Practice3<br/>Fortherestofthemonth,anepidemic(流行病)willsweepacrosstheUS.Itwillkeepkidshomefromschool.Collegestudentswillignorepilesofhomework.Employeeswillsuddenlylosetheirabilitiestoconcentrate.<br/>Thedisease,knownas“MarchMadness”,referstotheyearly65-teamUSmen’scollegebasketballtournament.ItbeginsonMarch15andlaststhroughthebeginningofApril.Teamscompeteagainsteachotherinasingleeliminationtournamentthateventuallycrownsanationalchampion.<br/>Nearly20millionAmericanswillfindthemselvesprisonersofbasketballfestivalmadness.<br/>Thefuncomespartlyfromguessingthewinnersforeverygame.Friendscompeteagainstfriends,husbandsagainstwives,andcolleaguesagainstbosses.<br/>Big-nameschoolsareusuallyfavoredtoadvanceintothetournament.Buteachyeartherearedarkhorsesfromlittle-knownuniversities.<br/>Thisaddstothemadness.Watchingateamfromaschoolwith3,000studentsbeatateamfromaschoolwith30,000,formanyAmericans,isanexcitingexperience.Lastyear,thelittle-knownGeorgeMasonUniversitywasoneofthefinalfourteams.Manypeoplehadneverevenheardoftheuniversitybeforethetournament.<br/>Collegebasketballplayersarenotpaid,sothegameismoreaboutmakinganamefortheiruniversityandthemselves.Butthatdoesn’tmeanmoneyisn’tinvolved.<br/>About$4billionwillbespentgamblingontheevent.Accordingto<em>MediaLife</em>magazine,theeventwilldrawover$500millioninadvertisingrevenuethisyear,toppingthepost-seasonrevenue,includingthatoftheNBA(全国篮球协会).

<spanstyle="display:block;text-align:center;">Practice3</span>Fortherestofthemonth,anepidemic(流行病)willsweepacrosstheUS.Itwillkeepkidshomefromschool.Collegestudentswillignorepilesofhomework.Employeeswillsuddenlylosetheirabilitiestoconcentrate.<br/>Thedisease,knownas“MarchMadness”,referstotheyearly65-teamUSmen’scollegebasketballtournament.ItbeginsonMarch15andlaststhroughthebeginningofApril.Teamscompeteagainsteachotherinasingleeliminationtournamentthateventuallycrownsanationalchampion.<br/>Nearly20millionAmericanswillfindthemselvesprisonersofbasketballfestivalmadness.<br/>Thefuncomespartlyfromguessingthewinnersforeverygame.Friendscompeteagainstfriends,husbandsagainstwives,andcolleaguesagainstbosses.<br/>Big-nameschoolsareusuallyfavoredtoadvanceintothetournament.Buteachyeartherearedarkhorsesfromlittle-knownuniversities.<br/>Thisaddstothemadness.Watchingateamfromaschoolwith3,000studentsbeatateamfromaschoolwith30,000,formanyAmericans,isanexcitingexperience.Lastyear,thelittle-knownGeorgeMasonUniversitywasoneofthefinalfourteams.Manypeoplehadneverevenheardoftheuniversitybeforethetournament.<br/>Collegebasketballplayersarenotpaid,sothegameismoreaboutmakinganamefortheiruniversityandthemselves.Butthatdoesn’tmeanmoneyisn’tinvolved.<br/>About$4billionwillbespentgamblingontheevent.Accordingto<em>MediaLife</em>magazine,theeventwilldrawover$500millioninadvertisingrevenuethisyear,toppingthepost-seasonrevenue,includingthatoftheNBA(全国篮球协会).