奇速英语

Ancient China developed over 200 special sports. Many of ___1___ (they) have a long history, and ___2___ (believe) to share similarities with modern sports. One sport that dates back to the Warring States period ___3___ (be) cuju. It was originally developed for ancient military training. By the Han Dynasty, it had become widely welcomed and highly skilled. Even emperors that time were cuju ___4___ (fan), who not only liked watching cuju games, but also tried their footwork on the playground.

  In cuju games, two teams of six players competed ___5___ (score) goals by kicking a ball into the net—does that sound familiar? ___6___ 2004, FIFA recognized cuju as the earliest form of soccer, which made Chinese people ___7___ (pride).

  During the Song Dynasty, the competitive goal-scoring style turned into a performance that focused on skills. And at that time, even women and children ___8___ (enjoy) playing cuju, which we can see from some paintings, reflecting the ___9___ (popular) of cuju as a form of amusement in China’s history.

  Like sports around ___10___ world, traditional Chinese sports such as martial arts, dragon boat racing and cuju, developed from practical needs in daily life, production or military training, while also shaping different cultural qualities.