My family and I went to the circus yesterday.

John Bill Ricketts staged the first circus performance in the US on April 3, 1793.

Isaac Van Amburgh began the tradition of taming jungle cats in 1830

PETA is a group that believes that circus animals are treated cruelly

The static or fixed trapeze act is performed on bars and ropes that mainly stay in place.

Albert Petrovski set the record for juggling eleven rings at the same time

A tightrope walker known as The Great Farini crossed the Niagara Falls

Forte the Ringmaster greeted the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages..."

Modern circuses tell a story or convey a theme with traditional circus skills

Chumbo was the biggest clown in the circus but he rode the tiniest unicycle

In the days before lighting, it was the ringmaster's job to tell the audience where to look

The Barnes Brother's Circus was so tightly packed that we felt like we were climbing into a clown car when we filed into our seats.

The English word circus comes from the Greek word kirkos, which means circle or ring

The seven Ringling brothers turned a small-time act into one of America's largest circuses.

Gargantua was a gorilla who saved the circus by drawing big crowds.

Fewer people went to circuses after World War II, perhaps due to a crazy new device called TV.

Circus activities take place within a ring, and large circuses have many rings.

Character clowns play a role like butcher or baker.

The whiteface clown usually leads the other clowns

Red clowns are often the ones who get the pies in the face, accidentally sit in wet paint, or have their pants ripped off.

Directions: Read each of the following sentences. Choose the proper noun from the options below. Circle your choice. Do you understand?

Charlie Chaplin studied the art of clowning.

Americans call a clown's act a gag while Europeans call it an entree.

I saw a circus from China featuring a performer who spun many plates on sticks.

Hoppy the Clown exaggerated how hard it was to ride his unicycle.

Emmett Leo Kelly was a famous clown who created \"Weary Willie,\" the hobo clown.

When Irvin Feld noticed that there were only 14 clowns left in the show, and that many of them were in their 50s, he started a clown college.

Animal trainer, Gunther Gebel-Williams, appeared on many TV shows with his tigers.

We asked the vendor selling Coca-Cola how much they cost and his response almost made me do a backflip.

The Ringling Bros. began retiring their elephants in 2015 in a move that pleased animal activists but upset some fans.

Students could attend the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College for free.