Reading Comprehension Home Exercise – 15 PASSAGE – B

The level playing field, beloved of the architects of the current world economic order is of course, a metaphor for sport. But in an irony, characteristic of the age, the level playing field imposed by global capital capital seems to be having a distinctly unlevel ling impact on the sports field itself. The concentrations of wealth and power now driving the industry are generating new inequalities within sports, between sports and among sporting nations. Scores of traditions and indigenous pastimes as well as once vital modern sporting sub- sutures such as West Indies cricket. Welsh rugby and Cuban boxing are being pushed to the margins, and threatened with extinction. In south Asia, hockey has been overwhelmed by cricket; in England cricket is being overwhelmed by football. What future awaits curling in Scotland, wresting houses in Iran, or Kabaddi in India?

The impact of globalization on sports labour force is immediately apparent to anyone watching Chelsea or the New York Yankees. Major league baseball now recruits much of ties talent from the Caribbean and South America. A multinational labour force is placed at the service of an overwheimingly dominant North American market. Some North American players ply their trade in Japan, but there is no migration southwards at least any t since the flow of black ball players dried up after Jackie Robinson broke the colour bar in 1947. Likewise most African athletes who hope to shine on the world stage pursue their careers at North American colleges, and African footballers seek their fortunes in Western Europe (though they can also be found playing in turkey, India and Japan.)

During the 1990s, global expenditure on sports sponsorship trebled. But the distribution of this growth was highly imbalanced. In 1998, 37.8  per cent of this sum was spent in North America, 36.4 per cent in Europe and 20.8 per cent in Asia, with South America way behind and Africa virtually out of the reckoning. What counts here is not just the size of TV audiences, but their relative disposable incomes. The CAF the African football championship is followed passionately by hundreds of millions, but alas as far as corporate sponsors are concerned there is little profit to be made and African football, for its wealth of talent, remains an underdeveloped, shoestring affair.

Even in the developed world the distribution of the spoils is highly unequal. In 1998 sports sponsorship in the United Kingdom was worth 350 million, two- thirds of which was consumed by football and Formula One. Other sports are being marginalized, as are women’s sports. A survey revealed that 82 percent of companies involved in sports sponsorship said they were not interested in women’s sport although 57 percent conceded that they would be interested if there was greater sex appeal. Despite the ever- swelling tide of sponsorship and television cash, and despite the increasing number of female participants in almost all sporting cultures, women’s sports (with  the exception of tennis and a few Olympic events) remains a well- -guarded  secret . 

Increasing disparities in wealth are also compromising the integrity of sporting   competitions. The pursuit of ever greater TV audiences led to a rapid expansion of major league baseball franchises and the adoption of a souped –up ball that is more likely to fly out of the stadium. The result has been lop sided competition and the devaluation of the home run. The fate of the FA cup the prototype modern spring competition reflects similar pressures.

As a handful of rich clubs outspend their competitors off the field, the spectacle on the field becomes more predictable and therefore less compelling. The giant –killing feats that once tingled the collective spine   are becoming rarer. In the past, a Cup encounter between old rivals would always outdraw a league encounter. Now the reverse is the case. The premiership has evolved into a glamorous, exclusive coterie, and the European champions league outshines all else.

1.       The passage deals with the issue of :

a.       Why globally sports is in crisis today.

b.      Unequal distribution of sporting spoils

c.       Sporting success being the outcome of triumph of globalization

d.      The influence of TV on global sport.

2.       According to the author a level playing field in sports would imply

A.      More and more sports are being marginalized and pushed to extinction

B.      Equal opportunities for players to participate in global as well as indigenous sports

C.      Decentralization of wealth and power within sports and sporting nations.

D.      A greater inflow of money from industry to sports.

3.       Which of these cannot be counted as an example of globalization in sports?

A.      An all –white European rugby team

B.      An Indian playing football for a European club

C.      Caribbean players dominating the American baseball scene

D.      None of the above

4.       All statements mentioned below are the positive effects of the proliferation of technology in the sporting world, except.

A.      The ubiquitousness of sport in every imaginable place and setting

B.      The opportunity of an African athlete to play in America

C.      The joy of watching action collectively will disappear and a visceral divide

D.      Both [1] and [3] above

5.       The tone of the passage is :

A.      Indifferent   

B.      Critical

C.      Objective

D.      Ironical

 Answer:

1.       A   The passage deals with the underside of globalization in sports and gives reasons for the crisis in sports.

B finds mention but is not the main issue; C is not mentioned at all; D finds mention only in the penultimate paragraph. Hence A

2.       C   Refer to paragraph 1- decentralization and equitable distribution of resources are qualities of a level-playing field. Hence C.

3.       A    an all- white team of a white nation would not constitute globalization. Hence A.

4.       C refers to the last paragraph.

5.       B    the tone is clearly critical of the negative effects of globalization on sports.