阅读理解
In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt called coaches and athletic advisers from Harvard University, Yale University and Princeton University to the White House to discuss how to improve the game of football.
The changes caused by Roosevelt were the first steps in a long line of reforms(改革) to make American football safer.
Football at the time was very dangerous and violent. In 1905 alone, at least 18 people died and more than 150 were injured playing football. According to The Washington Post, at least 45 football players died from 1900 to October 1905.
Roosevelt liked football and thought being violent wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. But his son was injured while playing as a freshman at Harvard, bleeding badly from a cut over his eye, and the nation was shocked at the number of young men who died or were seriously injured playing the game. People were especially shaken by the November 1905 death of Union College player Harold Moore, who died after being kicked in the head.
A movement rose up to ban the sport, which was led by the president of Harvard and a number of other well－known people.They thought football had no place in civilized(文明的) society and wanted to throw it away. According to The New York Times, Harvard President Charles Eliot said that football was crueler than fighting. Other schools didn’t even allow students to play football. Roosevelt wanted to reform the game but complained in a letter that Eliot wanted to kill it.
Roosevelt again called Harvard, Yale and other football coaches and officials to the White House in December 1905, with a view to taking away its dangerous features. A committee was formed after the 1905 season to look at changing the rules.
The rules were changed for the 1906 season, but there were still some doubts. The head coach at Swarthmore College wrote a series of articles called “How to Play Football”. And it took a few years for the rules to shake out. The most important safety feature we now have—helmets(头盔)—was not required until much later.
【解题导语】 文章介绍了罗斯福总统下令改变美式足球比赛规则，才使得此项运动没有灭亡。
1．What was Roosevelt’s attitude towards football?
A．He hated it because of his son’s injury.
B．He liked it though it was violent.
C．He thought it a bad sport.
D．He wanted to kill it.
B 解析：细节理解题。根据第四段中“Roosevelt liked football and thought being violent wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.”可知B项正确。
2．Roosevelt called the coaches to the White House in December 1905 because of ________．
A．the coaches’ wishes
B．Harold Moore’s death
C．the public’s angry feelings
D．the anti－football movement
D 解析：细节理解题。根据第五段中“A movement rose up to ban the sport”和“Roosevelt wanted to reform the game but...Eliot wanted to kill it.”可知，正是由于反对足球运动的兴起，才使得罗斯福把教练们召集到白宫希望修改美式足球规则。
3．What do we know about the new rules made in 1905?
A．They were accepted slowly.
B．They required players to wear helmets.
C．Players felt football was much easier to play.
D．Charles Eliot played an important role in making them.
A 解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段中“there were still some doubts”及“it took a few years for the rules to shake out”可知，起初新规则受到人们的怀疑，直到几年之后这些新规则才被慢慢接受。
4．What would be the best title for the text?
A．Why is Football so Popular?
B．The Development of Football
C．Mind Your Safety, Football Players!
D．How Roosevelt Helped Save Football
D 解析：标题归纳题。本文主要介绍了罗斯福总统下令改变美式足球比赛规则，才使得此项运动没有灭亡。故D项正确。
