長老會學院拿到宗教學碩士之後，他結合了他的兩個研究領域，接受麻薩諸塞州基督教青年會提供的體育老師教職。一八九一年，部門主管請奈史密斯設計一種安全的室內遊戲，讓學生在美式足球季及棒球季之間數個寒冬月份有事可忙。
Thinking about popular games like football, soccer and baseball, Naismith decided to make his new game safe by using a soft soccer ball and requiring players to pass it instead of running with it to minimize physical contact. While considering how to reduce contact around the goal, he suddenly remembered the “duck on the rock” game he’d played as a child. This was his eureka moment: why not place the goals out of reach above the players’ heads? And so Naismith hung a peach basket at both ends of the gym and invited his students to play his new game, which he called “basket ball.” Later shortened to one word, basketball is now one of the most popular sports in the world.
思考了美式足球、足球和棒球等受歡迎的運動，奈史密斯決定讓他的新遊戲安全無虞：採用質地軟的足球，並要求選手傳球、不可帶球跑，以將肢體接觸減到最少。在思考如何減少球門附近的肢體接觸時，他忽然想起小時候玩過的「擊落石頭」遊戲，這就是他靈機一動的時刻：何不把球門設在選手搆不著的頭上呢？於是奈史密斯在體育館兩端掛上裝桃子的籃子，然後邀請學生玩他取名為「籃球」（basket ball）的新遊戲。後來縮短為一個字之後，籃球現在是世界最受歡迎的運動之一。
單字字彙
1) typhoid (n.) 傷寒
2) chore (n.) 家事，例行工作
3) involve (v.) 需要，包含
4) combine (v.) 結合，聯合
5) position (n.) 職位，工作
6) minimize (v.) 減至最小
7) out of reach (phr.) 拿不到，無法取得
本文來源提供：EZ TALK編輯部
圖片來源：pixabay
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