【正文】 his people were very proud of him. Thai boxing became a popular sport.(237 words)7 Sumo WrestlingSumo wrestling is a national sport in Japan. Every year there are six tournaments, and millions of Japanese watch them on television. A tournament is a series of matches.Sumo is almost as old as the nation of Japan itself. Stories say that there was sumo wrestling over 2,000 years ago. There are written records of national sumo tournaments in the 8th century.In many sports, athletes are thin and can move very quickly. However, sumo wrestlers weigh from 100 to 160 kilos (kilograms). One famous wrestler weighed 195kilos. Sumo wrestlers do not move quickly, and sumo wrestling is a very slow sport.Sumo wrestlers start training when they are boys. They exercise to make their bodies strong. They also eat a lot.They wrestle in a round ring with a sand floor. A wrestler loses the match if he leaves the ring. He is also the loser if any part of his body except his feet touches the floor. Each wrestler tries to push the other down on the floor or out of the ring.Sometimes one wrestler just steps aside when the other wrestler rushes toward him.Then, the wrestler who is rushing falls down or moves out of the ring.Sumo is not very popular in other countries, but the Japanese think that it is a very exciting sport.(223 words)8 Tarahumara Foot RacesThe Tarahumara live in the mountains in the state of Chihuahua in northern Mexico. This is an area of high mountains and deep tropical valleys. It sometimes snows in the mountains in winter. There are not many roads.The Tarahumara walk wherever they need to go. They carry heavy baskets on their backs. Perhaps this is why the Tarahumara can run many kilometers without getting tired. They are excellent runners, and they like to organize races.When the men race, they kick a wooden ball ahead of them while they run. Before they start racing, they plan where and how long they will run. They might run just a few minutes, or they might run for several hours. Sometimes they run in teams, and sometimes each person runs as an individual.The women39。s called the puffer fish.This kind of fish, called fugu in Japanese, lives in the Pacific Ocean. Some people die every year from eating fugu. In fact, the Emperor of Japan is not allowed to touch it. Why? Well, the insides of the puffer fish are very poisonous. They contain a poison 275 times more powerful than the deadly poison cyanide.Usually nothing bad happens when fugu is on a restaurant39。s why I can39。s need for independence. For 21 days, he went without food. Another famous faster was Cesar Chavez. In the 1960s, he fasted for three weeks. Why? His goal was to bring attention to the terrible working conditions of farm workers in the United States.Fasting is also a spiritual practice in many religions. Every year during the month of Ramadan, which is a religious holiday, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. Many Hindus fast on special occasions, as do some Christians and Buddhists.Of course, not everyone fasts for political or religious reasons. Some people occasionally fast just because it makes them feel better. The American writer Mark Twain thought fasting was the best medicine for mon illnesses. Whenever he had a cold or a fever, he stopped eating pletely. He said that this always made his cold or fever go away. Another American writer, Upton Sinclair, discovered fasting after years of overeating, indigestion, and headaches. His first fast lasted for 12 days. During this time, his headaches and stomachaches went away. Sinclair said that fasting also made him more alert and energetic.Choosing to go without food can be very dangerous. However, that doesn39。t enough grain for future crops. Their leader, Captain White, decided to sail back to England to get supplies. However, there was a war in Europe, and three years passed before he returned to North America.When Captain White came back to Roanoke in 1590, he was eager to see the settlers. He looked out from his ship, but no one was there to meet him. There were no signs of life. The settlement was deserted.No one knows why the Roanoke settlers disappeared. Many people thought that hostile Native Americans killed them, but there were no signs of a fight. Some thought that the settlers died from hunger or disease, but they couldn39。t something from outer space that destroyed the area. Instead, some scientists now think gas from the center of the earth caused the explosion.Scientists continue to travel to the Tunguska plateau looking for clues to the cause of the explosion. Every few years newspapers report that scientists finally have a solution to the Tunguska。t well prepared. They didn39。t produce enough fish anyway. Instead of putting fish farms in lakes or near the coast, they say that the fish farms should be moved far out into the ocean. Several countries are already experimenting with deepocean farms. In the future, fish farms might be large cages that move across the ocean.Like most things, there is both a good and a bad side to fish farming. Fish farming may help to feed millions of people. At the same time, however, fish farming may damage the environment.(307 words)15 TwentyOne Days Without Food Why would someone decide to stop eating? We know that the body needs food in order to function well. However, many people fast at some time during their lives. Why is this?Some people fast for political reasons. In the early 20th century, women in England and the United States weren39。m afraid to try new foods because they might contain beef. I39。s family did everything they could to help her walk again.Wilma and her mother frequently traveled 100 miles to get treatments for her leg. Her brothers and sisters took turns giving her leg a daily massage. Four times a day, they helped her do special exercises for her leg. Amazingly, by the time Rudolph was 9 years old, she was able to walk again. Before long, she started pla