Improve Your English: English in Everyday Life

h: Englis
h in Ev
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pitcher:
A position in baseball; the player who throws 
the ball to the batter.
RFK (Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Stadium):
A 
sports stadium in Washington, D.C., named for the for-
mer attorney general of the United States.
rush:
A sense or feeling of excitement.
scout:
In this context, an employee for a professional 
sports team whose job is to observe and assess the talent 
of players who might be recruited to play for the team.
stare down:
To look at someone very intently for the 
purpose of trying to intimidate him or her.
stats:
Short for 
statistics
. Used in sports to refer to 
numerical data collected about players, teams, games, 
and things related to a particular sport.
tryouts:
Athletic auditions or recruitment process in 
which prospective players are tested and display their 
skills in hopes of being selected to become members of 
a team.
winds up (wind up):
In baseball, the motion that a pitcher 
goes through in preparation to make a pitch to a batter.

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Sp
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147
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. List the sports that these speakers watch and 
play and explain why they like them.
2. Compare the role of sports in the United States 
with their role in other countries.
3. Which sports do you like to play or watch and 
why?
4. Explain the rules of a sport that you play or 
watch.
5. Which sport would you like to try and why?
6. Identify three words or phrases in this chapter 
that are new to you, and write a sentence with 
each one.

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