Take, for example, the third baseman. You sit behind the third base dugout and you watch him watching home plate. His legs are apart, knees flexed. His arms hang loose. He does a lot of this. The skeptic still cannot think of any other sports so still, so passive. 『But watch what happens every time the pitcher throws: the third baseman goes up on his toes, flexes his arms or bring the glove to a point in front of him, takes a step right or left, backward or forward, perhaps he glances across the field to check his first baseman’s position.』② Suppose the pitch is a ball. “Nothing happened,” you say. “I could have had my eyes closed.”

　　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 football B. hates football

　　C. hates baseball D. likes baseball

　　重點(diǎn)詞匯

　　1. dugout n. 棒球場(chǎng)邊供球員休息的地方

　　2. pitcher n. 投手

　　3. symphony n. 交響樂(lè)

　　4. chamber n. 室內(nèi)

　　5. contemplate vt.沉思，注視

　　長(zhǎng)難句分析

　　①此句的主干是“Baseball„means„watching„”，其中“in funny tight outfits”用來(lái)修飾“grown men”,“standing„”和“staring”用來(lái)做“grown men”的定語(yǔ)。 【譯文】對(duì)于他們來(lái)說(shuō)，棒球就是在無(wú)聊的幾個(gè)小時(shí)中幾個(gè)身著緊身衣的大人佇立在場(chǎng)地周圍沒(méi)事可做地東張西望。

　　②這是一個(gè)復(fù)合句，“goes up„”，“flexes„”“takes„”，“glances„”做“the third baseman”的并列謂語(yǔ)。 【譯文】但每當(dāng)投球手?jǐn)S出球的那一瞬間，你再看吧，三壘運(yùn)動(dòng)員腳尖點(diǎn)地，屈臂或把接球手套直指前方，左右移動(dòng)步伐，或前或后，或許他還要越過(guò)場(chǎng)地盯著一壘球手的動(dòng)作。

　　答案與解析

　　本文主要講述壘球的特征及欣賞。

　　1. D 主旨題。文章第一段簡(jiǎn)述了人們對(duì)壘球所持的偏見(jiàn)——認(rèn)為它毫無(wú)活力、從容和緩，不像橄欖球那樣(禁止)迭起、令人激動(dòng)。文章的第二、三、四、五段探討了壘球的根本特征及欣賞角度，文章的最后一句話用一個(gè)比喻概括了壘球的魅力：“如果橄欖球是一曲交響樂(lè)的話，那么，壘球中所表現(xiàn)出來(lái)的運(yùn)動(dòng)恰似一曲優(yōu)美的室內(nèi)樂(lè)。”可見(jiàn)，本文主要探討的是壘球的特點(diǎn)及其欣賞。 A不對(duì)，第一段也確實(shí)提到了不同觀眾對(duì)不同運(yùn)動(dòng)形式的偏好，但這只是用以引出對(duì)壘球的特征及欣賞的討論。

　　2. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第一段指出：許多人不喜歡壘球，一提起壘球這些人就打哈欠甚至皺眉頭。對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，看壘球意味著眼巴巴地觀望著身著運(yùn)動(dòng)裝(outfit)的人呆立在球場(chǎng)上，東瞧瞧西望望，很少有什么(激動(dòng)人心的)事發(fā)生——沒(méi)意思透了。他們認(rèn)為這樣的運(yùn)動(dòng)更適合上個(gè)世紀(jì)的人的口味，不像橄欖球那樣充滿

　　活力。 A意為：“它只適合老年人的口味。”注意：原文說(shuō)的是適合上個(gè)世紀(jì)的人的口味，二者意味不一樣。 D意為：“它矯揉造作、滑稽可笑。”這與說(shuō)它gentlemanly(具有紳士風(fēng)度，矜持，即：沒(méi)有沖撞或拼搶)不一樣。

　　3. B 推斷題。第三段指出，在電視上，壘球運(yùn)動(dòng)被切換成不同角度的畫(huà)面，而且不斷地使用重放、特寫(xiě)等電視制作技術(shù)，這破壞了該運(yùn)動(dòng)的整體運(yùn)動(dòng)感，使觀眾無(wú)法將自己投入(project)到運(yùn)動(dòng)中去，以體會(huì)到這種寓動(dòng)于靜的運(yùn)動(dòng)之美。電視做不到這一點(diǎn)(The TV won’t do it for you)，因此，電視上的壘球比賽看上去(seems)孤孤單單、冷冷清清、沉沉靜靜、慢慢騰騰。C、D不對(duì)，作者僅指出了不同運(yùn)動(dòng)有不同運(yùn)動(dòng)的特征，并未說(shuō)哪種運(yùn)動(dòng)優(yōu)于哪種。參閱文章最后一句。

　　4. B 推斷題。第四段整個(gè)都在描述壘球場(chǎng)上的一個(gè)場(chǎng)景：拿三壘的運(yùn)動(dòng)員假設(shè)對(duì)方全投出好球，作好了一切準(zhǔn)備，但是對(duì)方投出的并不是好球。所以在那時(shí)候他的準(zhǔn)備做不做都不會(huì)影響比賽結(jié)果。他說(shuō)本來(lái)可以閉上眼睛，意思就是B項(xiàng)所寫(xiě)的。A、C、D都不符合作者的意圖。這道題需要完整地了解第四段內(nèi)容才能作好選擇。

