Copy of Texts for Class 12

Q:Steve, you graduated from high school in Quincy, II, and afterwards went to school in Germany for almost a year. As far as school sports are concerned, do you think there is a great difference between Germany and the U.S.A.?

A:Yes, a large difference, actually. In Germany, school sports mean P.E., whereas in the U.S. the school sports program has a double role, with the P.E. program on one side and organized competitive sports on the other. In Germany, the function of the competitive sports is taken over by non-school sport clubs, which exist only in small numbers in the U.S.

Q:Let's first talk about physical education or P.E., as it is commonly called. What role does it play in the curriculum?

A: Well, it's a requirement, which means that every student must be enrolled in a P.E. course, and the courses meet five times a week for one hour a day.

Q:What kinds of sports are offered?

A:There's usually a period right at the beginning of each semester where a general physical fitness program is done, and, after that, the students get to choose between various team and individual sports ranging from basketball, football and baseball to tennis, weight lifting and aerobics.

Q:Let's turn to competitive sports now. What were the most popular teams at your school, and how important were they for the school?

A: The biggest team at QHS is by far the boy's basketball team, and then the other teams are heavily dependent on success. For instance, in the last couple of years, the girls' volleyball team has had some success, and, of course, that means a more popular following for the team, although the basketball team has always had a cult following, through thick and thin.

Q:So, obviously, the home games of the top teams are the important events in the life of the school, aren't they?

A:Yes, they are. The basketball games attract a large, diverse audience. They're played at the senior high gym, and it's always packed to capacity. Another thing, if the basketball team were to go to the state tournament, the students would be released from school early so that they would have the opportunity to travel with the team. And we can't forget the financial implications: the games generate revenue for the school.

Q:What other things beside the actual competition on the field add to the atmosphere of the game?

A:At the very beginning of the game, when the players are introduced, the mascot from Quincy comes out dressed as a blue devil. The high school team is called the Blue Devils. He walks out with a flaming pitchfork, and he goes around the gym, which is divided into sections, and, with his back to the crowd, he covers himself in his cape. All of a sudden, he turns around, throwing open his cape, and everybody in that section stands up and cheers as loud as they can, with the student section generating the loudest screams. On top of that there's a band to add to the pre-game and intermission carnival atmosphere, and there's the omnipresent cheerleaders for the same purpose.

Q:What do you understand by cheerleaders?

A:These are girls, organized into squads, who perform various chants and acrobatics to hype up the crowd.

Q:Do they wear special clothes?

A:It's the lack of clothes more than the clothes. They wear very provocative outfits.

Q:To what extent does the community become

250AMERICA IN CLOSE-UP

1.continued

involved and interested in those games? Do you remember incidents that would illustrate this interest?

A:The community has always been very much behind the basketball program at QHS. For example, when we went to the state tournament in 1981, a local printing company distributed posters, and, driving around town, you could see these posters with this huge blue devil staring out at you on just about every house, and then many Quincians went to the tournament to support the team. And during the regular season, the games are always broadcast on the radio, and, like I said before, the gymnasium is always filled to capacity, so there is a very big grass roots support, and that multiplies when the team is successful. For example, when a team returns from state tourney, it goes to the mall, gets on board an old fire truck and parades around town before going to the gym for a victory rally, which is like a large party for the players and fans.

Q:I guess the members of the top basketball team are very popular with the other students and with the girls.

A:Yeah, they're the stars of the high school community, and, as long as they don't get too arrogant, they're highly regarded by the major portion of the high school population. The girls find the guys to be quite sexy, but the guys at the high school tend to lean toward the cheerleaders rather than the basketball players.

Q:Imagine a student wants to join the basketball team. How does he go about it?

A:Well, the basketball team in Quincy is very selective, and there's quite a competition for membership, but it's pretty well all decided by the

time the people are playing at the junior high. The other teams are more open to entrance later on.

Q:What do they do to train?

