Ten-Pin Bowling is a sport with a simple aim—to knock down as many targets as possible by rolling a ball down a wooden pathway. The game is made more difficult by gutters， which run along either side of this pathway (called the “lane”). If a ball falls into a gutter①， no targets will be hit， and therefore no score will be acquired.
Despite its apparent simplicity②， ten-pin bowling is one of the world’s largest participation sports. In North America especially， it has grown into an important part of the culture， with many people looking on a trip to the bowling alley③ as a social occasion as well as a chance to play their sport.
Bowling can be dated back as far as 5200 BC with notable artifacts being discovered from the ancient Egyptian era in the tomb of a child. The primitive implements included nine pieces of stone at which a stone “ball” was rolled， the ball having first to roll through an archway made of three pieces of marble. Another ancient discovery was the Polynesian game of Ula Maika， also using pins and balls of stone. The stones were to be rolled at targets 60 feet away， which happens to be the same distance used in modern ten pin bowling.
Bowling at pins probably originated in ancient Germany， not as a sport but as a religious④ ceremony. Martin Luther is credited with settling on nine as the ideal number of pins. In England， King Henry the Eighth is said to have bowled using cannon balls. The game of Kegal grew around Germany and parts of Europe with Keglars rolling balls at nine long thin skittles. Nine pin bowling spread to the UK and America where it took off in a big way.
It became so popular in America that by the mid-19th century indoor lanes were being built throughout Manhattan and the Bronx and on westward， in Syracuse， Buffalo， Cincinnati， Chicago， Milwaukee and other cities with large German populations. In 1875， delegates⑤ from nine bowling clubs in New York and Brooklyn met in Germania Hall in the Bowery and organized the National Bowling Association. This was the first attempt to bring order out of chaos. Disagreement raged between East and West， principally the alignment of New York State bowlers against everyone else to the west. On Sept. 9， 1895， the American Bowling Congress was organized in Beethoven Hall in New York City.
Nine pin bowling alleys became seedy gambling and drinking dens of somewhat ill repute⑥ and during the time of prohibition in the US， the game was banned. The following for this game however was far too big and to get around the ban， a tenth pin was added and the formation of the pins was changed from the diamond to the familiar triangle we know today.
① guttern. 天沟，檐槽
② simplicityn. 简单，简易，简明
③ alleyn. (保龄球等的)球道，保龄球场
④ religiousadj. 宗教的，宗教上的
⑤ delegatev. 委派……为代表
⑥ reputen. 名气，声望，名誉
保龄球
十瓶保龄球是一项目标简单明了的运动——将一个球顺着木质径道溜滚出去，尽可能多地击倒标靶。而在这个径道（即“球道”）两侧还有边沟，从而增加了这一运动的难度。如果球落入边沟的话，那么就击不到标靶，所以就不能得分了。
尽管十瓶保龄球看起来简单，但它却是世界上参与人数最多的运动之一。尤其在北美，它已经发展成文化中的一个重要组成部分，许多人都期待着到保龄球馆走上一遭，既当作一个社交场合，又当作一个从事其运动的机会。
随着在一个古埃及时代的孩童墓穴中发现了一些值得注意的古器物，保龄球的历史就可以追溯到公元前5200年。这些远古器具包括9块石头，它们被当作了石“球”的滚击目标，而那球之前还要滚过一个由三片大理石制成的拱道。另一项考古发现是，同样用到了石瓶和石球的玻利尼西亚运动——“Ula Maika”。这些石头会被滚向60英尺开外的标靶，而这恰恰就是在现代十瓶保龄球运动中所使用的距离。
将球滚向瓶子的活动可能起源于古代的德国，但并不是作为一项运动，而是作为一种宗教仪式。据信，是马丁·卢瑟将理想的瓶数定为了9个。在英格兰，亨利八世国王据说曾使用炮弹来玩保龄球。而名为“Kegal”的运动在德国和欧洲部分地区开展起来，从事这项运动的人会将球滚向9个细长的瓶柱。九瓶保龄球后来传到了英国和美国，在那里它得到了巨大的发展。
它在美国非常流行，因而到了19世纪中期，在曼哈顿和布朗克斯区的各处，以及西面的雪城、水牛城、辛辛那提、芝加哥、密尔沃基和其它拥有大量德裔居民的城市，都在兴建室内球道。1875年，来自纽约和布鲁克林9家保龄球俱乐部的代表汇聚到鲍沃瑞区的日耳曼礼堂，成立了“全国保龄球协会”。这是结束（该项运动）无序状态并建立规范的首次尝试。而东西部地区之间的分歧是严重的，主要是纽约州保龄球手结盟反对以西地区的其他所有人。1895年9月9日，“美国保龄球联合会”在纽约市的贝多芬礼堂成立。
九瓶保龄球馆成为了声名有些狼藉的赌博和饮酒的污秽之所，而且这项运动曾在美国的禁酒时期受到了禁止。然而，这项运动的弊端太多了，以至于绕开了这项禁令，又加上了第十个球瓶，从而使球瓶的排法由菱形变成了我们今天所熟悉的三角形。