British Council
British Council
British Council
Basketball
When athletes come together from around the world to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, they are fullling their dreams and competing at the highest level. Billions of people across the globe join in; watching, listening to and reading about the greatest global celebration of sport. To celebrate the London 2012 Games, the British Council is making a wide range of classroom resources available for learners of English worldwide. What do you know about basketball? Do you like this sport? Why / why not? Is basketball a popular sport in your country? Do you know where basketball is most popular? Do you know any famous basketball players?
Dribbling
Backboard
Shoot Hoop
Basket
Defence
Basketball court
1. Vocabulary
a. Write the correct words in the spaces provided.
a.
dribbling
b. hoop f. shoot
c. basket g. basketball
court
d. defence
h.
e. backboard
3 2
5 1
b. draw f. rebound
c. dribble g. travelling
d. foul
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
A shot, worth one point, awarded to a player who has been fouled A situation in which each team in a game has the same number of points A violation by a player with the ball who moves both feet without dribbling A violation of the rules Control the basketball by bouncing it against the floor with your hand Grab the ball in the air after a player has missed a shot The rectangular board behind the basket
a. Decide if the following statements about the text are true or false. True 1. Real baskets were originally used in basketball. 2. Basketballs are made from oranges. 3. Basketball is a North American invention. 4. The Mayans would always kill losing team members. 5. An Olympic basketball game lasts for 40 minutes. 6. Shorter people can be good basketball players. False
b. Arrange the following events from the text into chronological order. 1. Mens Olympic basketball began. 2. Modern basketball was invented. 3. Orange balls started to be used. 4. The Mayans played a game like basketball. 5. Womens Olympic basketball began. c. Complete the following questions using question tags from the table. didn't wasn't are won't doesn't can
1. There arent any real baskets, (....) there? 2. The game was invented in 1891, (....) it? 3. That cant be the first time, (....) it? 4. Basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936, (....) it? 5. A basketball game lasts for 40 minutes, (....) it? 6. Men and women will be playing basketball at London 2012, (....) they?
4. Solution
Exercise 1a 1. c; 2. b; 3. e; 4. a; 5. f; 6. d; 7. g Exercise 2a 1. e; 2. b; 3. g; 4. d; 5. c; 6. f; 7. a Exercise 3a 1. True (peach baskets) 2. False (they are orange in colour) 3. True (from Canada or the US) 4. False (only in some cases) 5. True (four 10-minute quarters) 6. False (some of the best players in the world play there) 7. True (both [tall and short players] are successful)
Exercise 3b 4; 2; 1; 3; 5 Exercise 3c