High-school basketball game

A: As with any sport, a major portion of time is devoted to callisthenics, just general physical fitness, and the rest of the time is spent on tactics, teamwork and basic skills.

Q: How would you describe the role of the coach?

A: The coach is of major importance for the team, as he determines their success to a large extent. Coaches are hired by the school board as coaches first and as teachers second. And when a coach's luck runs out, he's gone as a coach, but he's retained as a teacher. The community at large stands behind the coaches when they have a winning record; for instance, one fan in Quincy gave a basketball coach a brand new Corvette, just for being a good coach.

s c h o o l s l i k e H a r v a r d , O h i o S t a t e a n d C l a r e m o n t a s s u m e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r p r o v i d i n g t h e p u b l i c w i t h s p o r t s e n t e r t a i n m e n t . O u r s i s a u n i q u e s y s t e m

w h i c h h a s n o h i s t o r i c a l s a n c t i o n o r a p p l i c a t i o n

e l s e w h e r e . I t w o u l d b e u n t h i n k a b l e f o r t h e U n i v e r -

s i t y o f B o l o g n a , a m o s t a n c i e n t a n d h o n o r a b l e

s c h o o l , t o p r o v i d e s c h o l a r s h i p s t o i l l i t e r a t e s o c c e r p l a y e r s s o t h a t t h e y c o u l d e n t e r t a i n t h e o t h e r c i t i e s o f n o r t h e r n I t a l y , a n d i t w o u l d b e e q u a l l y p r e p o s t e r - o u s f o r e i t h e r t h e S o r b o n n e o r O x f o r d t o d o s o i n t h e i r c o u n t r i e s . O u r s y s t e m i s a n A m e r i c a n p h e n o - m e n o n , a h i s t o r i c a l a c c i d e n t w h i c h d e v e l o p e d f r o m t h e e x c i t i n g f o o t b a l l g a m e s p l a y e d b y Y a l e a n d H a r v a r d a n d t o a l e s s e r e x t e n t P r i n c e t o n a n d c e r t a i n o t h e r s c h o o l s d u r i n g t h e c l o s i n g y e a r s o f

T h i r d , I s e e n o t h i n g w r o n g i n h a v i n g a c o l l e g e o r

a u n i v e r s i t y p r o v i d e t r a i n i n g f o r t h e y o u n g m a n o r

F o u r t h , b e c a u s e o u r s c h o o l s h a v e v o l u n t e e r e d

s c h o o l s w i t h g o o d s p o r t s r e p u t a t i o n s c a n e a r n a g o o d d e a l o f m o n e y f r o m t h e s e m i - p r o f e s s i o n a l

f o o t b a l l a n d b a s k e t b a l l t e a m s t h e y o p e r a t e , t h e

t e m p t a t i o n t o r e c r u i t y o u n g m e n s k i l l e d a t g a m e s

b u t t o t a l l y u n f i t t e d f o r a c a d e m i c w o r k i s o v e r -

p o w e r i n g . W e m u s t s e r i o u s l y a s k i f s u c h b e h a v i o r i s l e g i t i m a t e f o r a n a c a d e m i c i n s t i t u t i o n . T h e r e a r e h o n o r a b l e a n s w e r s , a n d I k n o w s o m e o f t h e m , b u t i f w e d o n o t f a c e t h i s m a t t e r f o r t h r i g h t l y , w e a r e g o i n g t o r u n i n t o t r o u b l e .

Baseball is a nine-a-side game played with bat, ball, and glove, mainly in the U.S.A. Teams consist of a pitcher and catcher, called the battery, first, second, and third

basemen, and shortstop, called the infield, and right, centre, and left fielders, called the outfield. Substitute players may enter the game at any time, but once a player is removed he cannot return.

