To Stack or Not to Stack|风行全球的竞技叠杯

To Stack or Not to Stack

by William Ryan

Sport stacking has been around since the 1980s, but it has been gaining in popularity recently.

　　Have you heard of sport stacking? Since one of the meanings of stack is to arrange something unfairly, this is not an illegal gambling activity even though it may sound like it. Instead, sport stacking is one of the hottest new game trends sweeping the planet. _(1)_ The goal is to stack plastic cups in a certain sequence as fast as possible. _(2)_

　　Sport stacking has been around Southern California since the early 1980s. After catching on there, it was eventually featured on national television. That's how it caught the imagination of a high school physical education teacher named Bob Fox. _(3)_ The idea was so well received that Fox quickly turned the activity into a real sport, complete with rules, standardized equipment, and its own international governing body. There are organized teams on almost every continent, and the sport is growing rapidly.

　　Like every sport, stacking offers its players real benefits. _(4)_ A study at the University of Wisconsin showed a 30 percent increase in all of these measurements in stackers. Stacking is useful training for other activities that require the good use of both hands. _(5)_ Kids don't need convincing about the benefits of sport stacking. They love it, and it's also fun for the whole family.

(A) Hand-eye coordination, quickness, and ambidexterity, which is defined as performing equally well with both sides of the body, have all been documented as advantages of participating in the sport.

(B) He started a small, home-based business to promote sport stacking as a resource for physical education teachers.

(C) Also called cup stacking and speed stacking, sport stacking is a real sport played by teams and individuals.

(D) One such example is playing a musical instrument.

(E) Thousands of stackers can be seen on YouTube showing off their skills and fastest times.

 

风行全球的竞技叠杯

竞技叠杯从 1980 年代就已出现，但近来却大受欢迎。

　　你听过竞技叠杯（sport stacking）吗？虽然它听起来可能有点像一种非法的赌博活动，这是因为 stack 这个字的其中一个意思就是用不公平的方式去安排某件事，但其实并非如此。相反的，竞技叠杯是一种席卷全球的火红新运动。这项运动也被称为叠杯运动或是快速叠杯，它是一种由团队和个人所从事的真正运动。这项运动的目的是要用最快的速度将塑胶杯以某种特定的顺序叠起来。人们在 YouTube 上可以看到数千名竞技叠杯选手展示他们的技巧和最快的叠杯速度。

　　竞技叠杯从 1980 年代早期就已出现在加州南部。在当地大为流行之后，它最后登上了全国性的电视节目。这也使得一位名叫鲍伯．佛克斯的中学体育老师大感兴趣。佛克斯创立了一家小型的家庭式公司来推广竞技叠杯，并把这项运动当作体育老师的资源。这个点子被广泛地接受，于是佛克斯很快地便把这项活动转变为真正的运动，比赛时有完整的规则及标准的配备，而且也拥有专属的国际性管理组织。几乎各洲都有组织完善的队伍，而且这项运动正快速发展。

　　就和所有的运动一样，叠杯运动提供给选手实质的帮助。手眼协调、速度及活用双手的本领，也就是使身体两边都能表现得一样好，这些都被记录为参加这项运动的优点。一项由威斯康辛大学所做的研究显示，从事叠杯的人在以上这些测量项目的表现都提升了百分之三十。叠杯运动对其他许多需要活用双手的运动而言是一种很有用的训练。其中一个这样的例子就是弹奏乐器。人们不需要去说服孩子们有关竞技叠杯有诸多益处。他们很热爱这项运动，而且它对全家人而言也相当有趣。

答案： 1. C 2. E 3. B 4. A 5. D