阅读理解。

　　BASEBALL．It’s just a word, but for millions of Americans it brings much more than a word．

　　Hot dogs．Cold beers．Sunny afternoons．Baseball is the game of fathers and sons．Fathers and sons catch with each other on lawns(草坪)in the US．A father’s favorite team becomes his son’s．Grandfathers talk to their grandsons about games played long ago．

　　Many American kids collect baseball cards．The cards have pictures of their favorite players on them．In school, friends trade(交换)baseball cards just like they trade their lunches．

　　Players are known as “the boys of summer” because people often play the sport mostly in warm months．You don’t need to be of a certain size or shape to play baseball．You don’t have to be tall like a basketball player or strong like an American footballer．You just need to want to have fun．

　　Baseball is not as fast-paced(快节奏的)a game as basketball．But when you go to see a game, there’s time to relax, talk and get to know other people．

　　Baseball may not be the most popular sport in the US, but it is the most traditional．It’s not just a game any more, but an important part of American culture, like apple pie and grandma’s house．

完形填空：

British people love to have a picnic whenever the weather is good enough．It is a great 　　1　　 to spend a sunny afternoon．Even in the center of London, on sunny day, the 　　2　　 are full of office workers eating their lunch outside on grass．But if people were 　　3　　 picnic on the beach 　　4　　 at the park, they would probably 　　5　　 a cool bag with different homemade sandwiches, snacks, cake, fruit and soft 　　6　　．They might have a picnic rug(毯子)to 　　7　　 and paper plate and cups．University students 　　8　　 having picnics, and usually take along some kind of sports equipment to 　　9　　 off some energy after lunch．British student picnics usually 　　10　　 drinking beer or wine too! For small children, the idea of a teddy bear’s picnic is popular．Some people love to have a very 　　11　　 picnic．A picnic could be a romantic occasion(浪漫的场合)， but only if it is in a quiet place, not in a 　　12　　 park with lots of children playing 　　13　　．There might be champagne or cold wine to drink, 　　14　　 a homemade or bought from a local food shop．Of course, you can never 　　15　　 the British summer weather, so taking an umbrella along might be a good idea．