A. Scan the article
and answer the following questions:
1. How many players are there in a
hockey team?
2. How fast can the players move?
3. What does NHL stand for?
4. What is the name of the trophy that NHL teams compete for?
Do you like playing ice hockey? Or would
you rather watch an exciting game on TV? For many Canadian people,
playing or watching ice hockey is one of their favorite winter pastimes.
Many consider ice hockey as the national sport of Canada.
Ice hockey is a game played on a huge rectangular ice surface. Two opposing teams of
six skaters use long curved sticks to send a small disk called a "puck" into each other's
goal.
Many people say that ice hockey is one of the
most graceful and exciting sports in the world. Hockey
players display their superb skating skill and stick-handling ability,
moving at speeds of nearly 45 kilometers an hour.
However, ice hockey can also be a physically punishing sport.
Players often come into violent contact with opponents' sticks and
bodies.
Although it was initially an amateur sport, the turn of the century saw
dozens of professional leagues start up, including the National Hockey
League (NHL). The NHL began in November, 1917, and is now recognized as
the premier hockey league in the world.
Teams in the NHL compete for a trophy called "The Stanley Cup." The
cup was originally called the "Dominion Challenge Trophy" and was
donated in 1893 by Canada's Governor General, Lord Stanley of Preston.
For years, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens were the
only Canadian teams in the league. Between them, they have won the
Stanley Cup nearly forty times. In recent years, teams from
Edmonton and Calgary have also captured NHL championships.
B. Read the article
again and check your comprehension:
1. What is a favorite winter pastime for
Canadian people?
2. What is the small disk called?
3. What kind of skills do hockey players
display?
4. Why is ice hockey a physically
punishing sport?
5. When did the NHL begin?
6. What was the Stanley Cup originally
called?
7. Who donated the Cup?
8. Which two teams have won the Stanley
Cup nearly 40 times?
