Rounders: a traditional English game
Besedišče: Dopolni manjkajoče besede, razlaga besede je v oklepaju. / Vocabulary: Fill in the missing words, a definition of the word is given in brackets.
Rounders, old English game that never became a seriously competitive sport, although it is probably an (1) a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (= a relative that lived a long time ago) of baseball. The earliest reference to rounders was made in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1744), in which a woodcut also showed the children’s sport of baseball. The Boy’s Own Book (2nd edition, 1828) devoted a (2) c _ _ _ _ _ _ (= part of a book) to rounders. In 1889 the National Rounders Association of Liverpool and the Scottish Rounders Association were formed. A National Rounders Association was (3) f _ _ _ _ _ _ (= started) in 1943.
Players use a hard ball, weighing 2 1/2 to 3 oz (71 to 85 g) and measuring 7 1/2 in. (19 cm) in circumference, and a round (4) w _ _ _ _ _ (= made of wood) “stick,” measuring not more than 6 3/4 in. around the thickest part, not more than 18 in. in length, and weighing not more than 13 oz. The playing (5) f _ _ _ _ (= area of land) is marked in the form of an open irregular pentagon measuring 39 1/2 ft (12 m) on three sides and 28 ft on the other two (see diagram). The bowler must deliver the ball below the head but above the (6) k _ _ _ (= the part of your leg that bends) of the batsman and over the batting square. The batsman must strike at a good ball and (7) a _ _ _ _ _ _ (= try) to run a rounder (even if he misses the ball or fails to strike at it) in a counterclockwise direction around the first, second, and third posts and so home to the fourth post, though he may stay at any of the first three. Three (8) c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (= that come one after another) bad balls secure half a rounder for the batsman. He is out if the ball is caught on the fly; if the base (post) to which he is running is touched with the ball; or if, while running, he is touched with the ball by a fielder. As in cricket, the ball may be hit in any (9) d _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (= the way where it is going), but if it goes behind the batting square, the batter may run only to first post until the ball has been thrown back past the square. Nine players constitute a side, and two innings with nine outs apiece are played in each match. The usual but not compulsory disposition for a fielding side is the bowler, the backstop (catcher), a base man on each of the four bases, and three deep fielders. There are two umpires. The game is popular in Great Britain (10) a _ _ _ _ (= in a group) schoolchildren.
(Adapted from britannica.com on 20 July 1998)
