Every spring, there are sports meetings at many middle schools. When students on the playground crowd into a circle and shout loudly, “One, two, one, two.” Do you know what game it is? It is tug of war (拔河).
Tug of war is a team sport between two teams at each end of a rope. It first came into being in China 2, 400 years ago. It is very popular in China and many other countries. But in other countries, their tug-of-war match is not the same as ours. They have eight men for each team, while we may have the match between two sides with equal number of men or women players. Of course, they are usually tall, strong and heavy.
For a tug-of-war match, we need a long thick rope. Each team stands at one end of the rope, holding it. There is a white line in the middle of the field. Then they try to pull the center of the rope to each of their own sides. The winning team is the one that pulls the other over the line.
Tug of war was once an Olympic sporting event. It lasted until 1920. Though it isn’t an Olympic sport now, people in many countries like playing it very much.
【小题1】Tug of war first came into being in China 2, 500 years ago.【小题2】In other countries, a tug-of-war team has eight men players.
【小题3】The team that pulls the other over the line is the losing team.
【小题4】Now tug of war is still an Olympic sport and many people like playing it.
【小题5】The passage mainly talks about a popular team sport—tug of war.
