ark Paper : Expository
Benchm
Name
Compare-Contrast Essay
Score 4
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Write a composition for your teacher, explaining how two games that you
play are alike and how they are different. Be sure to explain your ideas
in detail.
In my town, soccer and football are both played in the fall, so you
can only sign up for one sport or the other. I decided to write a
composition to help decide which one I’ll go out for.
The places where these sports are played are quite similar. Soccer
and football are both played on a large field with real or synthetic
grass. In fact, the fields are so much alike, many professional teams
located in the same city share the same stadium. The biggest
difference in the setup of the fields is that football has two tall goal
posts at either end of the field, while soccer has much shorter nets.
The equipment for football and soccer does not have quite as much
in common. For starters, the ball used for soccer is perfectly round,
with black and white checks, but a football is solid brown and pointed at
each end. Although both football and soccer players wear jerseys with
their names and numbers on the back, what they wear under them is
very different. Football players are covered from head to toe with
protective padding. They look like lobsters! In contrast, soccer players
only wear thin plastic shin guards under their socks. Players on both
teams wear athletic shoes with cleats on the bottom. Cleats are
plastic or metal spikes that help players dig into wet, muddy fields
without slipping.
The rules of football and soccer share similarities and differences.
The object of both games is to sprint up the field and score goals.
However, soccer players can only use their feet or heads to get the
ball in the net. Football players, on the other hand, can cross the end
zone with the ball, run into the end zone and snag a pass, or kick the
ball through the posts. The offense and the defense play differently in
both sports. In football, the game stops and starts constantly so players
more
Grade 5
Blackline Master
ark Paper : Expository
Benchm
Score 4
Name
(continued)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
can switch up. In soccer, offensive and defensive players are on the
field together. Because the action rarely stops in soccer, players need
to be able to run for up to forty-five minutes without getting winded.
Finally, in both games, physical contact is used to block the other
players and keep them from scoring. Football is quite a bit rougher than
soccer, and injuries in football are much more common. Officials in
both sports are called referees. It’s their job to hand out penalties if
they see players getting out of hand or breaking any rules.
So which sport will you play? Both are fun and challenging, but you
can pick only one! Writing this essay helped me decide that soccer is
definitely going to be my fall sport.
Blackline Master
Grade 5