Mickey Mantle was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He played for the New York Yankees in their years of glory. From the time Mantle began to play professionally in 1951 to his last year in 1968, baseball was the most popular game in the United States. For many people, Mantle symbolized the hope, prosperity, and confidence of America at that time.

   Mantle was a fast and powerful player, a “switch-hitter” who could bat both right-handed and lefthanded. He won game after game, one World Series championship after another, for his team. He was a wonderful athlete, but this alone cannot explain America’s fascination with him.

   Perhaps it was because he was a handsome, red-haired country boy, the son of a poor miner from Oklahoma. His career, from the lead mines of the West to the heights of success and fame, was a fairy-tale version of the American dream. Or perhaps it was because America always loves a “natural”: a person who wins without seeming to try, whose talent appears to come from an inner grace. That was Mickey Mantle.

   But like many celebrities, Mickey Mantle had a private life that was full of problems. He played without complaint despite constant pain from injuries. He lived to fulfill his father’s dreams and drank to forget his father’s early death. It was a terrible addiction that finally destroyed his body. It gave him cirrhosis of the liver and accelerated the advance of liver cancer. Even when Mickey Mantle had turned away from his old life and warned young people not to follow his example, the destructive process could not be stopped. Despite a liver transplant operation that had all those who loved and admired him hoping for a recovery, Mickey Mantle died of cancer at the age of 63.

According to the passage, Mantle could ______.

Câu hỏi liên quan

• What did the professor learn from the study?

• The word “sustain” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to__________.

• What does the word “depletion” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

ZUNIA12

• What best describes the topic of the passage?

• According to the passage, why do many people never seem to have enough time to accomplish things?

• Why was painting inside the Lascaux complex a difficult task?

• The word “them” in the last paragraph refers to _____.

• What possible use for beta blockers was NOT discussed in this passage?

• According to some scientists, what will the decreasing size of rain forests affect on the earth?

• Why does the author refer to Gilbert White’s book in line 2?

• According to the passage, the Railway Mail Service commenced in_________.

• How many orchid seeds are typically pollinated at one time?

• Which of the following is NOT true about algae?

• A patient can still live a comfortable life even after the removal of ..........

•  The text is mainly about __________.

• What does “its” in line 5 refer to?

• Which statement is NOT supported by the information in the passage?

• Who is intended to benefit from the advice given in the article?

• According to the writer, people should ______.

• It can be inferred from the passage that the sounds produced by the trees ...............