Passage One

Some people believe that international sports creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play s together they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: that international contests encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years tile Olympic s have done little to support the view that sports encourage international brotherhood. Not only was there the tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the s were also mined by lesser incidents caused principally by minor national contests. One country received its second-place medals with visible anger after the volleyball final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the match, the loser objecting to the final decisions. They were convinced that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponent’s victory was unfair. Their manager was in a rage when he said, "This wasn’t volleyball and the International Volleyball Federation is finished." The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension(禁赛) of the team for at least three years. The American basketball team announced that they would not yield first place to Russia after a disputable end to their contest. The had ended in disorder. It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player then threw the ball into the basket. It was the first time the U.S.A. had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. An appeal jury debated the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals. Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the . The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympic there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism.

What can we conclude from the passage