山东东明县东方高中 李全忠

The beginning of baseball in China traces back further than most would think．From 1863，Chinese universities soon began to stage baseball activities．The first game，as documents recorded，was held in Shanghai in 1905．National interest in this traditionally American sport picked up quickly，and in 1915，China placed second in the Greater Asia baseball tournament held in Shanghai．Several decades later，baseball was as popular as it would ever be．In 1959，teams from 30 regions came together in a national competition．

Founded in 2002，the China Baseball League （CBL） is China's professional league for the sport，with seven teams around the country．The opportunity to capture a huge new market with China's growing interest saw the US Major League Baseball （MLB） open its first China office in Beijing in 2007，which has since then developed the Chinese market and educated young athletes．An example is the youth baseball program Play Ball in major Chinese cities．In the same year，the CBL partnered with Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball （NPB），agreeing to allow Japanese clubs to send coaches and players to China and Chinese players to train at Japanese facilities．This program helps Chinese schools integrate baseball into their physical education curriculum，and build professional development centers．More and more Chinese youths are getting involved with the sport，taking baseball classes on the weekends or after school．Many programs for children have been established and often hold classes at many baseball fields．

Through these different partnerships and cooperations，China has created opportunities for the citizens to experience another culture．China might just be the future of baseball．Through heavy investments since 2017，the CBL hopes to one day cultivate （培养）a “Yao Ming of baseball”，which would bring huge exposure to the sport.

Reading Check

1．What's the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．The beginning of baseball in China．

B．The development of baseball in China．

C．The national competition of baseball in China．

D．The interest in this traditionally American sport．

2．What does the underlined word “capture” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Seize． B．Lose． C．Found． D．Control．

3．What can we infer from paragraph 3?

A．The interest in developing baseball is limited in China．

B．Baseball remains a mystery to most of Chinese people．

C．More baseball talents and fans will spring up in China．

D．Chinese schools will have baseball education curriculum．

4．How is the text organized?

A．By partner countries increasing．

B．By China's interest growing．

C．By the cities adding．

D．By the time order．

Language Study

Difficult sentence

Through heavy investments since 2017，the CBL hopes to one day cultivate a “Yao Ming of baseball”，which would bring huge exposure to the sport．

【翻译】_____________________________________________________________________________

【点石成金】这是一个主从复合句，which would bring huge exposure to the sport是非限制性定语从句，which是关系代词，代替前面的整个句子，在从句中作主语。