Grade 7 Reading Comprehension Worksheets - Free Printable

It looks like you've uploaded a reading comprehension worksheet titled "History of Soccer", intended for Grade 7 students. However, the image only includes the passage and does not show any questions or tasks to solve.

Since no specific question is provided, I’ll help by:

1. Summarizing the passage.
2. Explaining key historical facts about soccer.
3. Providing example comprehension questions that might accompany this text (so you can practice or understand how to approach it).

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🔍 Summary of the Passage: "History of Soccer"

This passage traces the origins and evolution of soccer from ancient times to modern professional leagues.

#### Key Points:
- Ancient Origins: The oldest soccer-like games were played 2,000 years ago in China, Greece, and Rome, using rocks or animal hides stuffed with hair as balls.
- Modern Beginnings: Soccer evolved in 19th-century England and was brought to the United States by immigrants.
- Standardization: In 1863, England created its first football association, which established rules—such as no carrying the ball by hand—separating soccer from rugby.
- Industrialization & Popularity: As industrialization grew in England, soccer became more popular among working-class people. Paid players emerged in the 1900s, turning soccer into a revenue-generating spectator sport.
- Professional Leagues:
- First professional league: English Football League.
- Germany introduced semi-professional leagues in 1949.
- German professional division began in 1963/64.
- The term “football” was used in Europe, but Americans started calling it “soccer” in the 1910s–1920s to avoid confusion with American football.
- First U.S. professional leagues formed in 1967: United Soccer Association and National Professional Soccer League.
- These merged into the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968.
- Growth in the U.S.:
- U.S. hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
- Major League Soccer (MLS) was established in 1996.

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🧠 Example Comprehension Questions (and Answers)

Here are likely questions that would follow this passage:

#### 1. What were some early forms of soccer-like games?
✔ Answer: Ancient Chinese, Greek, and Roman cultures played soccer-like games. They sometimes used rocks as balls or made balls from animal hides stuffed with hair.

#### 2. When and where was the first football association created?
✔ Answer: The first football association was created in England in 1863.

#### 3. Why did the term "soccer" become popular in the United States?
✔ Answer: To avoid confusion with American football, Americans began using the term “soccer” in the 1910s and 1920s.

#### 4. How did industrialization affect soccer in England?
✔ Answer: Industrialization made soccer more popular, especially among working-class people. It led to the formation of workplace teams and eventually paid players, turning soccer into a revenue-generating sport.

#### 5. What was the significance of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the U.S.?
✔ Answer: It marked a major increase in soccer’s popularity in the United States and helped lead to the creation of Major League Soccer in 1996.

#### 6. What is the name of the first professional soccer league in the U.S.?
✔ Answer: The North American Soccer League (NASL), formed in 1968 after merging two earlier leagues.

#### 7. What rule change helped separate soccer from rugby?
✔ Answer: The rule that the ball could not be carried by hand helped establish the official separation between soccer and rugby.

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✔ Tips for Answering Reading Comprehension Questions:

- Read carefully: Look for dates, names, and cause-effect relationships.
- Use context clues: If a word is unfamiliar, look at surrounding sentences.
- Paraphrase: Restate the information in your own words.
- Check for details: Many questions test specific facts (e.g., years, locations, names).

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If you have specific questions from the worksheet that weren’t shown in the image, please share them, and I’ll help you answer them step-by-step!