TEXT B Some people believe that
international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries
play games together they will learn to live together. Others say that the
opposite is true: the international contests encourage false national pride and
lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both
arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the
view that sport encourages international brotherhood. Not only was there the
tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined
by lesser incidents caused principally by minor national contests.
One country received its second-place medals with visible indignation
after the hockey. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match,
the losers objecting to the final decisions. They were convinced that one of
their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory
was unfair. Their manager was in a rage when he said, "This wasn’t hockey.
Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished." The president of
the Federation said later that such behavior could result in suspension of the
team for at least three years. The American basketball team
announced that they wouldn’t yield the first place to Russia, after a disputable
end to their contest. The game had ended in disturbance. It was thought at first
that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that
there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player then threw the ball
from one end of the court to the other, and another player popped it into the
basket. It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match.
An appeal jury debated the matter for four and a half hours before announcing
that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the
silver medals. Incidents of this kind will continue as long as
sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The
suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national
teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the
Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism. What conclusion can be drawn from the passage
A．The organization of the Olympic Games must be improved. B．Athletes should compete as individuals in the Olympic Games. C．Sport should be played competitively rather than for the love of the game. D．International contests are liable for misunderstanding between nations.