Pre-Reading Activities
A: Short Discussion
With a partner discuss these questions:
- Have you still got anything that you have
had since you were very young (a toy, a book, a baseball glove,
etc.)? What is it?
- How old is it?
- Where do you keep it?
- Why is it special to you?
B: Vocabulary
The following words in bold are
in today's article. Match the word with the most suitable meaning.
Words
1. The full moon was shaped
like a sphere.
2. The horse came from a fine
pedigree of race champions.
3. I got a third of
the pie; my brother and sister got the other two pieces.
4. The wall paneling
is made of expensive wood.
5. I managed to ward off
the bee by hitting it with my newspaper.
6. There was mayhem
in the soccer stadium after the goal was disallowed by the referee.
7. The object of soccer
is to try to put the ball in the other team's net.
8. The movie has little resemblance
to the book.
Meanings
a. Any situation with violence, confusion,
or noise.
b. 33.3%
c. The purpose of an action.
d. Rectangular pieces of timber placed over the wall or ceiling.
e. A line of ancestors
f. To be similar to another person or thing.
g. A round object
h. To force or drive away; hold off.
C: Predicting
Today's article is about the discovery
of the world's oldest soccer ball. Read the sentences below.
Put a tick next to the sentence number if you think the topic
of the sentence will be talked about in the article.
Sentence 1. Sentence 2. Sentence 3.
Sentence 4.
Sentence 5.Sentence
6.
Sentence 7.
Sentence 8.
Sentence 9.
Sentence 10.
Sentence 1. The article will
talk about how old the ball is.
Sentence 2. The article will mention what brand the ball is (e.g..
Adidas, Nike, etc.).
Sentence 3. The article will explain where the ball was found.
Sentence 4. The article will talk about the Soccer World Cup.
Sentence 5. The article will mention whose ball it was.
Sentence 6. The article will discuss how much the ball cost a
long time ago.
Sentence 7. The article will discuss how much the ball is worth
now.
Sentence 8. The article will talk about when the ball was found.
Sentence 9. The article will explain carefully the rules of soccer.
Sentence 10. The article will explain what the ball is made from.
Reading Activities
A: Scanning
Read the questions below and then look
for the answers in the article. Try to find the answers as quickly
as you can without reading every word.
- How old is the soccer ball?
- What is it made from?
- Is it a big or small soccer ball?
- Whose ball was it?
- When was it first found?
World's Oldest Soccer Ball Goes On Display
EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Thursday
April 22. The world's oldest soccer ball, a 400-year-old sphere
with a royal pedigree, goes on display for the first time in
centuries Friday, Scottish museum officials said.
Made of a pig's bladder and wrapped
in leather, the small ball probably belonged to Mary Queen of
Scots and dates from 1560 or 1570, Michael McGinnes, director
of collections at the Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling,
said Thursday.
The ball -- about a third the
size of those used in today's very different game -- was found
hidden behind paneling in the Stirling castle bedchamber of Mary,
the Catholic pretender to Queen Elizabeth's throne in England
who was eventually beheaded by the Protestant monarch.
"People used to place very
special things to them in the walls as a way to ward off demons
and evil spirits. This ball must have meant something to her,''
McGinnes told Reuters. |
Although it was first found in
the 1970s, the ball was placed in a box with other collectibles
and gathered dust until just a few months ago, he said. "We
opened up this box and found the ball. We knew it was probably
something special,'' he said. McGinnes said officials at the
Royal Museum of Scotland examined the ball and believe it to
be the oldest in existence.
Soccer today bears little resemblance
to its historical predecessor, which was more a mixture of soccer,
rugby and outright mayhem, McGinnes said.
The ball was dropped into the
middle of two opposing sides and the object was to move the ball
as far in one direction as possible from the center of town.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. |
|
B: Checking Information
The sentences below contain a summary of
the article but some of them have some mistakes. Read them and
then compare them with the article.
Write any incorrect words in the
sentences and replace them with the correct information.
Write "Correct" next to any which have no mistakes.
1. The world's oldest soccer ball will
be put on display for the first time in centuries at an American
museum.
2. The ball, made of a pig's bladder and
leather, most likely belonged to Mary Queen of Scots and is over
500 years old.
3. The ball was found under the bed of
Mary Queen of Scots in Stirling Castle.
4. The ball was actually discovered in
the 1970s, but was put in a box and opened just a few months
ago.
5. The modern game of soccer is not much
different from soccer played 400 years ago.
6. The aim of soccer 400 years ago was
to get the ball into the opponent's net.
7. Today people still put things in walls
because they are frightened of evil spirits.
8. The ball may have had special meaning
for Mary Queen of Scots.
C: Thinking Carefully
You have read the article without understanding
every word. You can use your understanding of the article to
help you work out the meaning of some of the words you do not
know.
First.
Practice doing this by answering these questions about the word
'predecessor' in Paragraph 7.
1. What does 'pre' mean?
2. What kind of word ends in -er or
-or (Noun? Adjective? Adverb? Verb?)
3. "Its
historical predecessor is more a mixture of soccer, rugby, and
outright mayhem." What is 'it'?
4. What do you think 'predecessor'
means?
Second. Now
answer these questions about the word 'beheaded' in Paragraph
3.
1. What is the root word or word stem?
2. What kind of word ends in -ed
(Noun? Adjective? Adverb? Verb?)
3. Be- means 'off' or 'away'. What
do you think Queen Elizabeth did to Mary Queen of Scots?
4. What do you think 'beheaded' means?
D: Language
If the subject of a verb is actually doing
the action, the verb is said to be active. (e.g. The dog bit
me.) If the subject of the verb is having the action done
to it, then the verb is said to be passive. (e.g. I was bitten
by the dog.) Change the following sentences to passive or active
sentences.
1. Active: Four hundred years ago,
soccer players used a very small soccer ball.
Passive:
Four hundred years ago, a very small soccer ball was...
2. Active: To get the game started,
the referee dropped the ball into the middle of the two opposing
teams.
Passive: To
get the game started, the ball...
3. Active: Someone first found the
ball in the 1970s.
Passive: ...
4. Active: Someone...
Passive:
The ball was placed in a box.
5. Active: Someone...
Passive:
The ball was found hidden in the bedchamber wall of Mary Queen
of Scots.
6. Active: Queen Elizabeth beheaded
Mary Queen of Scots.
Passive: ...