Loading question...
You are in free guest mode. Timed Practice Revision List Attempt History Progress Tracking Create a free account to unlock these tools
Prev Next
CELPIP Practice Reading: Reading for Information ID: #63143 Easy Canadian football field and play basics

Read the following passage.

A. Canadian football is a team sport that grew out of rugby, which immigrants, civil servants and military personnel brought to Canada. By the 1870s, players in Canada had developed a mixed form of the rugby game. Over time the sport took on its own shape. Today each team has 12 players on the field, and the offence gets only three downs to gain 10 yards. The professional game is run by the Canadian Football League, which took that name in 1958, and its championship, the Grey Cup, was first played in 1909.

B. Under the 2026 rulebook, the playing field is 110 yards long and 65 yards wide, measured between the goal lines and the sidelines. Behind each goal line is a goal area that stretches back 20 yards to a dead ball line. Lines cross the field every 5 yards, and short cross stripes sit twenty-eight yards in from each sideline. The goal posts stand on each goal line, 18 feet 6 inches apart, joined by a crossbar 10 feet above the ground. A coloured ribbon is fixed to the very top of each post.

C. After the kickoff, most plays start from a scrimmage, and the defending players must line up at least one yard back from the line of scrimmage. The offence then tries to move the ball forward. If it gains 10 yards within its three downs, a new series begins; if it does not, the ball goes to the other team as first down where the last play ended. A touchdown is worth 6 points, a field goal 3 and a safety touch 2. A single point, or rouge, is scored when a ball kicked into a team's goal area becomes dead there in that team's possession.

D. The rules have changed often since the early days. In 1905 the Ontario Rugby Football Union cut teams to 12 players a side, adopted the snapback to put the ball into play and required the offence to make 10 yards on three downs. The forward pass arrived in stages: limited use was allowed in 1927, and it was approved for all leagues in 1931. Change has continued into the present: for 2026, the CFL stopped giving a single point when a kick goes directly out of bounds in the opponent's goal area. It also ended tie games in the regular season, so if two extra mini-games leave the score level, teams take turns trying 2-point converts until one wins.

E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.

Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.

- 1.
Short lines are marked 28 yards away from both sides of the field.

- 2.
The league got rid of tied games so that fans would stay until the final whistle.

- 3.
Throwing the ball forward became legal in every league in the early 1930s.

- 4.
The sport has its roots in rugby, carried to Canada by newcomers and soldiers.

- 5.
A ball booted into the other team's goal area can earn a point if they are holding it when play stops.

- 6.
Teams were cut down to twelve players each in the early 1900s.

- 7.
The present professional league got its current name in the late 1950s.

- 8.
A ball booted straight out of play in the rival's goal area no longer earns a point.

- 9.
If the attacking side does not gain enough ground in its three tries, the other side takes control of the ball.

With a free account: Retry and compare every attempt.
Saving...