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