Informational Text Passage-"Baseball Smarts"

What is MOST LIKELY the author’s main purpose for writing the passage?

• to give readers a better understanding of life in the 1900s

• to tell the interesting life story of a famous baseball player

• to describe baseball from its beginnings up until the present day

• to offer information about a mostly forgotten time in sports history

The MAIN contrast made in Paragraphs 9 and 13 is between

• playing catcher and playing first base.

• wearing gloves and not wearing gloves.

• the glove invented by Albert Spalding and the glove invented by Harry Decker.

• playing for the St. Louis Brown Stockings and playing for the Boston Red Stockings.

Based on the passage, the reader can conclude that

• wearing leather gloves on both hands is still a common practice in baseball today.

• many popular baseball players wore leather gloves in 1874.

• outfielders are more likely to wear leather gloves than infielders while playing baseball.

• wearing leather gloves has made the game of baseball safer.

Read this sentence from Paragraph 11.

He also admitted that he had chosen a color as inconspicuous as possible because he didn’t care to attract attention.

What does the word inconspicuous mean in that sentence?

• bright

• simple

• not easily seen

• fitting a pattern

In Paragraphs 1 through 7, how does the author MOST often appeal to the readers’ emotions?

• by describing intense physical sensations

• by offering key details about Charlie’s past

• by giving the historical information about baseball

• by listing the different positions of baseball players

Which sentence from the passage BEST expresses the author’s opinion about Charlie Waitt’s contribution to baseball?

• Waitt takes an ordinary leather glove and cuts off the fingers.

• Other players and fans watching the game don't like Waitt's idea.

• He was what baseball folks call a journeyman ballplayer.

• It would also be hard to find a player who did more to change the way a baseball is caught.

What method does the author use to show the reader how Charlie Waitt developed his idea?

• He recreates Waitt’s thoughts.

• He interviews Waitt’s teammates.

• He describes Waitt’s glove.

• He discusses Waitt’s baseball-playing techniques.

Read the sentences from the passage.

Charlie played in 113 professional games from 1875 to 1883, never spending more than one season with any team. He was what baseball folks call a journeyman ballplayer.

What does the word journeyman MOST LIKELY mean in Paragraph 17?

• brilliant and colorful

• creative and artistic

• experienced and reliable

• young and untrained

In Paragraph 3, what feeling is suggested by the use of the words wince, stinging, and ached?

• confusion

• discomfort

• fright

• worry

Which statement shows how Charlie Waitt feels about wearing a glove when playing baseball?

• He will use it when playing the outfield.

• Wearing a glove is a sign of weakness.

• He doesn’t want to attract attention.

• The thought of it makes him wince.