Pre-Reading Activities

A: Short Discussion

With a partner discuss these questions:

1. 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?
2. How old is it?
3. Where do you keep it?
4. 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.

Suggested answer 1. g., 2. e. , 3. b., 4. d., 5. h. , 6. a. , 7. c., 8. f.

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.

Suggested answer Sentence 1. Yes Sentence 2. No Sentence 3. Yes Sentence 4. No Sentence 5. Yes Sentence 6. Yes or No Sentence 7. Yes or No Sentence 8. Yes Sentence 9. No Sentence 10. Yes

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.

1. How old is the soccer ball?
   
   Suggested answer 400 years old
   
   
2. What is it made from?
   
   Suggested answer A pig's bladder and wrapped in leather
   
   
3. Is it a big or small soccer ball?
   
   Suggested answer Small
   
   
4. Whose ball was it?
   
   Suggested answer Mary Queen of Scots
   
   
5. When was it first found?
   
   
   Suggested answer In the 1970s
   
   

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.
Suggested answer 1. The world's oldest soccer ball will be put on display for the first time in centuries at a Scottish 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.
Suggested answer 2. The ball, made of a pig's bladder and leather, most likely belonged to Mary Queen of Scots and is over 400 years old.

3. The ball was found under the bed of Mary Queen of Scots in Stirling Castle.
Suggested answer 3. The ball was found in the paneling of the bedchamber of Mary Queen of Scots in Sterling castle.

4. The ball was actually discovered in the 1970s, but was put in a box and opened just a few months ago.
Suggested answer Correct

5. The modern game of soccer is not much different from soccer played 400 years ago.
Suggested answer The modern game of soccer is very 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.
Suggested answer The aim of soccer 400 years ago was to move the ball as far in one direction as possible from the center of town.

7. Today people still put things in walls because they are frightened of evil spirits.
Suggested answer People used to put things in walls because they were frightened of evil spirits.

8. The ball may have had special meaning for Mary Queen of Scots.
Suggested answer Correct.

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?

Suggested answer 1. Before

2. What kind of word ends in -er or -or (Noun? Adjective? Adverb? Verb?)

Suggested answer 2. Noun

3. "Its historical predecessor is more a mixture of soccer, rugby, and outright mayhem." What is 'it'?

Suggested answer 3. Modern soccer

4. What do you think 'predecessor' means?

Suggested answer 4. A thing succeeded by something else

Second. Now answer these questions about the word 'beheaded' in Paragraph 3.

1. What is the root word or word stem?

Suggested answer 1. Head

2. What kind of word ends in -ed (Noun? Adjective? Adverb? Verb?)

Suggested answer 2. Verb

3. Be- means 'off' or 'away'. What do you think Queen Elizabeth did to Mary Queen of Scots?

Suggested answer 3. She had Mary executed by having her head chopped off.

4. What do you think 'beheaded' means?

Suggested answer 4. To have someone killed by cutting off his/her head

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...

Suggested answer 1. Four hundred years ago a very small soccer ball was used by soccer players.

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...

Suggested answer 2. To get the game started the ball was dropped into the middle of the two opposing teams by the referee.

3. Active: Someone first found the ball in the 1970s.

Passive: ...
Suggested answer 3. The ball was first found in the 1970s (by someone).

4. Active: Someone...
Suggested answer 4. Someone placed the ball in a box.

Passive: The ball was placed in a box.

5. Active: Someone...
Suggested answer 5. Someone hid the ball in the wall of the bedchamber of Mary Queen of Scots.

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: ...
Suggested answer 6. Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded by Queen Elizabeth.