Reading Test "Basketball"

Read the text "Basketball" and do the tasks.

Basketball

It was a rainy day in November, 1891. An instructor at Springfield College in Massachusetts climbed up a ladder and nailed a fruit basket to the wall of the gymnasium. Then he climbed down the ladder. He picked up a football and threw it. The ball went into the basket. As he climbed back up the ladder to get the ball, the man was very glad. Maybe he had solved his problem! Well, he would soon see.

Ten minutes later, eighteen young men ran into the little gym. The in­structor put nine boys on one side and nine on the other. He told them to throw the ball to each other or bounce it and, when they were near the wall where the basket was nailed, to try and throw the ball into the basket. The game started, and what a game it was!

When several of the young men fell onto the floor as they were play­ing, the instructor stopped the game. "Something is wrong in this game," he said. "This is too unpleasant."

He sat down and took out a piece of paper and a pencil. "Now let's have some rules and let's observe them!" He paused for a minute, think­ing. Then he began, "Rule number one: No one can run with the ball! You have to throw it or bounce it to someone else on your side." They all agreed that it was a good rule.

"Rule number two: If a man pushes another player to get the ball, the game will stop. The man pushed will have a free throw at the basket. No­body must try to catch the ball on its way to the basket."

That rule, was good too. Quickly, other rules were made. When the game started again, there was less pushing, fewer men falling, and better passing of the ball from one man to another. A second basket was nailed to the wall at the other end of the gym.

The man, who nailed the fruit baskets to the wall, was a young Ca­nadian. His name was James Naismith, and he was a college teacher.

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1. According to the text: "It was a snowy day in November."

An instructor nailed a basket to the wall of the gymnasium.

He tried to put the ball into the basket while standing on the ladder.

There were twenty young men with him.

The instructor put nine of the players on one side and the rest on the other.

He told them to run with the ball.

The game was interesting.

The young men could easily bounce the ball and they didn't push each other.

The man found some rules written on a piece of paper.

The players should not push each other while bouncing the ball.

Everybody could run with the ball.

They nailed one more basket on the same wall.

It was on a rainy day in ...

An instructor worked at Springfield ...

He held his lessons ...

Once he nailed ... to the wall.

During the game... could easily go through it.

There were ... young men with the instructor.

The instructor put the men ...

He told them ...

The instructor stopped the game when ...

He decided to change ...

When the game started again ...

This instructor was from ...