A legendary star on the football court 綠茵場上的傳奇巨星

劉同功

主題語境：體育名人 篇幅：363詞 建議用時：6分鐘

1

Pelé was born on October 23， 1940 in Brazil.He grew up in extreme poverty in the city ofBauru located in S?o Paulo. His father， a footballplayer， taught Pelé how to play the sport.Due to their poor conditions， he could notafford a proper football. Hence， he played witha sock stuffed with newspaper or a grapefruit.

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In 1956， Pelé joined a professional club Santos Futebol Clube （Santos FC）. His coachtold the directors at Santos that he would be“the greatest football player in the world.”In 1957， Pelé became the top scorer of the league at just 16 years old. Ten months aftersigning professionally， the Brazil national team called Pelé. In 1961， the government ofBrazil declared Pelé an“official national treasure”to prevent him from being transferredout of the country.

3

In 1957， Pelé played his first international game against Argentina. In the game， hescored his first goal for Brazil at 16 years old and remained the youngest goalscorer forhis country. On June 29， 1958， Pelé became the youngest player to play in a WorldCup final match at 17 years and 249 days. Brazil won the World Cup and Pelé's first?goal was selected as one of the best goals in the history of the World Cup.

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When the 1962 World Cup started， Pelé was considered to be the best player in theworld. Yet again， Brazil won the World Cup in 1962. Unfortunately， they lost in the1968 World Cup. After this game， Pelé vowed that he would never again play in theWorld Cup but changed his decision in 1970. Brazil played against Italy in the finalsand won the game. After the match， Italian defender Tarcisio Burgnich said，“I told myselfbefore the game hes made of skin and bones just like everyone else—but I waswrong.”Pelé played his last international match on July 18， 1971.

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In 1958， he debuted playing in the FIFA World Cup champion team， followed by 1962and 1970， and in 1966 he participated in FIFA World Cup. Pelé scored 1，283 goals inhis career and is the only man to lift three World Cup titles.

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Pelé died on December 29， 2022 in S?o Paulo， Brazil. He was 82 years old then.

Reading

Check

Detail

1. How did Pelés father influence Pelé in his football career？

A. He found him experienced coaches.

B. He bought him expensive footballs.

C. He sent him to professional clubs.

D. He acted as a coach for him.

Detail

2. When was Pelés potential fully recognized by the Brazilian government？

A. In 1956.

B. In 1957.

C. In 1958.

D. In 1961.

Inference

3. What's Tarcisio Burgnichs attitude to Pelé before the 1970 game？

A. He thought little of him.

B. He was curious about him.

C. He had a deep respect for him.

D. He was afraid to compete against him.

Detail

4. What's Pelés biggest achievement as a football player？

A. Winning three World Cup titles.

B. Scoring a goal for Brazil at the age of 16.

C. Becoming the top scorer of Santos FC.

D. Scoring the best goal in the 1958 World Cup.

Language Study

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence in the text

In 1958， he debuted playing in the FIFA World Cup champion team， followed by 1962and 1970， and in 1966 he participated in FIFA World Cup. 1958年，他首次入選世界杯冠軍球隊，并參與了1962年和1970年的世界杯冠軍球隊賽事。1966年，他參加了世界杯。

【點石成金】本句是并列句。句中的followed by 1962 and 1970為過去分詞作定語，修飾名詞短語。

Ⅱ. Text?centered chunks

in extreme poverty 在極度貧困中

be stuffed with 填充有……

be selected as 被選為

participate in 參加