Problema 2 d'Anglès de la Selectivitat 2023

Setembre 2023, Sèrie 2 · Proves d'accés a la universitat (PAU) de Catalunya.

Enunciat

Part 2: Reading comprehension SOCCER IS THE WORLD’S MOST POPULAR SPORT. BUT WHO INVENTED IT? Soccer is by far the world’s most popular sport, and for good reason—beloved by at least 265 million people worldwide, it’s easy to play in a random yard or field, and viewers instantly relate to the players racing across stadiums in different parts of the world. But if you’re looking for the earliest ancestor of all that running, kicking, and cooperating, be ready to turn back your watch. Here’s what you need to know about soccer’s ancient origins and why it’s the world’s favorite sport today. The Chinese were the first to kick balls into nets for sport in the third century B.C., and the game known globally as football was formalized in England in the 19" century. But the predecessor of most modern ball games can be found in the Americas. “The idea of the team sport was invented in Mesoamerica,” says Mary Miller, a professor of the history of art at Yale University who has studied extensive evidence of the sport. In Mesoamerica, the vast historical region spanning from Mexico to Costa Rica, civilizations flourished well before Columbus “discovered” them, and many of them played a sport that involved a heavy ball made from a substance derived from tree resin. It is unclear exactly where the game was invented, but it was popular across Mesoamerican cultures like the Teotihuacanos, Aztecs, and Maya beginning about 3,000 years ago. Its name varied—ullamaliztli in Aztec, pok-ta-pok or pitz in Maya. So did its rules, which included moves such as keeping the ball in play by bumping it with body parts or using racquets or bats. Many of these games were played with rubber balls, which still exist in the archaeological record. Other evidence of game play ranges from ceramic vessels to more than 1,300 large stone courts that can be found across the region. Aztec players bounced the ball back and forth between teams using only their hips and buttocks (feet or hands were off limits). They tried to hit the back wall of their opponents’ courts with just one bounce, often sustaining life-threatening injuries when they were hit with the hard, heavy ball. If a player managed to get it into a high ring on the opposing team’s side, it was an automatic win—and a major honor for the winner. Though it was played as an everyday pickup sport, much like soccer or basketball, this ball game also held a sacred place in religion and warfare for Mesoamerican cultures. Aztec kings reportedly played it as a substitute for war, gaining ruling rights or diffusing diplomatic dramas with a game of ball. In Maya and Veracruz cultures, the stakes were even higher: the losers of some ritual games were sacrificed. Though other cultures like Native Americans and Indigenous Australians played similar games, the modern sport that some people know as soccer—and many others know as football—was created in British schools. Although they had played variations of the game informally for centuries,…

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