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CELPIP Practice Reading: Reading for Information ID: #63154 Easy James Naismith: the game he invented and the coach he became

Read the following passage.

A. James Naismith was born in 1861 in Ramsay Township, near Almonte in what is now Ontario. His parents died in 1870, and he and his sister and brother were raised by their uncle on a farm north of Almonte. In 1882 he enrolled at McGill College in Montreal. There he competed in rugby-football, soccer and gymnastics, and he graduated in 1887 among the top ten students in his class. He then studied at the Presbyterian College of Montreal and was licensed to preach in 1890.

B. Late in 1891 Naismith was studying at the YMCA Training School in Springfield. Dr. Luther Gulick, the head of physical education, asked him to create an indoor game for a rowdy class during the long New England winter. Naismith's answer needed very little equipment: a soccer ball and two peach baskets. The first game was played in December 1891, and 18 players took part, five of them Canadians. His 13 rules for the new game were published in 1892, and the game soon spread.

C. In 1895 Naismith became director of physical education at a large YMCA in Denver, and at the same time he studied medicine. He graduated as a doctor in April 1898. That fall he joined the University of Kansas as chapel director, coach and head of physical education. He saw sport as a way to build bodies and character, so he did not put much weight on winning, and he never yelled during games. In 1915 he became a chaplain in the Kansas National Guard, and during the First World War he organized sports for American soldiers in France.

D. In 1936, when he was in his seventies, Naismith travelled to the Olympic Games in Berlin, the first Games to award a gold medal in basketball. He watched the United States beat Canada 19 to 8 in that contest. While in Europe he was also named honorary president of the international basketball federation, though the role was largely symbolic. He retired in 1937 and died in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1939. Today his original rules, bought at auction in 2010 for $4.3 million, are on display at the University of Kansas.

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. He had qualified in medicine by the time he started his job in Kansas.

 - 2. Very few points were scored by the players in the first game of basketball.

 - 3. As a coach, he thought building good character mattered more than winning.

 - 4. Someone asked him to invent a game that a class could play inside during the cold months.

 - 5. People can see the original copy of his rules at a university today.

 - 6. After losing both of his parents, he grew up in the care of a relative.

 - 7. He took part in several different sports while he was a university student.

 - 8. Late in his life, he went to watch basketball being played at the Olympic Games.

 - 9. A ball from another sport was used when basketball was first played.

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