The standard ball has a cork-and-rubber centre wound with woollen yam and covered with horsehide. It weighs from 5 to 5 1/4 oz. (148 g.) and is from 9 to 9 1/2 in. (approx. 23 cm.) in circumference. . . . The bat is a smooth, round, tapered piece of hard wood not more than 2 3/4 in. (approx. 7 cm.) in diameter at its thickest part and no more than 42 in. (1.07 m.) long.

Originally, fielders played barehanded, but gloves have been developed over the years. First basemen wear a special large mitt, and catchers use a large, heavily-padded mitt as well as a chest protector, shin guards, and a metal mask. Catchers

were at first unprotected. Consequently, they stood back at a distance from home plate and caught pitched balls on the bounce, but the introduction of the large, round, well-padded mitt or "pillow glove" and the face mask enabled them to move up close behind the plate and catch pitched balls on the fly. Players wear shoes with steel cleats and, while batting and running the bases, they use protective plastic helmets.

The game is played on a field containing four bases placed at the angles of a 90-ft. (27.4 m.) square (often called a diamond): home plate and, in counter-clockwise order, first, second, and third base. Two foul lines form the boundaries of fair territory. Starting at home, these lines extend past first and third base the entire length of the field, which is often enclosed by a fence at its farthest limits.

The object of each team is to score more runs than the other. A run is scored whenever a player circles all the bases and reaches home without being put out. The game is divided into innings, in

each of which the teams alternate at bat and in the field. A team is allowed three outs in each halfinning at bat, and must then take up defensive positions in the field while the other team has its rum to try to score. Ordinarily, a game consists of nine innings; in the event of a tie, extra innings are played until one team outscores the other in the same number of innings.

The players take turns batting from home plate in regular rotation. The opposing pitcher throws the ball to his catcher from a slab (called the "rubber") on the pitcher's mound, a slightly raised area of the field directly between home and second base. .. . Bases are canvas bags fastened to metal pegs set in the ground.

The batter tries to reach base safely after hitting the pitched ball into fair territory. A hit that enables him to reach first base is called a "single," a twobase hit is a "double," a three-base hit a "triple," and a four-base hit a "home-run." A fair ball hit over an outfield fence is automatically a home run. A batter is also awarded his base if the pitcher delivers four pitches which, in the umpire's judgement, do not pass through the "strike zone" — that is, over home plate between the batter's armpits and knees; or if he is hit by a pitched ball; or if the opposing catcher interferes when he swings the bat. To prevent the batter from hitting safely, baseball pitchers deliver the ball with great speed and accuracy and vary its speed and trajectory. Success in batting, therefore, requires courage and a high degree of skill.

After a player reaches base safely, his progress towards home depends largely on his team mates' hitting the ball in such a way that he can advance. . . .

Players may be put out in various ways. A batter is out when the pitcher gets three 'strikes' on him. A strike is a pitch that crosses the plate in the strike zone, or any pitch that is struck at and missed or is hit into foul territory. After two strikes, however, foul balls do not count except when a batter 'bunts' — lets the ball meet the bat instead of swinging at it — and the ball rolls foul. A batter is also out if he hits the ball in the air anywhere in fair or foul territory and it is caught by an opponent before it touches the ground. He is out if he hits the ball on the ground and a fielder catches and throws it to a player at first base, or catches it and touches that base, before the batter (now become a base runner) gets there.

A base runner may be put out if, while off base, he is tagged by an opposing player with the hand or glove holding the ball, or if he is forced to leave his base to make room for another runner and fails to reach the next base before an opposing player tags him or the base; or if he is hit by a team mate's batted ball before it has touched or passed a fielder.

An umpire-in-chief "calls" balls and strikes from his position directly behind the catcher at home plate, and one or more base umpires determine whether runners are safe or out at the other three bases.

