单选题 Which of the following is true about the origins of baseball?

A、 Historians agree that baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday.
B、 Baseball, as played in the early 19th century, differed very little from today's game.
C、 As early as the 1700s, English boys played a game called "baseball".
D、 The first standard set of baseball rules was established at the turn of the century.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[分析] 是非题型。见文章第一段：尽管在1907年，一个特别委员会认定棒球是Abner Doubleday在1839年发明的，但历史学家们却对此持有不同看法。有案可查的是在 17世纪英国孩子打一种他们称之为“棒球”的游戏。美国人从大约1800年起玩一种棒球，而这种棒球有着不同的规则和名字，文章第二段第一句指出棒球第一套规则的出台是在1845年；因此选项A、B、D均不对，选项C正确。