VIII. Read the passage below and choose the best answer for each question by
circling A, B, C or D.
People have been playing with marbles for thousands of years. The first marbles
were probably either river stones that happened to be naturally round enough to
roll or, more likely, rounded globs of clay that were baked hardness. Such very
old clay marbles have been found in both Greek and Roman ruins, and quartz
spheres have been dated at around 6000 B.C. Harder and more durable marbles
tend to inspire different kinds of games than soft clay marbles, which crack very
easily. So with the advent of hand rounded and polished marbles made of agate
or some other rugged, igneous rock, the “golden age” of marbles and marble
play flowered. Stone marbles began to appear in the early 1800s in what is now
the southern part of Germany. Shortly after, handmade glass marbles appeared
in the same part of Europe. For the next 120 years, marbles and marble playing-
there were literally hundreds of games-flourished in both Europe and America.
Marble players developed their own vocabulary for different sizes and materials
of marbles, as well as for many kinds of games to be played and the way
marbles were used in the games. For example, if you were going to play a game

of Ring-Taw, one of the most popular and enduring marble games, you would
lag for the first shot, and then knuckle down from the baulk, trying your best to
get a mib or two with your opponent’s immie.
1. The author makes the point in the passage that playing with
marbles…………………
A. has been going on since ancient times B. is a relatively recent
phenomenon
C. is losing popularity D. is a very expensive pastime
2. According to the passage, which of the following was the least used substance
for making marbles?
A. agate B. glass C. rock D. clay
3. It can be inferred from the passage that the use of marbles became very
popular in Europe and America……………………………..
A. in the 18 th century B. in the 1970s
C. in 6000 B.C D. after glass marbles were
developed
4. We can infer from the passage that marble playing……………………..
A. is a game only for children B. has many variations in games
C. is played according to one set of rules D. uses only one kind of marble
5. We can conclude from lines 11-13 of the passage that the terminology of
marble playing is ………………………………
A. specialized B. used only by children
C. easy to understand D. derived from an ancient
language.