Read this paragraph from I Never Had It Made.I wasn't just another athlete being hired by a ball club. We were playing for big stakes. This was the reason Branch Rickey's search had been so exhaustive. The search had spanned the globe and narrowed down to a few candidates, then finally to me. When it looked as though I might be the number-one choice, the investigation of my life, my habits, my reputation, and my character had become an intensified study.What is the author’s purpose for including this paragraph?
Read this paragraph.When Javier arrived at his first meet, his coach jogged toward him breathlessly. He alerted Javier that swimmers were already lining up for his first event, the fifty-meter freestyle. The coach ushered him to the clerk of the course, signed him in, and got him seated with the other swimmers in his heat. Javier tugged on his cap and nervously tapped his feet. Soon the group was asked to proceed to the starting blocks. Javier glanced left and right, and the starter’s signal sounded. Before he knew it, he was reaching for the wall in his final stretch, with all of his competitors behind him. With relief, he confirmed that his time was the fastest.Which statement best summarizes this paragraph?
Read this paragraph.Caffeine is found in chocolate, coffee, tea, sodas, and energy drinks. The amount of caffeine in these items varies greatly and is measured in milligrams. Some energy drinks contain as much as 160 milligrams of caffeine per serving. Caffeine is a stimulant, praised for its ability to maintain wakefulness.What is the author’s purpose for writing this paragraph?
Read this excerpt from I Never Had It Made."That's what he was supposed to tell you," Mr. Rickey said. "The truth is you are not a candidate for the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers. I've sent for you because I'm interested in you as a candidate for the Brooklyn National League Club. I think you can play in the major leagues. How do you feel about it?"My reactions seemed like some kind of weird mixture churning in a blender. I was thrilled, scared, and excited. I was incredulous. Most of all, I was speechless."You think you can play for Montreal?" he demanded.I got my tongue back. "Yes," I answered.Which statement best summarizes this excerpt?
Read this excerpt from a short story.For her science project, Rina had predicted that beans planted in potting soil would sprout first. To her surprise, the first sprouts to appear were planted in her mother’s compost mix."I told you, Rina," her mother said. "Never underestimate the power of coffee grounds and orange peels."Two days later, the beans in potting soil sprouted, but they were never as hearty as the other sprouts. Rina’s inaccurate prediction did not bother her. She was just happy to know how to improve her flower garden in the spring. Which statement best summarizes this excerpt?
Read this excerpt from I Never Had It Made."It's all that ought to count," he replied. "But it isn't. Maybe one of these days it will be all that counts. That is one of the reasons I've got you here, Robinson. If you're a good enough man, we can make this a start in the right direction. But let me tell you, it's going to take an awful lot of courage."He was back to the crossroads question that made me start to get angry minutes earlier. He asked it slowly and with great care."Have you got the guts to play the game no matter what happens?""I think I can play the game, Mr. Rickey," I said.The next few minutes were tough. Branch Rickey had to make absolutely sure that I knew what I would face. Beanballs would be thrown at me. I would be called the kind of names which would hurt and infuriate any man. I would be physically attacked. Could I take all of this and control my temper, remain steadfastly loyal to our ultimate aim?Which is the central idea of this excerpt?
Read this paragraph from I Never Had It Made.Branch Rickey lost that fight, but when he became the boss of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, he felt the time for equality in baseball had come. He knew that achieving it would be terribly difficult. There would be deep resentment, determined opposition, and perhaps even racial violence. He was convinced he was morally right, and he shrewdly sensed that making the game a truly national one would have healthy financial results. He took his case before the startled directors of the club, and using persuasive eloquence, he won the first battle in what would be a long and bitter campaign. He was voted permission to make the Brooklyn club the pioneer in bringing blacks into baseball.What is the author’s purpose for including this paragraph?
Read this excerpt from I Never Had It Made.The team went to South Bend, Indiana, for a game. The hotel management registered the coach and team but refused to assign a room to a black player named Charley Thomas. In those days college ball had a few black players. Mr. Rickey took the manager aside and said he would move the entire team to another hotel unless the black athlete was accepted. The threat was a bluff because he knew the other hotels also would have refused accommodations to a black man. While the hotel manager was thinking about the threat, Mr. Rickey came up with a compromise. He suggested a cot be put in his own room, which he would share with the unwanted guest. The hotel manager wasn't happy about the idea, but he gave in.Which detail supports the idea that Branch Rickey is personally involved in his players’ struggle for acceptance?
Read this excerpt from I Never Had It Made.Thirty-five years later, while I was lying awake nights, frustrated, unable to see a future, Mr. Rickey, by now the president of the Dodgers, was also lying awake at night, trying to make up his mind about a new experiment.He had never forgotten the agony of that black athlete. When he became a front-office executive in St. Louis, he had fought, behind the scenes, against the custom that consigned black spectators to the Jim Crow section of the Sportsman's Park, later to become Busch Memorial Stadium. His pleas to change the rules were in vain. Those in power argued that if blacks were allowed a free choice of seating, white business would suffer.Which detail best supports the central idea that many people oppose Branch Rickey’s ideas?
Read this excerpt from I Never Had It Made.He knew I would have terrible problems and wanted me to know the extent of them before I agreed to the plan. I was twenty-six years old, and all my life – back to the age of eight–I had believed in payback, retaliation. The most luxurious possession, the richest treasure anybody has, is his personal dignity. I looked at Mr. Rickey guardedly, and in that second I was looking at him not as a partner in a great experiment, but as the enemy –a white man. I had a question, and it was the age-old one about whether or not you sell your birthright."Mr. Rickey," I asked, "are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?"I never will forget the way he exploded."Robinson," he said, "I'm looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back."Which statement best summarizes this excerpt?
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