Passage Two
Let’s kick off     For many of us, particularly men, sport is a major part of our lives. We play it as a child, loving the physicality of it, the competition and the sheer fun. Then when we stop playing it, we start watching it. Millions of people watching the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games are fascinated by the sight of men and women operating at the very limits of their potential, struggling to beat a record or defeat their opponents. Man’s myths are full of superheroes, and it’s easy to feel that world-class athletes at the peak of their powers have something of the superhero about them.     It’s no wonder then that the language of sport permeates our everyday conversation .It’s most often used in the form of sporting metaphors—f or example , we might say when completing an essay, ‘I’m almost at the finishing line’, or ‘It was a marathon’. It’s often been noted that sporting metaphors are particularly popular in political and business circles because, like sports, these areas involve not only high competitiveness but also teamwork and playing by the rules.     An amusing story that illustrates this concerns a Chinese computer company which works with managers from top American computer companies. At meetings and on telephone conference calls, Chinese and American managers had many difficulties communicating, with sporting terms causing the most confusion of all. The Americans would start a meeting by saying, ’Let’s kick off’, the kick-off being the start of the match. Once the discussion had started, an American might make a point and then say to the Chinese team, ’The ball’s in your court’, or having made a point, he might turn to a colleague and say, ’Can I pass the baton to you?’.The misunderstanding became so bad that eventually managers agreed to ban sporting metaphors from conference calls.
36、（2分） Why do people enjoy watching the Olympic Games?
A、Because the athletes often beat a record.
B、Because it’s fun watching two people being very competitive.
C、Because these are top athletes doing the best they are capable of.
D、Because the athletes are very unusual.