英文聽力短篇訓練又來啦！一周一篇練習好快活。今天來談談撞球吧！

本篇文章來自於蘋果日報雙語天下(長春藤美語)

下載聲音檔請點我

下載transcript中英對照版請點我

本周的英文短篇訓練又來啦。這次我下載了蘋果日報雙語天下(常春藤美語)的文章，
大家可以練習聽力跟口說，或是透過邊聽邊寫筆記的方式，將這些記下來的筆記
寫成一篇短文。因為有transcript可以參考，大家無論是邊說邊錄音，或寫成短文
都能參考原文。短篇英文簡單又容易消化，不失為強化口說與聽力的最佳練習方式。
想要確認練習方式的同學，請參考下面連結，有提供練習說明。
http://chloeyachun.blogspot.tw/2013/07/blog-post_24.html


Have fun practicing!

The History of Billiards

Billiards, also known as pool, has a long and colorful history dating back to the 14th century. That was when a lawn game similar to croquet moved indoors in Northern Europe. Nowadays, pool is played with cues and balls on cloth-covered tables with rubber edges, but that wasn't always the case. In the past, there wasn't a standard table size, and it wasn't until the Industrial Revolution that equipment improved to what it is today. Some of the most entertaining tournaments are trick shot competitions. In these, players use their creativity to amaze crowds and put numerous balls in the pockets at once. Whatever the game, pool has been around for a long time and will continue to entertain people for generations to come.

別稱為pool的撞球運動起源於十四世紀，有著悠久燦爛的歷史。十四世紀時，在北歐有人把一項類似槌球的草坪運動搬進室內，就成了撞球。現今打撞球會使用球桿和球，在鋪有絨布、鑲有橡膠邊條的桌面上進行，然而以前卻完全不是這麼回事。以前的撞球桌並沒有標準的尺寸，直到工業革命後，撞球設備才改良成現今的樣貌。而最具娛樂性的錦標賽就是一些花式撞球賽了。在這些比賽中，選手們運用自己的創意來驚艷觀眾，並一口氣將許多球一次打進袋中。無論比賽的形式為何，撞球這項運動存在已久，並將會在往後的歲月裡持續娛樂大眾。