According to the narrator, why is basketball "as good as shakespeare"?

The travels of marco polo.what is the author’s purpose for writing this text?

[he] let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet. a piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. how slowly it appeared to move! what a sluggish stream! what contrasting words are used to describe the stream in this passage?

What is the independent cause in this sentence? "if the poem is about going mad when love is lost, what would happen if love didn't die? "