第三部分:阅读理解(共6小题;每小题2分,满分12分) 请阅读下列短文,从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑. The NBA has 30 teams spread across the United States and Canada. Its super stars — such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry and James Harden — are international celebrities. The NBA, however, was not always such a big, successful league. In its first season (1946-1947), the NBA, known as the Basketball Association of America, or BAA, had 11 teams including such unfamiliar names as the Providence Steam rollers and Pittsburgh Ironmen. Slowly, the league grew with the help of certain star players. Some of the players who helped grow the NBA you may know, but others you may not. George Mikan: Not fast or a great leaper, Mikan was an unlikely super star. He even wore glasses! But Mikan was big — 6-foot-10, 245 pounds — at a time when NBA players were not as big as they are today. He was a strong scorer and rebounder who led the Minneapolis Lakers (later the Los Angeles Lakers) to five NBA championships in six years (1949 to 1954). Mikan was the league’s first big star and put the NBA on the map. Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell: Chamberlain and Russell were the best big men in the NBA during the late 1950s and 1960s. The competition between these athletic giants got lots of fans interested in the professional game. Chamberlain was a physical phenomenon. At 7-foot-1 and 275 pounds, he was almost unstoppable. Chamberlain scored a record 100 points during a game in 1962 and averaged more than 50 points a game during the 1961-1962 season. While Chamberlain collected individual honors, Russell collected championship rings. Led by Russell’s rebounding and shot-blocking skills, the Boston Celtics won an unbelievable 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons (1957 to 1969). Chamberlain’s teams managed to win only two championships. Larry Bird and Earvin Johnson : They dominated the decade of the 1980s with Bird’s Celtics winning three NBA championships and Johnson’s Lakers winning five. Their teams met in three memorable NBA Finals that were shown on prime-time TV. Michael Jordan: Even the youngest basketball fans know this name. With his high-flying dunks, Jordan led his Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships and became a worldwide salesman for such products as Gatorade, McDonald’s and, of course, Nike’s Air Jordan basketball shoes. Jordan, and others, helped make the NBA what it is today — a very big deal. ______ was the first athlete to make NBA known worldwide.