Americansare 36 aboutaninternationalsportingeventnowtakingplaceintheUnitedStates.Itisthebiggestwomen'ssoccer 37 intheworldtheWorldCup.ThegameAmericanscallsoccerisknownaroundtheworldas 38 .AndmoreandmoreAmericansarelearningto 39 it.Onlyinthelast35yearslargenumbersofyoungAmericanshavebecome 40 insoccer.Baseballandbasketballarestillpopularprofessionalsports 41 Americanboysandgirlslovetoplaysoccer.
TheUnitedStatesSoccerFederationisthemajorsoccer 42 inthecountry.ItsaysmorethaneighteenmillionpeopleplaysoccerintheUnitedStates.Thismeansthat 43 Americansplaysoccerthananyothersport.
44 morepeopleintheUnitedStatesarewatchingsoccertoo.Theyareattendingthe3rdWomen'sWorldCupgamesthatare 45 inseveralAmericancities.460000 46 havebeensoldforthethree-weekcontestthatwillendJulytenth.
Women'ssoccerteamsfrom16nationsare 47 .Americansareclosely 48 theprogressoftheUnitedStates'Women'sWorldCupteam.Andtheteamisalreadysetting 49 .OnJune19theAmericanteam 50 Denmarkintheopeninggame.Almost79000peoplewatchedthegameatGiantStadiumnearNewYorkCity.Thatisaworldrecord.
Oneofthemostpopularplayers 51 theAmericanteamis27-year-oldMiaHamm.Shebecamewellknownin1996whentheUnitedStateswomenwonthesoccer 52 medalattheOlympicGamesdefeatingotherteams.ExpertssayMiaHammcanplaysoccerbetterthan 53 womanintheworld.Shehasscoredmoregoalsthananymanorwomanevertoplayinternationalsoccer.MiaHammisa 54 tomanyyoungAmericangirls.Television 55 saythatatpresentthousandmillionpeoplearoundtheworldarewatchingthegameontelevision.
36.A.carelessB.worriedC.excitedD.anxious
37.A.happinessB.eventC.teamD.incident
38.A.baseballB.footballC.volleyballD.basketball
39.A.hateB.loveC.giveupD.played
40.A.interestedB.disappointedC.satisfiedD.surprised
41.A.andB.althoughC.soD.but
42.A.playerB.eventC.gameD.organization
43.A.moreB.lessC.manyD.few