Intermediate Reading Lesson #2 - Soccer

1. Read the text.
2. Answer the questions.
3. Check your answers.

Text

The game of soccer — more commonly referred to outside the United States as football — has long been one of the most popular sports in the world.

 

With origins that date back many centuries, soccer is played by young children, college students and professionals. Amateur clubs and weekend warriors add to the passion that swells up every four years for the most-watched sporting event in the world, the World Cup.

History

Although soccer’s international governing body, the International Federation of Association Football, recognizes the birth of the modern game as 1863 in England, the deepest origins go back centuries.

 

The Han Dynasty in the second century B.C. saw the emergence of a game similar to soccer called tsu’ chu. Several centuries after that, the Japanese game Kemari began. Kemari was less competitive, with participants passing the ball from one another using their feet, trying to keep it from touching the ground. Much later, a violent town game emerged called mob football in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Premise and rules

The game of soccer is built around the pursuit of scoring goals. Teams move the the ball up and down the field in an attempt to kick it within the goal, a framework that measures 8 feet in height and 24 feet in width at the professional level.

 

The player guarding the goal, the goalkeeper, is the only player on a team typically allowed to touch the ball with his hands. Except during a throw-in, the other players must use their feet, knees, head and chest to control and advance the ball.

 

A regulation game is played in two 45-minute halves.

  1. What is soccer called outside the United States?
  2. What is soccer’s international governing body called?
  3. When does this governing body say the modern game of soccer started?
  4. What is the aim of the game in soccer?
  5. What are the dimensions of the goal in soccer?
  1. Football.
  2. The International Federation of Association Football.
  3. 1863.
  4. Scoring goals which is done by kicking the ball into the goal.
  5. 8 feet in height by 24 feet in width.

More lessons for you

Want weekly lessons?

Enter your email below and you will get 1-2 English lessons sent to your inbox every week. We may also occasionally email you updates and discounts for our products.​

See our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe anytime.

Want to improve your English?

Join thousands of other learners and get free English lessons, tips & tricks, strategies, news and updates!

See our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe anytime.

JOIN THE

English Understood Academy

Learn anytime

7 courses, 500+ lessons

Friendly community

Meet English learners and speaking partners

Helpful teachers

Ask teachers questions

Audible free trial tablet and mobile

Recent Lessons

Recent Lessons

Recent Lessons

Want weekly lessons?

Enter your email below and you will get 1-2 English lessons sent to your inbox every week. We may also occasionally email you updates and discounts for our products.​

See our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe anytime.

Want to improve your English?

Join thousands of other learners and get free English lessons, tips & tricks, strategies, news and updates!

See our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe anytime.

JOIN THE

English Understood Academy

Learn anytime

7 courses, 500+ lessons

Friendly community

Meet English learners and speaking partners

Helpful teachers

Ask teachers questions

Audible free trial tablet and mobile

Recent Lessons

Recent Lessons

Recent Lessons

Want better English?

Join thousands of other learners and get free English lessons, tips & tricks, strategies, news and updates!​