It is nearly impossible to answer the question when or where baseball started． Several cultures created games which involve（涉及） hitting a ball with a bat and running． But there were several rules that made them quite different from each other． The game of baseball itself has improved over time and has several changes from its early version（版本）．

    When did baseball start in the US？ As the legend goes， the game we know as baseball today was invented or at least built with an accepted set of rules by Alexander Joy Cartwright． As there is little proof（证据） that baseball was played in the United States before Alexander Joy Cartwright wrote up the rules of baseball， it has been formally accepted that Cartwright is， if not the biological， the most suitable father of baseball．

    The legend further goes that baseball， which has grown to become a hugely popular game in the United States today， was invented in a famous Manhattan based club called the Knickerbockers． So the name for the rules set by Alexander Joy Cartwright was then called "the Knickerbockers Rules"． The first New York baseball team was called the New York Knickerbockers． Having created the rules， Cartwright was naturally the judge （裁判） for the first ever baseball game played in the United States base on the rules．

    Cartwright's contribution（贡献） to baseball doesn't just end in setting the rules for the game． He is also known for popularizing the game and its rules over the United States． Cartwright． Who traveled to California during California Golf Rush， spread the knowledge of baseball pretty much at every stop on his way from New York to California．

    Till about the late 1860 s， baseball was largely an amateur game until a Cincinnati club﹣the Cincinnati Red Stockings， which is known to almost all Americans﹣decided to recruit（招募） the best players for prize money． The first professional baseball league in the United States was the National Association of Professional Baseball Players， which was set up in 1871．

（1）From Paragraph 1 ， we can learn that baseball　　．

A． is a game with a long history

B． is popular all over the world

C． has experienced some changes

D． had strict rules as it appeared

（2）According to the passage，which of the following is true about Cartwright？　　

A． He made baseball very popular in the world．

B． He made the rules for baseball．

C． He chose the judge for the first baseball game．

D． He was a famous baseball player．

（3）What does the underlined word "amateur" most probably mean in Chinese？　　

A． 常规的

B． 团体的

C． 激烈的

D． 业余的

（4）What does the writer's purpose of writing the passage？　　

A． To introduce the history of baseball．

B． To encourage people to play baseball．

C． To introduce the inventor of baseball．

D． To show people how popular baseball is．

（5）The passage is most probably taken from　　．

A． a news report

B． a sport poster

C． a history book

D． a sports magazine

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