I was helped over these crises by the courage and decency of a teammate who could easily have been my enemy rather than my friend. Pee Wee Reese, the successful Dodger shortstop, was one of the most highly respected players in the major leagues. When I first joined the club, I was aware that there might well be a real reluctance on Reese's part to accept me as a teammate. He was from Ekron, Kentucky. Furthermore, it had been rumored that I might take over Reese's position on the team. Mischief-makers seeking to create trouble between us had tried to agitate Reese into regarding me as a threat -- a black one at that. But Reese, from the time I joined Brooklyn, had demonstrated a totally fair attitude.
Reese told a sportswriter, some months after I became a Dodger, "When I first met Robinson in spring training, I figured, well, let me give this guy a chance. It may be he's just as good as I am. Frankly, I don't think I'd stand up under the kind of thing he's been subject to as well as he has."
Reese's tolerant attitude of withholding judgment to see if I would make it was translated into positive support soon after we became teammates. In Boston during a period when the heckling pressure seemed unbearable, some of the Boston players began to heckle Reese. They were riding him about being a Southerner and playing ball with a black man. Pee Wee didn't answer them. Without a glance in their direction, he left his position and walked over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and began talking to me. His words weren't important. I don't even remember what he said. It was the gesture of comradeship and support that counted. As he stood talking with me with a friendly arm around my shoulder, he was saying loud and clear, "Yell. Heckle. Do anything you want. We came here to play baseball."
The jeering stopped, and a close and lasting friendship began between Reese and me.
| accommodate v. 1. hold; have room for: This automobile is large enough to accommodate 6 adults. 2. help out; oblige: I needed directions to the mall, but no one could accommodate me. 3. supply with a place to live for a time: Tourists are accommodated here. 4. make suitable; adjust: She accommodated herself well to her new surroundings. |
In paragraph 1, Robinson says the "Benjamin Franklin Hotel . . . refused to accommodate me." What is the best definition of accommodate as it is used in this sentence?
A. definition 1
B. definition 2
C. definition 3
D. definition 4
A. wanted to be a team captain.
B. was rumored to be Reese's replacement.
C. was shorter than Reese.
D. received a large bonus.
A. "Reese tolerated me only when he realized we would be teammates, whether he liked it or not."
B. "Reese and I had a hard time communicating until someone translated what he was saying to me."
C. "When Reese first met me, he tried his best to ignore me, but eventually he accepted my being there."
D. "At first Reese simply left me alone, but soon he actively helped me."
A. The heckling stopped at that game.
B. No one ever heckled Robinson again.
C. Robinson could stay at any hotel he wanted.
D. Both Reese and Robinson were heckled from then on.
A. the abuse Robinson took when he became a Dodger
B. the difficulties of breaking into major league baseball
C. the evils caused when fans heckle players
D. the beginning of a friendship between Robinson and Reese
A. tells what life was like in the past.
B. was written by the person it is about.
C. is a true story.
D. was written about a real person.