41 Sports in the Making (Understanding Questions)
Read the passage and try the multiple choice questions.
SPORTS IN THE MAKING: TENNIS
by Shane Power
History of the Game
The game of tennis played today is a form of the ancient game known as "royal" tennis. Royal tennis was played on a court with a net. The court could be inside or outside. There are different stories about its origins. One suggestion is that royal tennis goes back to the very early days of Homer, a famous Greek poet. He wrote about a ball game played by a king's daughter and her servants. Another story is that when the knights returned from the Crusades in the Middle East, around the twelfth century, they introduced the game of tennis to Europe.
However, we do know that in France a game was played with a ball and the palm of the hand. The ball was hit over a net. After a while the player's hands would blister, so gloves were worn to protect the hand. Players discovered that the glove gave the ball more power.
The next development was strings stretched across the glove. This made the ball travel even faster than before. Finally a bat with a short handle was used by the players. It was called a racket. The ball was made of leather and was stuffed with hair or cloth.
The French word used to begin the game was tenez! It means "hold" or "play." Players would call out this word before they served the ball. It seems that tenez became tennis in English.
The English and the French used to enjoy competitions against each other. People from each country began to bet money on the players and the betting became such a big business that tennis was banned.
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