The skeptic and the innocent must play the game. And this involvement in the stands is no more intellectual than listening to music is. Watch the third baseman. Smooth the dirt in front of you with one foot; smooth the pocket in your glove; watch the eyes of the batter, the speed of the bat, the sound of horsehide on wood. If football is a symphony of movement and theatre, baseball is chamber music, a spacious interlocking of notes, chores and responses.

　　1. The passage is mainly concerned with .

　　A. the different tastes of people for sports

　　B. the different characteristics of sports

　　C. the attraction of football

　　D. the attraction of baseball

　　2. Those who don’t like baseball may complain that .

　　A. it is only to the taste of the old

　　B. it involves fewer players than football

　　C. it is not exciting enough

　　D. it is pretentious and looks funny

　　3. The author admits that .

　　A. baseball is too peaceful for the young

　　B. baseball may seem boring when watched on TV

　　C. football is more attracting than baseball

　　D. baseball is more interesting than football

　　4. By stating “I could have had my eyes closed. ” the author means (4th paragraph last sentence):

　　A. The third baseman would rather sleep than play the game.

　　B. Even if the third baseman closed his eyes a moment ago, it could make no different to the result.

　　C. The third baseman is so good at baseball that he could finish the game with eyes closed all the time and do his work well.

　　D. The consequent was too bad he could not bear to see it.

　　5. We can safely conclude that the author .

　　A. likes footballB. hates football

　　C. hates baseballD. likes baseball

　　Vocabulary

　　1. dugout n.　棒球场边供球员休息的地方

　　2. pitcher n.　投手

　　3. symphony n.　交响乐

　　4. chamber n.　室内

　　5. contemplate vt.沉思，注视

　　长难句解析

　　①【解析】此句的主干是“Baseball…means…watching…”，其中“in funny tight outfits”用来修饰“grown men”,“standing…”和“staring”用来做“grown men”的定语。

　　【译文】对于他们来说，棒球就是在无聊的几个小时中几个身着紧身衣的大人伫立在场地周围没事可做地东张西望。

　　②【解析】这是一个复合句，“goes up…”，“flexes…”“takes…”，“glances…”做“the third baseman”的并列谓语。

　　【译文】但每当投球手掷出球的那一瞬间，你再看吧，三垒运动员脚尖点地，屈臂或把接球手套直指前方，左右移动步伐，或前或后，或许他还要越过场地盯着一垒球手的动作。

　　答案与详解

　　【短文大意】本文主要讲述垒球的特征及欣赏。

　　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，不像橄榄球那样高潮迭起、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。 A不对，第一段也确实提到了不同观众对不同运动形式的偏好，但这只是用以引出对垒球的特征及欣赏的讨论。