Photo by © KYODO via
The Mainichi
Pre-reading questions:
- Do you play sports?
- What is your favorite sport?
Vocabulary:
- player /PLEY-er/
[noun] someone who takes part in a game or sport
My brother’s dream is to become a basketball player.
- right-handed /right-handed/
[adjective] using your right hand to write with and do most things
I’d rather be right-handed than left-handed.
- season /SEE-zuhn/
[noun] the period of the year during which a particular sport is played
The baseball season starts in March and ends in September this year.
- career /kuh-REER/
[noun] a job for which you are trained so that you get greater responsibility and earn more money
She wants to continue her singing career.
- average /AV-rij/
[noun] the result you get by adding two or more amounts together and dividing the total by the number of amounts
Savanna was not satisfied with her scores’ final average.
A Japanese professional player named Koji Uehara decided to retire on May 21, 2019 after 21 years of being a right-handed pitcher. He first played for the Yomiuri Giants in 1999 for 10 years, followed by Baltimore Orioles in 2009 and Texas Rangers in 2011. He later chose to stay with the Boston Red Sox from 2013 to 2016 where he received the World Series title. Aside from that, he became the Most Valuable Player in the American League Championship Series. He also played with the Chicago Cubs for a year before he joined the Yomiuri Giants again in 2018. Uehara said that he was not able to give his best performance this season. He finished his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with 95 saves and a 2.66 earned run average (ERA).
True or False:
- Koji Uehara is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler.
- MLB stands for “Mobile League Baseball”.
- Koji Uehara joined Chicago Cubs in 2017.
- Yomiuri Giants was Uehara’s team for 21 years.
- Koji Uehara completed his baseball career with a record of 95 saves and a 2.66 earned run average.
Vocabulary Check:
[noun] someone who takes part in a game or sport
My brother’s dream is to become a basketball player.
[adjective] using your right hand to write with and do most things
I’d rather be right-handed than left-handed.
[noun] the period of the year during which a particular sport is played
The baseball season starts in March and ends in September this year.
[noun] a job for which you are trained so that you get greater responsibility and earn more money
She wants to continue her singing career.
[noun] the result you get by adding two or more amounts together and dividing the total by the number of amounts
Savanna was not satisfied with her scores’ final average.
Complete the sentences by using the words in the box.
| average | season | player | career | right-handed |
- The team got a score above _____ .
- I am a _____ person.
- His acting ______ lasted for 20 years.
- Naomi Osaka is one of my favorite tennis _____.
- The regular basketball _____ begins in October.