Understanding the TestChoose the best answer for each of the following questions according to the test.Baseball in AmericaINTRODUCTION1. American Sports represent a fabric of American culture. Sports act as a unifying factor between people of all ages. Of all the sports that America has to offer, baseball is considered the pastime of this country. Americans did not always regard baseball and other sports in such a benign manner. Rather, sports during the early colonial times were seen as pagan and devilish things to do. Many elite and wealthy gentry who embodied the Victorian ideals regarded any type of games or sports as ill vices. It was the common people who directly related sports to their religion. On days of religious celebration, early Americans joined together to play games. These folk games were unstructured and unruly; however, the unity that these games brought, created a need for professional sporting games. Folk games provided the foundation of sports. They created a sense of companionship and unison among individuals. These unorganized folk games created the threshold for organized sports and led to the transformation of the players’ roles and the role of the audience. Amateurs became professional athletes, and the game an organized business. The game of baseball evolved from the English game of cricket and rounders. It was not until the time of the Civil War that baseball began to be played frequently.2. However with the transformation of the nation, society and technology, folk games too began to evolve into spectator sports. After the Civil War, baseball became a popular sport and no longer an archaic folk game. Structure and organization were introduced gradually into the game and increased public participation. The sport at first excluded the public, but as economic interests infiltrated the game, the need for audiences and spectators arose. The audience of baseball was instrumental in the transformation of baseball. The battling leagues and team rivalries created a sector for the American public to participate in baseball. The process of the transformation of American folk games into spectator games was due to capitalism, evolution of American society, urban settings, level of player performance, technological advances and the addition of structure and organization to the games; thus, transforming the sport of baseball into a monopolized and professional business.THE MYTH3. Organized Baseball and the Commission have propagated the myth that General Abner Doublday invented the game of baseball. This was an attempt to make baseball an American game. The Commission wanted to distinguish baseball as a truly American game that originated in Cooperstown, New York.4. This was a publicity stunt in order to create a sense of nationalism around the game in order to make the fans believe that this was their game and it belonged to no other country. It was an attempt to popularize baseball to the highest degree. The legend states that Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown invented baseball in 1839. This myth was generated in 1907 by the Commission of Baseball when Albert Spalding hired his friend, Abraham Mills, to form a commission to investigate the origins of the game. These men gathered information from some of the oldest players known to have played the game. Spalding recognized the appeal of patriotism and the dynamics of myth making. Historical myths and legends play a large role in forming national identity and patriotic pride. This myth enabled baseball to break all traces and origins of the game from England. This was in fact a farce. Scholars and historians both disprove this myth and trace baseball’s origins to old English games of rounders and croquet . In 1939, Baseball celebrated its one hundredth birthday and created the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. In the same year, the United States government created a commemorative stamp, which made 1839 the official birth day of baseball. This enabled Baseball to establish itself as a strange American religion in which people could return to the birthplace of the game to celebrate and remember it. Although this myth was pure falicy, the intent of the myth did enable baseball to distinguish itself as purely American and contributed to the sport becoming America’s National Pastime.BASEBALL TODAY5. Baseball today has been grown by issues such as revenues, advertising, marketing and other economic aspects. The concept of base- ball as a sport has been forgotten. Rather it has become a business. Television hurt baseball but the sport has recovered. Organized Baseball has remained a fabric of American culture. It has though lost touch with the common man. Players are obsessed about salaries and stock options instead of playing the game for fun. The audience has still remained a vital part of baseball and the game’s success. However, the sport has been tainted. There have been numerous strikes by baseball players against the owners. There have been scandal and drugs and steroids have infiltrated the game, tainting its purity. The game has become revolved around money. Despite such problems, some players have kept baseball in the hearts of all Americans. Through their performance on and off the field, sports heroes continue to impact our daily lives. The errors of the past still haunt base- ball and are still seen in the game’s modern form, yet the sport of baseball is still intact and remains the nation’s pastime. Television has improved and such record breaking events have been captured so that all Americans can enjoy the spoils. Baseball today is no longer a game of mystique that lures the audiences in. It has become a business and the drama that used to be a part of the game that increased fan participation has been lost. Nevertheless, the game is an American game and is the pastime of this nation. The thrill of the game can still be recognized. Ballparks have become more vital to the sports success in this new era of sports. The numerous fans of baseball have found other sports or activities but the game has continued to spread and keep the public’s interest.CONCLUSION6. Baseball emerged after the end of Civil War as popular game. The popularity of rivalries fueled the attraction of the game and caused it to become the national pastime. The sport transformed from being a game of amateurs into a sport played by professionals. With that transformation, the innocence of baseball has been lost. The game of baseball went through many transformations. Once the owners took control, Baseball had its ups and downs. The sport experienced a dead ball era in which pitching was well below the standard of today. Also, with new technological advances in the game, the sport reached its pinnacle. With improved balls, bats, and gloves the sport took off and the dead ball era came to a close. The live ball era increased the role of the audience.7. Despite all the atrocities of racism and discrimination and the ugliness of big business and greed, baseball is still the National Pastime. It still holds that status because it is American; it is unique and that aspect will always endure. The sport of baseball has migrated to other nations like Mexico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan, and Korea. The popularity has dwindled in the United States due to other social distractions, but the game has been absorbed by other cultures, demonstrating the attractiveness of the sport and the importance of the fans.5. The popularization of baseball involved the following names EXCEPT( )
A、A. Abner Doubleday
B、B. Abraham Mills
C、C. Abert Spalding
D、D. Abert Cooper
【正确答案】：D
【题目解析】：P123
