When my daughter first began competing in school chess tournaments, I often chatted with other parents. Sometimes, I' d ask if they played chess themselves. Usually, 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 for kids, why are adults ignoring it? Seeing someone playing smart phone games, I wanted to say: "Why are you having your kids do chess while you do that?"Sure, we parents had work to do, work that helped pay for the lessons our kids were enjoying. But I also wondered if we were sending a subtle message: that learning was for the young. During one tournament, I saw a group of parents. They were playing chess! Just then, a group of kids passed me. "Why are adults learning chess?" one asked, in a vaguely teasing tone.
I was tired of （sitting on the sidelines）. I wanted in. And that is how I got a membership card and started throwing myself in. Early on, I was nervous, even though I really had nothing to lose, except my pride. "A master can sometimes play badly," as one grandmaster （国际象棋大师）put it, "a fan, never!" And fan I was. It was three hours of concentration and thinking, with my phone turned off. It felt like a gym for the brain.
Being a beginner can be hard at any age, but it gets harder as you get older. The phrase " adult beginner" has an air of gentle pity. It implies the learning of something that you should have perhaps already learned.
4. Which of the following is closest in meaning to usitting on the sidelines，, in Para. 3?（）
ANot being noticed.
BExpressing vague ideas.
CNot being involved.
DFollowing what others do.
