男孩、女孩和电子游戏：
Video games are the most popular toys in the United States. 电子游戏在美国是最流行的玩具。 The games are only moderately popular with girls. 女孩子们对电脑的兴趣较为一般。 In fact, it seems as if every America boy between the ages of 8 and 15 likes to play video games.
事实上，几乎每个8到15岁男孩子都爱玩电子游戏。 They discuss video games without end. 他们没完没了地谈论电子游戏。 Children who play video games well must be quick with their hands and sharp-sighted. 能熟练玩电子游戏的孩子必须眼疾手快。
玩游戏： Like a television, the game's picture is made of many tiny points of light. 像电视的图象一样，游戏的图像是由许多微小的光点组成。 The pictures may be in the shape of missiles, enemy spaceships or strange creatures. 这发光体形成导弹，敌方的宇宙飞船或稀奇古怪的动物。 These objects move extremely rapidly across the screen. 物体非常迅速地扫过屏幕。
By moving a stick or pushing a button on the control box, a player can direct the movements of some of the objects on the screen. 玩游戏的人移动操纵杆或者按动控制盒的电钮就可以指挥屏幕上的一些物体的行动。 The computer directs the movements of other objects. 电脑则指挥其它物体的行动。
To win, you must defeat the computer before it defeats you. 要想取胜，你必须在电脑打败你之前击败它。 Many of the most popular home video games reproduce the action in sports. 许多非常流利的家庭电子游戏是模仿体育运动中的动作。
There are electronic versions of football, boxing, and karate, for example. 例如，有电子显示的橄榄球，拳击和空手道。 Some games are automobile races. 有些游戏是汽车赛。 You must drive your car very fast, but keep it on the road. 你得把小汽车开得飞快，不又能让它偏离路线。 Some games are fights between airplanes. 一些游戏是飞机之间的空战。
安装游戏： Home video games are played on a television receiver connected to a control box. 玩家庭电子游戏需要在电视机上接一个控制盒。 The control box contains a single computer. 控制盒里装有一个普通的电脑。
Different computer programs contain the electronic information for different games. 不同的电脑程序含有不同的游戏资料。 When you put a program into the control box, a picture of the game appears on the television screen. 把一个游戏卡放入控制盒，游戏的画面就出在电视机的屏幕上显示出来。 When it does, electronic music comes from the television speaker. 当它们移动时电子音乐便从电视机的扬声器里传出来。
电子游戏的历史故事： The first video game was invented about 25 years ago. 第一个游戏大约是在25年前发明的。 An American computer expert in California, Moah Bushnell, designed the game. 它是由加里福尼亚的名叫诺亚.布什内尔的美国电脑专家设计的。 He called it "Computer Space." 他称这个游戏叫“计算机空间”。
Mr. Bushnell used a computer to create a television picture of two spaceships. 布什内尔先生用电脑创作了两个宇宙飞船的电视图像。 Players pushed a button on a control box to make the spaceships move and fire their weapons. 玩游戏的人按动控制盒的电钮，指挥宇宙飞船的行动并发射炮弹。
Mister Bushnell liked the game so much he invented another ,"Pong." 布什内尔先生很喜欢这种游戏，他又发明了另一种游戏“乓”。 It was similar to the game of table-tennis, or "Ping-Pong", as Americans call it. 它类似乒乓球比赛或者像美国人叫的“乒乓”。
游戏和社会： The political landscape was changing as quickly as a fast-moving computer game. 政坛风云变幻之迅速如同瞬息万变的电脑游戏。 The sound of video games can be heard in private homes and public game centers all across America. 在美国各地的私人住宅和公共游戏中心都能听到电子游戏机的声音。
