TherearepeopleinItalywhocan’tstandsoccer.NotallCanadianslovehockey.AsimilarsituationexistsinAmerica,wheretherearethoseindividualsyoumaybeoneofthemwhoyawnorevenfrownwhensomebodymentionsbaseball.『Baseballtothemmeansboringhourswatchinggrownmeninfunnytightoutfitsstandingaroundinafieldstaringawaywhileverylittleofanythinghappens.』①Theytellyouit’sagamebettersuitedtothe19thcentury,slow,quiet,gentlemanly.Thesearethesamepeopleyoumaybeoneofthemwholovefootballbecausethere’sthesportthatglorifies“thehit”.Bycontrast,baseballseemsabstract,cool,silent,still.
OnTVthegameisfracturedintoadozenperspectives,replays,closeups.Thegeometryofthegame,however,isessentialtounderstandingit.Youwillcontemplatethegamefromonepointasapainterdoeshissubject;youmay,ofcourse,projectyourselfintothegame.Itisinthisprojectionthatthegameaffordssomuchspaceandtimeforinvolvement.TheTVwon’tdoitforyou.
Take,forexample,thethirdbaseman.Yousitbehindthethirdbasedugoutandyouwatchhimwatchinghomeplate.Hislegsareapart,kneesflexed.Hisarmshangloose.Hedoesalotofthis.Theskepticstillcannotthinkofanyothersportssostill,sopassive.『Butwatchwhathappenseverytimethepitcherthrows:thethirdbasemangoesuponhistoes,flexeshisarmsorbringtheglovetoapointinfrontofhim,takesasteprightorleft,backwardorforward,perhapsheglancesacrossthefieldtocheckhisfirstbaseman’sposition.』②Supposethepitchisaball.“Nothinghappened,”yousay.“Icouldhavehadmyeyesclosed.”
Theskepticandtheinnocentmustplaythegame.Andthisinvolvementinthestandsisnomoreintellectualthanlisteningtomusicis.Watchthethirdbaseman.Smooththedirtinfrontofyouwithonefoot;smooththepocketinyourglove;watchtheeyesofthebatter,thespeedofthebat,thesoundofhorsehideonwood.Iffootballisasymphonyofmovementandtheatre,baseballischambermusic,aspaciousinterlockingofnotes,choresandresponses.
1.Thepassageismainlyconcernedwith______.
A.thedifferenttastesofpeopleforsports
B.thedifferentcharacteristicsofsports
C.theattractionoffootball
D.theattractionofbaseball
2.Thosewhodon’tlikebaseballmaycomplainthat______.
A.itisonlytothetasteoftheold
B.itinvolvesfewerplayersthanfootball
D.itispretentiousandlooksfunny
3.Theauthoradmitsthat______.
A.baseballistoopeacefulfortheyoung
B.baseballmayseemboringwhenwatchedonTV
C.footballismoreattractingthanbaseball
D.baseballismoreinterestingthanfootball
4.Bystating“Icouldhavehadmyeyesclosed.”theauthormeans(4thparagraphlastsentence):
A.Thethirdbasemanwouldrathersleepthanplaythegame.
B.Evenifthethirdbasemanclosedhiseyesamomentago,itcouldmakenodifferenttotheresult.
C.Thethirdbasemanissogoodatbaseballthathecouldfinishthegamewitheyesclosedallthetimeanddohisworkwell.
D.Theconsequentwastoobadhecouldnotbeartoseeit.
5.Wecansafelyconcludethattheauthor______.
A.likesfootballB.hatesfootball
C.hatesbaseballD.likesbaseball
1.D主旨题。文章第一段简述了人们对垒球所持的偏见——认为它毫无活力、从容和缓，不像橄榄球那样(禁止)迭起、令人激动。文章的第二、三、四、五段探讨了垒球的根本特征及欣赏角度，文章的最后一句话用一个比喻概括了垒球的魅力：“如果橄榄球是一曲交响乐的话，那么，垒球中所表现出来的运动恰似一曲优美的室内乐。”可见，本文主要探讨的是垒球的特点及其欣赏。
2.C细节题。文章第一段指出：许多人不喜欢垒球，一提起垒球这些人就打哈欠甚至皱眉头。对他们来说，看垒球意味着眼巴巴地观望着身着运动装(outfit)的人呆立在球场上，东瞧瞧西望望，很少有什么(激动人心的)事发生——没意思透了。他们认为这样的运动更适合上个世纪的人的口味，不像橄榄球那样充满活力。
3.B推断题。第三段指出，在电视上，垒球运动被切换成不同角度的画面，而且不断地使用重放、特写等电视制作技术，这破坏了该运动的整体运动感，使观众无法将自己投入(project)到运动中去，以体会到这种寓动于静的运动之美。电视做不到这一点(TheTVwon’tdoitforyou)，因此，电视上的垒球比赛看上去(seems)孤孤单单、冷冷清清、沉沉静静、慢慢腾腾。C、D不对，作者仅指出了不同运动有不同运动的特征，并未说哪种运动优于哪种。
4.B推断题。第四段整个都在描述垒球场上的一个场景：拿三垒的运动员假设对方全投出好球，作好了一切准备，但是对方投出的并不是好球。所以在那时候他的准备做不做都不会影响比赛结果。他说本来可以闭上眼睛，意思就是B项所写的。
5.D推断题。在本文中，作者主要探讨了垒球的特征及欣赏，作者着重指出的是：只有根据垒球的特征来欣赏它，才能体会到它的魅力。在他看来，观察到垒球比赛中运动员的各种动作、垒球位之间的关系等是欣赏它的关键(第三段第二句)。只有从整体来把握它，才能看到每一个小的动作、每一个眼神乃至于“静止”的意义，也只有这样，才能全身心地投入比赛中，欣赏到它的魅力。可见，作者对垒球有很深的理解而且非常喜爱垒球。
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