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Another sport that originated in America is basketball.

James Naismith, an instructor in physical education at the International Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, devised basketball in December 1891. Naismith, who later became a doctor of medicine, hung up two peach baskets, one at either end of the gymnasium, as goals. His YMCA athletes played the first game with a soccer ball, passing it back and forth until one team was able to throw it into its assigned basket.

The first game was governed by thirteen rules formulated by Naismith. These were recognized later by the Amateur Athletic Union. All thirteen rules are still incorporated in today’s rule books. Word of the new game spread swiftly and basketball was soon being played in YMCA gymnasiums throughout the eastern United States. Its growth was so rapid that the first men’s intercollegiate game was played in 1897; the first professional league was founded in 1898; and the first collegiate association— the Eastern Intercollegiate League — was formed in 1902. Women also took up the game before 1900.

The growing popularity of basketball resulted in improvements in equipment and skills. The metal hoop was introduced in 1893, and backboards in 1895. The soccer ball was replaced by the first basketball a year later. As playing skills also became more sophisticated, the game attracted more and more spectators. Until the late 1930s, scores were low, sometimes in single digits but the slow pace did not inhibit the growth of the game.

By the 1920s, basketball was being played all over the world and today professional basketball in the US is a multi-million dollar business.

[question text="What probably preceded the passage? " answers="An account of James Naismith's youth#*A description of a sport that has originated in America#A description of the rules of basketball#An account of the work of the International YMCA "]

[question text="Who was James Naismith? " answers="A physics teacher#A preacher#An education expert#*A sports coach "] 

[question text="What could best replace the word 'devised' in line 4? " answers="*Invented#Adapted#Created#Planned "] 

[question text="What does the word 'these' on line 9 refer to? " answers="Athlets#*Rules#Goals#Peach baskets "]

[question text="What caused basketball to become widely known? " answers="*Talk#The formulation of rules#Organized publicity#The Amateur Athletic Union "] 

[question text="When was the first basketball match between colleges played? " answers="1900#1902#1893#*1897 "]

[question text="What does the possessive pronoun 'Its' in line 13 refer to? " answers="The first professional basketball league#Eastern United States#*Basketball#Amateur Athletic Union "]

[question text="When was the first basketball introduced? " answers="After 1900#1893#*1896#1898 "]

[question text="What would be the best title for the passage? " answers="*The origins and development of basketball#The first professional basketball league#American sports#The youth of James Naismith "]

[question text="What is the most likely subject of the following text? " answers="The rise of soccer in the US#*North American professional basketball#James Naismith#The difference between basket and soccer balls "]

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