American football is a dangerous game. It is a full-contact▼ sport, so it is common for players to twist joints▼, break bones, bleed internally, and hit their heads. Doctors have begun to think that the sport is just too dangerous, especially in regard to head injuries.
In a recent study, 165 people who played football at the high school, college or professional level donated their brains to science after they died. Of these people, nearly 80 percent showed signs of long-term brain damage. Among former professional football players, 96 percent showed signs of brain damage. Many donors had shown symptoms of brain damage before they died, however, so the results of the study could be higher than the actual number of people who might have gotten brain damage from playing football. Still, many football players develop problems with memory loss, depression, and dementia▼ when they get older. Suicide is a major problem among retired football players as well.
Despite the overwhelming evidence that football is causing serious brain injuries, it is still a controversial issue. Football is a significant part of American culture, and the sport is important to many people. It is big business: the total value of the National Football League (NFL) and all of its teams is around US$45 billion. Football scholarships▼ offer thousands of students free university tuition each year, and anyone good enough to play professionally can make millions of US dollars a year. For many people, the rewards might seem worth the risks, but for others, the long-term risks exceed the temporary rewards. Nowadays, fewer parents are enrolling their children in football in favor of less dangerous sports. Others are pushing for rule changes to prevent so many injuries. American football isn't likely to disappear, but the rules will probably change to make the game safer in the years to come.
1. Which type of football injury worries doctors the most?
(A) Twisted joints.
(B) Broken bones.
(C) Internal bleeding.
(D) Head injuries.
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2. How many professional football players showed signs of brain damage?
(A) All of them.
(B) 165 of them.
(C) 96 percent of them.
(D) 80 percent of them.
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3. Why might the study show higher rates of brain damage?
(A) Donors already had some symptoms before they died.
(B) It only studied professional players.
(C) Doctors wanted to prove the danger.
(D) All the donors played football for a long time.
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4. How are most parents responding to the dangers of football?
(A) They are finding better sports doctors.
(B) They are enrolling children in less dangerous sports.
(C) They are making their children wear more protective gear▼.
(D) They are having their children stay home.
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