Hitting big league fastball ‘clearly impossible’

According to the text, what must a batter do within a quarter of a second?

• They have to visualize their goals.

• They should put on special sight-enhancing glasses.

• They must see the pitch, judge its speed, and decide when to swing.

• They must see the ball, and measure its speed.

The main text is written in the fill in the blank____________ tense, from a(n) fill in the blank____________ point of view.

• present; first person

• present; third person

• past; first person

• past; third person

Which of the following inferences most likely explains why the pitcher’s rubber was moved from 50 to 60 feet and six inches away from home plate?

• It was moved to give the hitter more time to react to the ball.

• It was moved to give the hitter less time to react to the ball.

• It was moved to help hitters gain more horsepower behind their hits.

• It was moved to help hitters relax before they hit the ball.

Which statement from the passage most strongly supports the correct answer to Question 3?

• “Adair reported on his analysis of the art of hitting big league pitching at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting this weekend.”

• “Adair said the swing involves moving a 2-pound bat at more than 80 mph and delivering up to nine horsepower of energy to the ball.”

• “The physicist said the batter not only must gauge where to put the bat, but also precisely time the swing so that baseball and bat arrive at the same place, at the same time.”

• “‘A Randy Johnson-style pitcher in the 1880s could have delivered the ball to the plate from 50 feet in just 305 milliseconds,’ Adair said. ‘The batter might as well just close his eyes and swing after he sees the ball released,’”