T HE hordes of Americans who roll out of bed, slip into their Reeboks and run for an hour in the face of snarling

dogs, potential muggers and hordes of Americans heading in the opposite direction on their Schwinn 10-speeds must wonder sometimes whether it's worth the aggravation. After all, if a rash of recent books and articles like "The Exercise Myth" can be believed, the evidence that physical activity leads to a longer and healthier life is based on a flawed interpretation of cause and effect. It isn't that exercise prolongs life, the argument goes, it's just that people who engage in sports and active occupations are healthier in the first place. But the fitness buffs should not put their rowing machines in dry dock just yet. According to a long-term study involving nearly 17,000 loyal sons of Harvard, it now seems that athletic effort is far from a waste of time. Moderate exercise, said a report in last week's New England Journal of Medicine, can add up to two years to a person's life.

In the mid-1960s Dr. Ralph S. Paffenbarger Jr. and his colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine recruited the Harvard graduates, 35 to 74, and asked them to answer detailed questionnaires about their general health and living habits. Followups carried out until 1978 showed that men who expended at least 2,000 calories per week through exercise had mortality rates one-quarter to one-third lower than those burning up fewer calories. The lifeprolonging level of activity cited in the report is the equivalent of five hours of brisk walking, about four hours of jogging or a shade more than three hours of squash. More exercise meant a better chance at a long life

— up to a point. A regimen that burned more than 3,500 calories tended to cause injuries that negated most of the benefits derived from exercise.

Countering disease: During the survey, 1,413 of the men died: 45 percent from heart disease, 32 percent from cancer, 13 percent from other "natural causes" and 10 percent

jogging for health

from trauma. While previous studies indicated that exercise protects against heart disease, Harvard's is the first to show a favorable effect of exercise on mortality from all diseases. As would be expected, smoking, high blood pressure and a familial history of death at an early age were associated with an increased mortality risk. But, according to the study, exercise played a significant part in countering even these major factors. For example, hypertensive men who exercised had half the mortality rate of their counterparts who remained sedentary. Among smokers, exercise reduced deaths by about 30 percent.

Harvard men who were varsity athletes while in college — and were thus presumed by the researchers to have been starting out life with basically strong bodies — had no advantage over their classmates in terms of survival rates. Indeed, lettermen who subsequently turned soft and sedentary increased their mortality risk. "It's not the kind of activity that you did in college .. .

but the amount of contemporary activity that's associated with the long survival," says Paffenbarger.

MATT CLARK with KAREN SPRINGEN

Reeboks: trademark of jogging shoes.

Schwinn W-speed: trademark of racing bicycles.

lettermen: people who have been awarded a letter, the initial of their school, for outstanding performance especially in sports.

I ' V E D E C I D E D T O C O M E O U T O F T H E closet. It is not an easy decision to admit openly that I really don't like sports. There — I've said it.

Do you know what it's like to be a man who is not a sports fan? Who not only doesn't care who wins the World Series but who is never exactly sure which teams are playing? Who never, but never, reads the sports section?

I approach this subject with a light touch, but in truth it has been a problem that has plagued me for most of my life, particularly when I was a young boy. For to be a boy not interested in sports was, particularly back then, to run the risk of being thought a homosexual. As a matter of fact, at an early age, when I began to face the awful truth that I simply had no taste for the world of athletics either as participant or observer, I kept it very quiet. Could it be that, indeed, I was a "fairy" or reasonable facsimile thereof? (The euphemism "gay" came into the language later.)

When I married and my wife became pregnant, I kept my fingers crossed. "Please

don't make it a boy." He'll insist that I play ball with him, take him to Yankee Stadium and engage in the sports rituals so necessary for healthy male bonding. It was a girl, and I was saved. But only for a while. Three and a half years later, Jonathan was born. When he was 8 years old, I forced the poor kid to go to a park in N e w York, where I would lob softballs his way, demanding that he hit them back to me. I saw, almost at once, that Jonathan had inherited my disease. He was lousy at sports, too.

Even after three marriages, three children, and some in-between love affairs, plus the sure knowledge that I adore women, I still feel, from time to time, that, somehow, I must be lacking in the right male genes.

