Baseball is one of the favorite sports in the U. S. A. Children play baseball in sports fields or parks.

At summer picnic, there is often an informal（非正式） baseball game. Boys and girls, young and old take turns to bat. There are nine players on each team.

The baseball season goes from April to September. During this time, baseball matches are showed on TV and members of the important baseball teams become America’s heroes (英雄). At the end of the season, the two top（顶尖） teams play against each other. Many baseball fans go together to watch the game. Millions of(数百万的) others listen to the radio or watch the television. People seem（好像）to talk only about the game. Even long after it is over, they still（仍然） talk about the result（结果） and the players.

American football is perhaps the most popular sport in the U. S. A. The football season begins when the baseball season ends. More people are interested in football than baseball. When there is an important game, thousands of people sit beside radios or in front of television sets to get the result.

The day of the Ridge City Skate Race (滑冰比赛) was finally here. All the animals got ready for the race all year and were excited.

Molly Mouse, the smallest skater, almost could not see the starting line (起跑线). Everyone thought she was too small to win. Happy Lion, the biggest skater, was ready to race, too. Pinky Pig and Lazy Cat couldn’t wait because both of them almost won last year.

The skaters lined up, the flag (旗帜) came down, the skaters took off.

Thump! Faster and faster Happy Lion skated down the street, and he was winning! Suddenly, his skate hit the curb (路牙) and fell to the ground. The other skaters raced past him.

Lazy Cat came first now while Pinky Pig unluckily landed on sand (沙地), wasn’t hurt but dizzy (晕的). He tried hard to catch up but failed. Molly Mouse was the last skater to come around the corner.

“Should I stop?” She said to herself. “If I stop, I’ll never catch up.” Finally she decided to help Pinky Pig go on skating.

Around the next corner was a path which went up a high hill. “Skating uphill is hard,” Lazy Cat said. “The other skaters might catch up with me.” She thought for a while and turned the sign. The arrow (箭头) now pointed (指向) right. Lazy Cat laughed as she she skated up the path to the left. All the other skaters turned right and started skating down the hill.

“Come back,” Molly Mouse shouted. “You went the wrong way!”

Finally the skaters stopped. They turned and started back up the hill...