Do you know when basketball was invented?
[00:08.52]Section 1 Before You Read
[00:12.09]PAIRWORK
[00:14.00]1a List eight sports played in China.
[00:20.59]1b How popular is each sport?
[00:25.56]Rank them [1-8] in the order of popularity.
[00:31.04]Section 2 While You Read
[00:34.82]Do you know when basketball was invented?
[00:39.04]If you travel around China you will notice
[00:41.78]a very popular activity everywhere
[00:43.81]you go-basketball.
[00:47.02]This much-loved and active sport is enjoyed
[00:49.61]by many,for fun and exercise.
[00:52.75]The sport of basketball is a little over
[00:54.91]a hundred years old.
[00:56.82]It is played by more than 100 million people
[01:00.16]in over 200 countries including China,
[01:03.71]where basketball has been played in parks,
[01:07.01]schools,and even in factories.
[01:10.14]Basketball was invented by a Canadian doctor
[01:13.22]named James Naismith,who was born in 1861.
[01:18.10]When he was at college,
[01:19.86]his class was once asked to invent a new game
[01:22.92]that could be played indoors
[01:24.64]during the long winters.
[01:27.54]Dr Naismith created a game to be played
[01:30.27]on a hard wooden floor,
[01:32.20]so the safety of the players was important.
[01:35.67]Knocking into players and falling down would be
[01:38.19]dangerous.
[01:41.15]Dr Naismith divided the men in his class
[01:43.67]into two teams and taught them
[01:45.96]how to play his new game.
[01:48.96]The aim of basketball is for players to
[01:51.44]get a ball into the "basket"
[01:53.89]a net hanging from a metal hoop.
[01:56.91]Players shoot from below the basket
[01:59.23]and may use the "backboard" for guiding
[02:02.01]the ball into the basket.
[02:04.83]Players move towards one end of court
[02:07.17]while throwing the ball to each other.
[02:10.46]It is believed that on December 21st,1891,
[02:14.97]the first basketball game in history was played.
[02:19.18]Then in 1936 in Berlin,
[02:22.23]it became an Olympic event.
[02:25.96]A team from China took part,
[02:28.34]and although they didn't win
[02:30.12]they used the experience to help develop
[02:32.40]the game at home.
[02:36.02]Since then,the popularity of basketball
[02:39.19]has risen worldwide,and the number of foreign
[02:42.35]players in America's NBA
[02:44.78](National Basketball Association)has increased.
[02:49.65]Basketball has also become a more popular sport
[02:53.01]for people to watch,and many young people
[02:55.96]dream of becoming famous basketball players.
[02:59.99]Section 3 After You Read
[03:04.56]3a Complete the mind-map with the information
[03:09.88]from the reading.
[03:12.44]3b Without referring to the article,
[03:17.27]use what you remember from the mind-map
[03:22.05]to answer the following questions.
[03:26.23]Section 4 Go For It!
[03:30.24]Would you like to play on China's national
[03:33.42]basketball team one day?
[03:36.20]Make a list of good and difficult things about
[03:40.30]being a basketball player.
[03:43.78]If you have time!
[03:46.09]In pairs,choose an invention and do research
[03:51.52]on it.
[03:52.92]Make a mind-map of the information you find.
[03:58.50]Then give a report to the class.
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