When I first came to New York in the 1940s, I had been a newscaster and announcer at a San Francisco radio station. Gotham was tough for a newcomer. I was hungry, anxious and in need of work. I auditioned for everything.

One day, I was called in by radio station W O R and told there was an opportunity to audition for the job of host of a panel game. "What sort of game?" I asked politely, although I knew that whatever it was, I would grab it if I could.

"It's a sports quiz," the executive explained. I felt the blood leave my face.

"W e were hoping to make Jack Dempsey the host," he went on, "but when we put a microphone in front of Jack's face, he froze. So what we want is for Dempsey to sit at your side to give the program authenticity, but you'll be the real moderator. We've lined up the best sportswriters in the country to be on the panel. Do you think you can handle it?"

I agonized. I saw the $150 fee (huge money back then) fade into the distance. I took a breath. "Absolutely," I said. "I can certainly handle a sports quiz." I looked the executive right in the eye.

5. continued

Before the audition, I took care to find out that Jack Dempsey was a former heavyweight boxing champion. Then I tried out and — mirabile dictul — got the job. For 26 weeks, every Monday night, I would bravely pitch sports questions at the experts arrayed at the panel desk in front of me. It was an excruciating experience. It made me remember boyhood nightmares in which I would be in a strange classroom about to take a final exam in a course I had never heard of.

Apparently, I got away with the bluff, because not one of the sports mavens ever seemed to doubt that I knew whereof I spoke. The proof came a few weeks after the demise of that quiz when I was once again called by

W O R .

My employer smiled benevolently. "You've done a good job, Goodson. No w I have a real opportunity for you. We are looking for someone to help describe the Dodger ball games from Ebbets Field. Ho w does that strike your

I paused. I had never been to a major-league ball game. I knew nothing, minus zero, about baseball. He responded to my hesitation. "This is a big deal, guaranteed $25,000 a year." I swallowed. "I'll do it." "Good, " he replied, looking at his calendar. "W e will give you an on-the-air test in about two weeks." "Terrific," I said — and dashed to the nearest bookstore.

There, I bought "Baseball: The Official Rules." If it wasn't 100 pages thick, it seemed to be. I began on page 1, where the precise measurements of the "diamond" were

SPORTS 257

diagramed, then went on to the functions and duties of each player in the infield and outfield, the definition of a strike, a foul, an infield fly and on and on through the fine print. As I got to the 10th page, I collapsed. Much as I needed the money, I knew there was no way that I could manage this bluff! I can't remember the alibi I gave the executive, but certainly it wasn't anything as shameful as "I've really never seen a baseball game." But I did bow out.

Twenty years later, long after I had given up performing and was running a television production company specializing in "game" shows (quite an irony for a non-sports-fan to earn a living at "games"), I was invited by my banker to have dinner on the company yacht while cruising around Manhattan Island. It was a "men only" party, and the talk centered on business and, of course, sports.

After dinner, I stood on the deck in a group that included Gene Tunney, another former heavyweight champion and by then a successful Wall Street investor. I thought I was doing an acceptable job of being responsive to the sports chatter, when Tunney suddenly broke off from the conversation, turned, gazed down at me suspiciously from his enormous height. "Goodson," he asked, "tell me about you. What do you do for a living?"

Because "What's My Line?" was my show at that time, it seemed natural for me to respond, "What do you think I do?" He looked at me thoughtfully. "Goodson, I'd say you are a poet."

I blushed. I knew what he meant. He'd found me out.

1. Comprehension

Interview: High School Sports

Which way of completing each of the following sentences agrees with the information given in the interview?

1.When compared with Germany, school sports in the U.S.

a)put much more emphasis on competitive sports.

b)are almost entirely organized by sports clubs.

c)consist of competitive sports and, equally important, P.E.

2.In P.E., students

a)do individual sports only.

b)can choose between team and individual sports.

c)have to go through a general fitness program.

