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Reading Comprehension Test for 9th
Form Students 34 tasks
Directions:
In this Test you will read five texts. Each
text is followed by 7 – 15 tasks. You should do the tasks following a text on
the basis of what is stated or implied in that text. For each task you will
choose the best possible answer and mark your choice on the Answer Sheet.
TEXT 1
Read the article and choose the best answer (a, b or
c), according to the text
The Hard Rock Cafe Story
"No matter
where you are or what time it is, there's something going on at a Hard Rock
Cafe. All over the world our cafes not only serve great food, but they serve up
great music."
Hard Rock Cafes
around the world symbolize the timeless energy, originality and unifying spirit
that have helped to shape rock music over the last century.
The first Hard
Rock Cafe (HRC) opened its doors to the public on June 14, 1971, in London.
Founded by Isaac
Tigrett and Peter Morton, two enterprising and music-loving Americans, HRC was
a classic at once, attracting crowds of customers with its first-rate, but
moderately priced American bill of fare, warm service and ever present rock'n'
roll music and sensibility.
With more than
108 Hard Rock Cafes in 41 countries Hard Rock Cafe has become a truly global
phenomenon. From its launch in London, England, to New York, Los Angeles, Paris
and Tokyo, and on to such exotic locales as Kuala Lumpur and Taipei, Hard Rock
offers a special experience to its devoted, ever-expanding clientele.
HRC has also
become the world's leading collector and exhibitor of rock 'n' roll
memorabilia.*
It all started
when Eric Clapton, a regular at the first Hard Rock Cafe in London, asked the
staff if he could hang his guitar on the wall to mark his favourite bar stool
as "his spot".
They did and one
week later, a package from "The Who's" Pete Townshend arrived by
messenger with a guitar and a note with the message, "Mine's as good as
his! Love, Pete."
Ever since then,
Hard Rock Cafes have been collecting pieces of rock memorabilia and covering
their walls with them. Their unparalleled collection consists of more than
60,000 pieces. It is rotated from restaurant to restaurant and provides the
world's most comprehensive "visual history" of rock 'n' roll.
These treasures
include an awe-inspiring collection of classic guitars and other instruments,
posters, costumes, music and lyric sheets, album art, platinum and gold LPs,
photos and much more.
Throughout its
history, HRC has been governed by a special service philosophy: "Love All
- Serve All." HRC is a place where all people have always been welcome, regardless
of age, sex or class.
Since it was
established Hard Rock Cafe has taken part in a wide variety of human activities
around the world. Following its idea of being more than just a restaurant, Hard
Rock tries to connect its business and its passion to make the earth a safer,
healthier and a better place to live. For example, HRC cafes take an active
role in organizing parties to raise funds for different local charities.
They have also
founded special initiatives like 'Save the Planet' or 'Ambassador Program'.
All in all,
today Hard Rock Cafe International is an entertainment and leisure company that
continues to successfully expand the Hard Rock brand through countless
music-related activities.
1. The first Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) was opened by
A London Hard Rock fans.
B two Americans.
C Eric Clapton.
2. Lots of people like these cafes because there you
can hear
A rock 'n' roll
music.
B all kinds of
music.
C your favourite
heavy metal music.
3. The big collection of rock memorabilia
A is shown in a
museum in the USA.
B can be seen in
the London HRC.
C is passed from
restaurant to restaurant all over the world.
4. Pete Townshend sent his guitar to the first HRC in
London because
A he wanted to do
the same as Eric Clapton before him.
B it was a present to the staff.
C he wanted to pay his bill with it.
5. Hard Rock Cafes also organize
A instrument
sales for musicians.
B school
concerts.
C activities to
help people or the environment.
TEXT 2
Read the following article from a newspaper. Six
paragraphs have been removed. You must choose which of the paragraphs A-G match
the numbered gaps 1-6. There is one extra paragraph which does not fit in any
of the gaps.
The Pressure point Stressed out? Don't
fret, enjoy it!
I recently gave a course on stress, which
had nothing to do with stress management. It said that stress is magical and
needful to our inner lives. This is a very unfashionable idea. Everyone knows that
stress at work is the disease of our time. That it can kill. That it should be
avoided at all cost by stress management techniques such as visualisation of
calm scenes, aromatherapy and yoga.
|
1
|
In peace and war, stress has turned
ordinary people into heroes and heroines. It can galvanise and inspire. Those
who actively seek stress know the value of it, so why does current thinking
suggest that we should avoid it?
|
2
|
Yet the word 'stress' is used to refer to
both cause and effect, to what makes people feel stressed and to how they feel
when they are stressed. Because of this conflation of stimulus and response,
arousal has come to be blamed for the harm caused by threats and dangers.
|
3
|
This isn't necessarily so, although it may
happen. Animals, for instance, subjected to long-term, uncontrollable pain and
threat eventually resign themselves to their fate and then succumb to disease.
This behaviour has been labelled 'learned helplessness' and human research
supports this theory. Helplessness causes changes which affect the immune
system and make the body more susceptible to disease.
|
4
|
The unsatisfactory scientific research
into stress has had two consequences. First, it has led to the medicalisation
of the normal stress response, turning a survival mechanism into a disease.
Second, it has led to a lucrative, underqualified and largely unregulated
industry of stress counsellors, offering to 'manage' and manipulate stress
arousal and make it go away. An industry that says both overwork and underwork
can be “stressful”. An industry whose techniques have been questioned by a
number of scientific investigators as to their effectiveness and their purpose.
