The Scorer
The Scorer
Amira had sharpened both pencils twice before the first ball was bowled. She lined them up beside the scorebook, squared its corners with the edge of the table, and then sharpened them again.
'You know it's only the under-elevens,' said Coach Riley, dropping a bottle of water beside her. 'Nobody's going to check it with a magnifying glass.'
'Someone has to get it right,' Amira said.
Last season she had played in this team. This season her name was not on the list, because the club had moved her up to the under-thirteens, who played on Sunday mornings, and on Sunday mornings Amira now rowed with her school crew. She had chosen rowing. She had told everyone it was an easy choice.
Out on the field, her cousin Zayd hit a ball that rolled gently towards the boundary rope and stopped just short of it. The umpire, a dad in a floppy hat, signalled four. Amira looked at the ball, then at the umpire, and wrote down 4.
Behind her, two parents began arguing about whether the ball had reached the rope. She did not join in.
At the drinks break, Coach Riley read the scorebook over her shoulder. Every dot, every run and every wide sat in its proper box, in tiny, upright figures.
'Neater than mine,' he said. 'Want the job every week?'
Amira took her time answering. She looked out at the field, where her old teammates were throwing a ball back and forth, laughing at something she could not hear.
'Only if I can still bowl in the nets at training,' she said.
讲解示例 1
Why does Amira keep sharpening her pencils before the game?
- AA.
Her pencils kept breaking during the last game.
- BB.
Coach Riley has asked her to have spares ready.
- CC.
She is anxious to do the scoring job well.
- DD.
She is bored of waiting for the game to begin.
答案: C
答案:C(She is anxious to do the scoring job well.)
她一遍又一遍地削铅笔,还把记分本摆得整整齐齐。教练开玩笑时,她回答 Someone has to get it right。这些都是一个很怕出错的人会有的表现。
其他选项为什么不对
- 选项 A:文中没有提到上一场比赛,也没有说铅笔断过。
- 选项 B:教练只是拿来一瓶水,还劝她别太较真。
- 选项 D:人在等待时确实会摆弄东西,但她对教练的回答说明她在乎把事情做对,而不是觉得无聊。