3.The popularity of the basketball team at QHS

a)has traditionally been strong.

b)has recently been matched by the girls' volleyball team.

c)is strongly dependent on its success.

4.The basketball games are important for the school because they

a)attract large audiences.

b)attract new students.

c)improve the school's finances.

5.At QHS 'Blue Devils' is the name of

a)the school's teams.

b)the mascots.

c)the basketball team's following.

6.The cheerleaders' function is

a)to stimulate the players during the games.

b)to create a stimulating atmosphere in order to support their team.

c)to please the audience through their appearance and performance.

7.The community supports the basketball team by

a)having large posters printed for every game.

b)attending the home games.

c)frequently accompanying the team to tournaments outside of Quincy.

8.When a successful team returns from a tournament,

a)it is enthusiastically welcomed by the community.

b)it parades along the mall on an old fire truck.

c)it first goes to the gym to celebrate its success.

9.The members of the basketball team are

a)popular unless they get too arrogant.

b)as popular with the girls as the cheerleaders are with the boys.

c)unpopular because they are too arrogant. 10. The coach of the basketball team

a)is a local celebrity as long as the team is successful.

b)will lose his coaching job if he is not successful.

c)cannot be fired as a coach.

2. Text Analysis and Comment

Sports in America: Colleges and

universities

1.Why does Michener consider the American college and university sports system unique?

2.Where is Michener critical of the system?

3.What role do sports play in American society?

4.The author uses the rhetorical device of comparison. Give examples and show what function they serve.

5." . . . I sort of get sick to my stomach when some faculty committee issues a statement that my boys should be scholars first and athletes second. Any self-respectin' man with his head screwed on right must realize that football consumes so much of a boy's time, fall, winter, spring and summer, that he

simply ain't got time to be a scholar too. If we didn't have a supply of snap courses, and cooperatin' professors who know the score, ain't no way my boys could stay in school. We hire them to play football, and we pay them well to do it, and it's only after their eligibility is used up that they got time to be scholars." (A university football coach, quoted from Michener, Sports in America, p.228)

In the light of this quotation, what would you suggest to solve the problem?

3. Comprehension

Baseball

Decide whether the following statements are true or false and correct the false statements.

1.The ball used in the game of baseball is covered with leather.

2.There are eleven players in a baseball team.

3.Fielders used to wear gloves, but now they catch the ball in their bare hands.

4.The team which fields is called the battery.

5.A player does not score a run unless he runs round all the bases before the next ball is pitched.

6.There is more than one umpire.

7.The batter is out if he hits the ball into the crowd.

8.After three players are out, the teams change positions and the batters become the fielders.

9.A player is out if he hits the ball into foul territory and a fielder catches it before it

touches the ground.

10.If both teams have scored the same number of runs at the end of nine innings, the game continues until one player scores a home run.

11.The batter can go to first base if he is hit by the pitched ball.

12.The catcher wears a face mask because the bouncing ball kicks up a lot of dust.

SPORTS 259

4. Comprehension

Running for Your Life

Which of the following statements are true, which are false? Correct the false ones.

1.Quite a number of recent books and articles refute the notion that physical exercise prolongs life.

2.A long-term Harvard study does not confirm that view.

3.The study covered 35-year-old and 74-year- old Harvard graduates.

4.Men who did not burn more than 2,000 calories per week had a lower mortality rate.

5.The study shows that people who jog four hours per week have a good chance of prolonging their lives.

6.According to the study, the more exercises people do, the greater their life expectancy becomes.

7.Another result of the study is that regular exercise not only protects against heart disease but against other diseases as well.

8.30 per cent of the smokers who did regular exercises died during the survey.

9.University athletes are likely to live longer than their less athletic classmates.

10. Sports activities in later years affect longevity much more than activities during the college years.

5. Letter Writing

Write a letter to the editor in which you express your personal opinion about physical exercise, and point out concrete examples which either support or refute the findings of the Harvard study.