What is the purpose of the following
 passage? As early as 1944, a book
 described playing a game called base ball, A
 bat with a flat end was used by a batter who
 tried to hit a ball thrown underhanded by a
 pitcher. A catcher stood behind the batter. If
 the batter hit the ball, he ran to a base and
 back again to score a point. These bases
 were posts, not bags. *
 to persuade readers that baseball is the
 best game ever played,
 to describe the early stages of the game of
 baseball
 to entertain by telling about an early
 baseball game
 to inform the reader about the rules of
 baseball