Many years ago in a village, Harlem, Holland, there lived a young boy. His name was Hans and he was eight years old. One1day, Hans went across the reservoir(水库) to visit an old blind man. He gave the man some biscuits and stayed there for a while. Then, Hans decided to2his home.
"The water in the reservoir usually gets3in autumn," said the old man." Be4, Hans." On his way home, Hans sang a song, watched the rabbits run around and picked some flowers for his mother.5, the sky got dark and heavy rain began to fall. Hans felt afraid and started to, 6Just then, he heard the sound of water running away. He looked around carefully, and then7a very small hole in the dam(水坝).
Hans felt scared8he knew what could happen. The9could get bigger and bigger. Then the dam could break and the whole Harlem would be covered by water. Hans knew what to do. He put his finger into the hole,10no more water could come through it. "Please, someone, help me!" Hans11. But there was no one to help him. After some time, he began to feel very cold and tired, but he could not12the dam. All night long, Hans waited and waited...
The next morning, a farmer walked by and heard Hans' cries. "I am trying to stop the13,"the boy said. "Can you help me?" The farmer called some other people and they quickly14the hole. Then, they took Hans home. Everyone was very proud of that15boy.
Volleyball is a team sport played with a ball and a net. There are teams on each side of the net. Each team tries to score points by grounding the ball on the other team's court(球场).
There are two main kinds of competitive(竞技性的)volleyball played in the world right now. They are sports. Team volleyball is played indoors on a hard court with 6 people per team. Beach volleyball is played outdoors on the sand with 2 players per team.
Volleyball can be a lot of fun to play. To play with friends you can play with any number of people and anyone can join in. To be a competitive player takes lots of practice. Good height and jumping ability helps a lot.
Volleyball was invented by William Morgan in 1895. He worked for the YMCA(基督教青年会)and was trying to think up a game that would be fun, like basketball. Of course the rules have changed some since then, but it quickly became a popular sport at the YMCA. The name volleyball came about when a man named Alfred Halstead noticed how the game had a volleying nature.
Volleyball was first played as an Olympic sport in the 1964 Olympics. Japan won the first gold medal in women's volleyball and the USSR(苏联)won the first gold in men's volleyball.