　　5. D 推斷題。在本文中，作者主要探討了壘球的特征及欣賞，作者著重指出的是：只有根據(jù)壘球的特征來(lái)欣賞它，才能體會(huì)到它的魅力。在他看來(lái)，觀察到壘球比賽中運(yùn)動(dòng)員的各種動(dòng)作、壘球位之間的關(guān)系等是欣賞它的關(guān)鍵(第三段第二句)。只有從整體來(lái)把握它，才能看到每一個(gè)小的動(dòng)作、每一個(gè)眼神乃至于“靜止”的意義，也只有這樣，才能全身心地投入比賽中，欣賞到它的魅力。可見(jiàn)，作者對(duì)壘球有很深的理解而且非常喜愛(ài)壘球。主要參考第三、四、五段。

　　“With the increase in the number of such advertisements, however, each advertiser within a certain group is competing with others in the same group for the reader’s attention”，故選項(xiàng)D正確。 Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards, from warm praise to old cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation between actions and, argue that rewards can improve performance at work and school. Some other researchers who study various aspects of mental life, maintain those rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on approval and gifts from others.

　　The latter view has gained many supporters, especially among educators. But the careful use of small monetary rewards sparks in grade-school children suggesting that properly presented inducements indeed aid inventiveness, according to a study in the June Journal Personality and Social Psychology.

　　“If they know they're working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challenging task, they show the most creativity,” says Robert Esenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. “But it's easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much anticipation for rewards.”

　　A teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students, Esenberger holds. As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts at major universities to tighten grading standards and restore falling grades.

　　In earlier grades, the use of so-called token economics, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points toward valued rewards, shows promise in raising effort and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims.

　　1. Psychologists are divided with regard to their attitudes toward ____.

　　A) the choice between spiritual encouragement and monetary rewards

　　B) the appropriate amount of external rewards

　　C) the study of relationship between actions and

　　D) the effects of external rewards on students' performance

　　2. What is the view held by many educators concerning external rewards for students?

　　A) They approve of external rewards.

　　B) They don't think external rewards.

　　C) They have doubts about external rewards.

　　D) They believe external rewards can motivate small children, but not college students.

　　3. According to the result of the study mentioned in the passage, what should educators do to stimulate motivation and creativity?

　　A) Give rewards for performances which deserve them.

　　B) Always promise rewards.

　　C) Assign tasks which are not very challenging.

　　D) Be more lenient to students when mistakes are made.

　　4. It can be inferred from the passage that major universities are trying to tighten their grading standards because they believe ____.

　　A) rewarding poor performance may kill the creativity of students’

　　B) punishment is more effective than rewarding

　　C) failing uninspired students helps improve their overall academic standards

　　D) discouraging the students anticipation for easy rewards is matter of urgency

　　5.Which of the following facts about “token economics” is not correct?

　　A) Students are assigned challenging tasks.

　　B) Rewards are given for good performances.

　　C) Students are evaluated according to the effort they put into the task.

　　D) With token economics, students’ creativity can be enhanced.

　　答案與解析：

　　1. D心理學(xué)家認(rèn)為外界的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)對(duì)學(xué)生會(huì)有不同的影響。事實(shí)辨析題。根據(jù)文章第一句話“Psychologists take opposing views of how external re wards, from warm praise to old cash, affect motivation and creativity”可知，心理學(xué)家的分歧在于來(lái)自外界的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)對(duì)學(xué)生的積極性和創(chuàng)造性究竟有什么影響，故選項(xiàng)D正確.

　　2. C許多教育家對(duì)外界的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)持懷疑態(tài)度。文章第二段第一句話提到，后一種觀點(diǎn)得到了許多教育工作者的支持，從第一段中可知，后一種觀點(diǎn)是：獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)會(huì)促使學(xué)生對(duì)別人的贊許和饋贈(zèng)產(chǎn)生依賴心理，因此獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)會(huì)破壞創(chuàng)造精神。由此可知，他們對(duì)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)的正面作用持懷疑態(tài)度。故選項(xiàng)C正確。

　　3. A根據(jù)文中的研究結(jié)果表明，教育家通過(guò)給予學(xué)生應(yīng)得的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)來(lái)提高他們的積極性和創(chuàng)造性。文章第三段指出，給予學(xué)生恰當(dāng)?shù)莫?jiǎng)勵(lì)，可使他們發(fā)揮更大的創(chuàng)造性，但如果對(duì)糟糕的表現(xiàn)也給予獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，或讓學(xué)生對(duì)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)有太多的期許，反而會(huì)扼殺創(chuàng)造性。故選項(xiàng)A正確。

　　4. B從文中可以得知，一些重點(diǎn)大學(xué)試圖加強(qiáng)等級(jí)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，因?yàn)樗麄兿嘈艖土P比獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)更有效。事實(shí)辨析題。從文中第四段可知，許多大學(xué)之所以嚴(yán)格考試的評(píng)分標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，是因?yàn)?ldquo;A teacher ... who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students”。選項(xiàng)B 與此意相同。

　　5. C根據(jù)學(xué)生的表現(xiàn)對(duì)他們做出評(píng)價(jià)。事實(shí)辨析題。根據(jù)最后一段的意思，在這種獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)制度下，要根據(jù)學(xué)生的表現(xiàn)對(duì)他們做出評(píng)價(jià)，而不僅僅是他們花費(fèi)了多少精力來(lái)完成任務(wù)，故選項(xiàng)C正確。