T he r eader ’

 
TEST B
 
Golf has changed a lot, of course. Today it’s a lot of college kids who have all kinds of 
theories about this and that. They don’t hang around together unless they’re rooming together to 
save some dough. We older pros had to travel together, sharing car expenses and the like, long 
before jet planes. 
But one thing will always be true about golf, and anybody who wants to play golf better 
remember it: a man who plays football or baseball will come up with a big salary whether he 
makes a touchdown or a home run. But a golfer, if he don’t [sic] win and he’s not 
subsidized....well, he don’t [sic] take home too many potatoes. 
And hey, you can have a hundred and fifty guys playing golf, seventy-two holes with the 
rain and the wind blowing, and by the fifteenth hole there will be ten guys at the top, all within 
two shots of each other. And there will be maybe four of them tied. It’s unbelievable. Golf 
requires so much body and mind coordination. With football or baseball you’re always in motion. 
Not with golf. The ball just sits there and looks at you. The thing, I think, is the concentration. 
There’s so little between being first and being second. 
And I can tell you, because I’ve been both. 
[Snead, Sam. 
Slammin’ Sam.
New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc. 1986, p.15.] 
1. The author implies that in playing the game of golf, you 
A. both win and lose. 
B. win more than you lose. 
C. lose more than you win.
2. The author compares golf to football in what ways? 
A. A football player is paid whether or not he scores a touchdown. 
B. Football players are always in motion. 
C. Both A and C. 
3. Potatoes, as underlined in the passage, means 
A. vegetable. 
B. money. 
C. awards. 

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96 Chapter 20, Reading Contemporary Fiction and Nonfiction 
4. The author suggests that the main difference in winning and being second in golf is 
A. concentration. 
B. having body coordination. 
C. staying in motion. 
5. Compared to golfers today, former pro golfers 
A. shared more time with other golfers. 
B. had to travel by plane. 
C. played golf in college. 

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Chapter 20, Reading Contemporary Fiction and Nonfiction 97 
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