When my son first began competing in school chess tournaments, I often chatted with other parents. Occasionally, I would ask if they played chess themselves. Normally, the reply was no. When I volunteered that I was learning to play, their tone was cheerfully joking, “Good luck with that!”If this game is so good, why are adults ignoring it? Seeing someone playing smart phone games, I preferred to say, “Why are you having your kids do chess while you play?”
Sure, we parents had work to do, work that helped pay for the lessons our kids were enjoying. But I was also wondering if we were sending an unnoticeable message that learning was for the young. During one tournament, I saw a group of parents playing chess! Just then, a group of kids passed me “Why are adults learning chess?” One asked, in an apparently joking tone.
I was tired of sitting on the sidelines. I wanted in, and that is why I got a membership card and started throwing myself in.“Early on,I was nervous, even the master can sometimes play badly, ” as one Grandmaster put it “a fan never” . And a fan I was. It was three hours of concentration and thinking with my phone off. It felt like a gym where I was trained to solve problems with focus, memory, logic, and occasional headaches. And of course hours of absence of digital devices would never be no good for thinking sharply.
Being a beginner can be hard at any age, but it gets harder when you are older. The phrase “adult beginner”has an fairly gentle pity. It implies the learning of something that you should have perhaps already leaned.
4. What can we learn about other parents from their remarks?
A.They were ignoring other learners. |
B.They agreed on the idea of learning chess. |
C.They gave congratulations to the adult lessons. |
D.They thought it odd for an adult to learn chess. |
5. How did the child in the second paragraph perceive adults learning chess?
A.Laughable. | B.Imaginable. | C.Understandable. | D.Sensible. |
6. What do the underlined words “sitting on the sidelines” mean in Paragraph 3?
A.Not being noticed. | B.Not being involved. |
C.Expressing confusing ideas. | D.Following what others do. |
7. What did the writer think of his experience of leaning to play chess?
A.It helped him remain calm. | B.It made him proud of himself. |
C.It helped him train his brain. | D.It made him look rather funny. |