Fill in the blank by choosing the appropriate word from the passage. If you kick your little brother in the shin and feel a strange sense of enjoyment as you watch him cry, you are being ______.

Directions: Read the passage and answer the following question.

In the modern world, sports have assumed a very horrible shape and form. They play a very wild, savage and dangerous role. There is cut-throat competition in almost all the games and sports played today. Every player plays to win. Victory by hook or crook is the be-all and end-all of every sport. Some of the rural sports give vent to animal passions and involve a lot of cruelty to animals. Rural folk enjoy the pleasure of fishing, cock fighting, bear-baiting and rat-hunting. In the Middle ages, games were played in a very brutal and cruel manner. In a big town, only group activities provide an outlet to a person's surplus energy and animal passions. Organized games flourish in urban areas. Modern sporting contests and competitions provide sadistic pleasure by causing pain to others. To a great extent, George Orwell is right when he relates animal like psyche with the modern, competitive sports. Players turn into devils. They make every possible effort to hit, wound and maim the opponents. It is wrong to believe that international sporting competitions promote friendship and good will. On the other hand, they create hatred, bitterness, hostility and revenge. For a time, it seems that running, jumping and kicking a ball are the tests of national character. Brutal is the behavior of the players. Wild is the attitude of the spectators, and shocking is the behavior of the nations behind the spectators.