Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow :
Sports Create Goodwill
by George Orwell
I am amazed when people say that sport creates goodwill between nations, and that if people of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battlefield. In reality, however, sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred. Nearly all sports today are competitive and you do the utmost to win. Rarely are there occasions when you play simply for the fun and exercise; but as soon as the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused. Anyone who has played in a school football match knows this. At the international level, sport is mimic warfare. But the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players, but the attitude of the spectators, and behind them the nations who seriously believe that running, jumping or kicking a ball are tests of national virtue. Even a leisurely game like cricket demanding grace rather than strength can cause ill will. Fiercer passions prevail during football matches. At the first big football match in Spain, spectators threw bottles, tins and whatever else they could lay hands on, at the opposite side's players. As soon as strong feelings of rivalry are aroused, the notion of playing according to the rules vanishes. People want to see one side win and the other humiliated. Even when the spectators don't intervene physically they try to influence the game by 'rattling' the opposing players with boos, insults and noise. Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of the rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting.
(A)
(a) When do sports become savagely combative ?
(b)What does the author mean by 'mimic warfare' in the context of the passage ?
(c) What example of violence in the field does Orwell use to prove his point ? (d)How do spectators behave ? Why ?
(e) What is the stand of the author in this passage ? Do you agree or disagree with him ? Support your answer with examples.
(f) What does the author mean by the phrase "it is war minus the shooting" ?
(g) Do you agree with the title of the passage ? Why / Why not ? Give reasons to support your answer.
(B)
Make sentences with the following words :
(a) Goodwill
(b) Prestige
(c) Disgraced
(d) Humiliated
Answers
Answer:
This passage by George Orwell, speaks about the current situation in the sporting events, where sports is no longer about the game but it has become a battleground for the players and nations to demonstrate their rivalry.
Consider the below answers for the questions
Explanation:
(A)
(a) When do sports become savagely combative ?
Though sports are meant to create goodwill among the competitors and nations, sports tend to become savagely combative as soon as question of prestige arises and we realize that a bigger unit would be disgraced if a team loses.
(b) What does the author mean by 'mimic warfare' in the context of the passage ?
Just like in school days, when football was played at sporting events and the level of rage and competitiveness among the children can be witnessed, in the same way, the football matches at the international level is a mimic warfare.
(c)What example of violence in the field does Orwell use to prove his point ?
In one of the football matches in Spain, the spectator became fiercely violent and they started throwing bottles, tins etc. on the players of the opposite team in an attempt to humiliate the opposite team
(d) How do spectators behave ? Why ?
In many serious matches, like cricket and football, the spectators are filled with passion and rage against the opposite team. They cannot stand any other team opposing their team and in order to put down the competing team they start throwing insults and in an attempt to rattle the players from the opposing team they boo and make noise.
(e) What is the stand of the author in this passage ? Do you agree or disagree with him ? Support your answer with examples.
Yes, I agree with the author on this passage, as sports had indeed become a battlefield for nations to stand against one another rather than a friendly and healthy competition of players. More than the authenticity of the sport at display, the teams, their spectators and the nations behind them display their rivalry. Hence I agree with the author about this passage.
Example, in the world cup match of West Indies Vs India, when India was losing, West Indies spectators started throwing insults at the families of the Indian players who were sitting with them demonstrating that sports more than creating goodwill among the nations is a cause of animosity
(f) What does the author mean by the phrase "it is war minus the shooting" ?
As like every other war, where there is rivalry among the nations and the nations strive to overcome the other nation in the war through shootings, killings etc. in the similar way sports that is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of the rules and the sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence is not less than any war. Sports is as much of a war minus the shooting.
(g) Do you agree with the title of the passage ? Why / Why not ? Give reasons to support your answer.
I do not completely agree with sports creating goodwill. Though at some instances and at some moments in the sporting events, it is that healthy competition that is fostered and there is encouragement, strength, resilience that is displayed among the players and the nations, it is not so at all times.
Many International sporting events like football, cricket etc., it is rivalry and that urge to put down the other nation that is witnessed more than the authenticity of the sport itself. So, I do not completely agree with the title of the passage
(B) Make sentences with the following words :
(a) Goodwill - He has goodwill towards all his competitors
(b) Prestige - His career as an Indian ambassador has brought him enormous prestige
(c) Disgraced- The minister was disgraced after the event
(d) Humiliated - We humiliated ourselves after the competition
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