Reading of the week: Original Basketball Rules Sell for Record

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A little piece of basketball history was made yesterday. The original rulebook for basketball was sold at an auction for $4.3 million. This is a record for any kind of sports memorabilia or history. The historic document outlined the rules of basketball in 1891. It was written by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian. He drew up the sport’s first 13 rules on two pages and signed them both. The buyers were David and Suzanne Booth, two avid basketball fans from Kansas, USA. The document was sold by Ian Naismith, 71, the grandson of Dr. James Naismith. He told reporters: “After expenses, about $3.8 million will go into the Naismith International Basketball Foundation.” He was clearly very proud of what his grandfather achieved, saying: “We gave the game to the world.”
James Naismith originally wrote the rules to create a new winter sport for boys at a school in Massachusetts, where he was a physical education teacher. He had a two-week deadline to think of a new sport. He was more than a little surprised at how quickly his sport took off. He lived to see it introduced at the 1936 Olympics. His grandson expressed how jaded he had become at the game’s commercialization. He told reporters: “I’m tired of all the lying…The game is about integrity, sportsmanship…The game now is being hurt by money. Nobody ever has enough.” He frowned on current salaries in the sport, particularly with “coaches making $5 million a year”. The previous record for sports memorabilia was $3 million for the baseball hit by Mark McGwire when he broke the single-season home run record in 1998.

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
a. The first ever set of basketball rules were sold for $43 million. T / F
b. The rules of basketball were written in 1891. T / F
c. The man who invented basketball was from Los Angeles. T / F
d. The great-grandson of basketball’s creator sold the rules. T / F
e. Basketball was originally devised as a winter sport. T / F
f. The man who thought up the rules of basketball did so in two weeks. T / F
g. The man’s grandson is disillusioned with basketball today. T / F
h. The previous record for sports memorabilia was for a soccer shirt. T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.
1. piece a. enthusiastic
2 outlined b. preceding
3. drew up c. obviously
4. avid d. time limit
5. clearly e. bit
6. create f. became popular
7. deadline g. charted
8. took off h. created
9. integrity i. devise
10. previous j. honesty

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)
1. A little piece of basketball a. week deadline
2 a record for any kind of b. basketball fans
3. He drew up the c. very proud
4. two avid d. history was made
5. He was clearly e. winter sport
6. create a new f. on current salaries
7. He had a two- g. sports memorabilia
8. His grandson expressed how h. for sports memorabilia
9. He frowned i. sport’s first 13 rules
10. The previous record j. jaded he had become