Video
Games
The first widely popular video game was called “Pong,” which came out in 1972. This game looked a lot like a tennis match
where two players hit a ball back and forth.
The graphics were simple—very
simple. Each player was simply a line,
and the ball was just a dot on the screen.
While it was the most popular early game, “Pong” wasn’t the first video game. That title
goes to “Space War,” which was
created 10 years earlier by a group of highly technical college students. The object of “Space War” was to hit your opponent by firing a missile. Like “Pong,”
the graphics were so basic that they were just dots and lines on the screen.
Even though the first games were simple, they
were very entertaining. It was easy to
see that video games would soon become a huge part of the computer world.
Reading
Comprehension Questions
1) What was the author’s purpose in writing this
passage?
a.
to promote the game “Pong”
b.
to compare early video games with modern ones
c.
to discuss some of the earliest video games
d.
to predict the future of video games
2) Based on the above passage, video games were first invented
when?
a.
about 10 years ago
b.
about 50 years ago
c.
about a century ago
d.
during the Industrial Revolution
3) Based on the passage above, “Pong” was which of the
following?
a.
the first video game ever created
b.
the first video game to be very popular
c.
the first video game with modern graphics
d.
the first video game to feature multiple players
4) In the above passage, the author refers to “highly technical
college students.” What does he mean
with the words “highly technical”?
a.
they were good at math and science
b.
they were upper classmen
c.
they were experienced video “gamers”
d.
they were attending a highly regarded college
5) In the above passage, the author would agree with which of
the following statements?
a.
“Space War was created 10
years after Pong.”
b.
“The first video games were
very advanced.”
c.
“Video games have changed a
lot over the years.”
d.
“Space War was the second
video game created.”
Answer Key
1) What was the author’s purpose in
writing this passage?
a.
to promote the game “Pong”
b.
to compare early video games with modern ones
c.
to discuss some
of the earliest video games
d.
to predict the future of video games
2)
Based on the above
passage, video games were first invented when?
a.
about 10 years ago
b.
about 50 years
ago
c.
about a century ago
d.
during the Industrial Revolution
3)
Based on the
passage above, “Pong” was which of the following?
a.
the first video game ever created
b.
the first video
game to be very popular
c.
the first video game with modern graphics
d.
the first video game to feature multiple
players
4)
In the above
passage, the author refers to “highly technical college students.” What does he mean with the words “highly
technical”?
a.
they were good at
math and science
b.
they were upper classmen
c.
they were experienced video “gamers”
d.
they were attending a highly regarded college
5)
In the above
passage, the author would agree with which of the following statements?
a.
“Space War
was created 10 years after Pong.”
b.
“The first
video games were very advanced.”
c.
“Video games have changed a lot over the years.”
d.
“Space War
was the second video game created.”