Football is, I suppose, the most popular game in England: one has only to go to one of the important matches to see this. Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting and cheering for one side or the other.
　　One of the most surprising things about football in England to a stranger is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most if the important teams. He has photographs of them and knows the results of a large number off matches. He will tell you, with a great air of authority, who he expects will win such and such a match, and his opinion is usually as valuable as that of men three or four times his age.
　　Most schools in England take football seriously --much more seriously than nearly all-European schools, where lessons are all-important, and games are left for private arrangements. In England, it is believed that education is not only a matter of filling a boy's mind with facts in a classroom; education also means character training. One of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially team games, where the boy has to learn to work with others for his team, instead of working selfishly for himself alone. The school therefore arranges games and matches for its pupils. Football is a good team game, it is good exercise for the body, it needs skill and a quick brain, it is popular and it is cheap. As a result, it is the school's favorite game in the winter.

足球,我想它在英格兰是最流行的竞赛运动:只要去一个重要的比赛就可以看到这一点.富人和穷人,年青人和老人,可以看到他们都在那里,为一方或另一方喊叫着和欢呼着.
对异乡人来说最惊讶的事情是，在英格兰连小孩都似乎能对足球竞赛的重要知识说三道四。他可以告诉你大多数（如果是重要球队）球员的名字，他有他们的相片，并且知道许多赛事的结果。他会以很权威的口吻告诉你，他预测谁会赢某某比赛，他的看法通常与是他大三、四倍年龄的成人的看法一样有价值。
英格兰的大多数学校重视足球，比几乎所有欧洲国家的学校都要重视的多，在那些地方课程最重要的，而竞赛之类的则任由个人安排。在英格兰，人们认为教育不仅仅是在教室里给孩子灌输常识，教育还意味着品质的训练。训练品质的最佳方法之一是通过竞赛手段，尤其是团队竞赛，在那里孩子得为团队学会和其他人一起工作，而不是为单独的自己自私地工作。因此学校为学生安排游戏和比赛。足球是一个好的团队游戏，它对身体是良好的锻炼，它需要技巧和敏捷的头脑，它受欢迎并方便。所以，在冬天它成了学校喜欢的竞赛游戏。