An industry that encourages people to be calm about real threats they face at
home and at work, when they should be getting off their backsides and doing
something to help themselves.
|
5
|
There is one pattern to them all. Arousal,
increasing tension and exhilaration leading to a resolution of the experience.
By these activities we learn to survive. They toughen us up and help us to
cope.
Yet nowadays, while every emphasis is
placed on stressing the body to achieve physical fitness, stressing the brain
is avoided. We are into mind flab in a big way.
|
6
|
A The problem here is not stress arousal,
but failure to act on it. Doing nothing about a threat is clearly linked in the research literature to
disease. Despair can be an anaesthetic but it is also a killer.
B In my course we look at society's
training exercises for dealing with danger and actually go through with the arousal experience.
Spectator sport, fairground rides, quizzes, thrillers and chillers of every
kind, childhood dares and daredevil pursuits.
C Recently, I have been looking at the
research on stress. Disturbingly, I found no agreed definition of the term.
Stress arousal is a response to threat or challenge.
D My course was rather different. It
featured clips from the climaxes of horror films, interviews with sports stars,
creepy-crawlies (I have a giant metal spider named Esmerelda) and lots of
evidence from the arts and sciences on stress arousal as the key to peak
experiences.
E Lamentably, if we see somebody working
flat out on a project, the fashion is to say 'they'll kill themselves', How sad
and strange. In reality, triumphing over adversity can give people a tremendous sense of achievement.
F The experimental literature on stress and
disease is also prone to another serious error. It says 'disease often follows
stressful experience, so stress must cause disease.' In logic, this is a flaw
known as post hoc, ergo propter hoc - which means that 'it
followed it, therefore it was caused by it'.
G Third, it is my view that in the triumph
over terror we find our greatest rewards. Such experiences help us to become
mature and independent.
TEXT 3
Read the text
below, and chose the word which best fits each gap from the list below.
English in Europe
English has
without a 1) ______________ become the second language of Europe and the world.
European countries which have most 2) ______________ assimilated English into
daily life are England's neighbours in Northern Europe: Ireland, the Netherlands,
Sweden, Norway, and the 3)____________ of Scandinavia.
The situation is
so 4) ______________ that any visitor to the Netherlands will soon be 5) ______
of the pressure of English on daily life: television, radio and print 6)
__________ it into every home and the schoolyard 7) _____________ of children;
advertisers use it to 8) __________ up their message, journalists take refuge
in it when their home-bred skills 9) ___________ them. Increasingly one hears
the 10) ______________ that Dutch will give way to English as the national
tongue within two or three generations ...
|
1
|
a
|
question
|
b
|
doubt
|
c
|
problem
|
d
|
thought
|
|
2
|
a
|
successfully
|
b
|
victorious
|
c
|
successful
|
d
|
lucrative
|
|
3
|
a
|
rest
|
b
|
additional
|
c
|
remaining
|
d
|
extra
|
|
4
|
a
|
plain
|
b
|
open
|
c
|
blatant
|
d
|
marked
|
|
5
|
a
|
ignorant
|
b
|
aware
|
c
|
oblivious
|
d
|
acquainted
|
|
6
|
a
|
guide
|
b
|
bring
|
c
|
shift
|
d
|
haul
|
|
7
|
a
|
conversation
|
b
|
head-to-head
|
c
|
consultatio
|
d
|
dialogue
|
|
8
|
a
|
life
|
b
|
energy
|
c
|
enthusiasm
|
d
|
pep
|
|
9
|
a
|
succeed
|
b
|
fall
|
c
|
fail
|
d
|
fizzle
|
|
10
|
a
|
feeling
|
b
|
posture
|
c
|
judgement
|
d
|
view
|
TEXT 4
Read the text
below and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
THE HAWKING STORY
Jane Hawking met the man who was to become her
husband in 1963, shortly before the beginning of his illness. They married two
years later and, as Hawking got down to work, the disease progressed tandem
with his fame.
A string of academic positions and awards
came his way did an increasing dependence on his wife and those around him. For
Mrs Hawking, life became paradoxically easier. An American philanthropic
organization provided the for 24-hour nursing. For the first time in their
marriage, she was no wholly for keeping him alive, and could devote more time
concentrating on her work and their three children.
Mrs Hawking has a neat, organised air, and
at that is high-pitched and genteel of which conceal the fact that she regards
the world’s belief that her husband is about to come up with an explanation for
the universe the deepest suspicion. It is ironic that his work threatens to
undermine the foundations of her strongly religious convictions, which have
sustained
1 Hawking’s
illness prevented him from working.
T/F
2 The
Hawkings were initially unable to afford full-time professional nursing. T/F
3 Jane
Hawking gave up working when she had children. T/F
4 Jane
Hawking is dubious about her husband’s work. T/F
5 Jane
Hawking and her husband share the fundamental beliefs. T/F
6 There
are certain beliefs that Hawking does not discuss with his wife. T/F
TEXT 5
For questions 1-7, read the text
below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same
line. There is an example at the beginning (0). Example: 0 construction
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Dutch
bridge-builder
Pieter Lodewijk Kramer
(1881–1961) was responsible for the
(0) ….. of some of
the most famous bridges in Amsterdam. CONSTRUCT
As road traffic increased
in Amsterdam at the beginning of the last
century, the city started
demolishing (1) ….. older structures in NUMBER
the city centre. But when
workmen began pulling down the most
attractive bridges and (2)
….. them with modern iron ones, there PLACE
was strong public (3) …..
. As a result, the position of APPROVE
architectural (4) …..
was created, and in 1917 Kramer took up the ADVICE
post.
Kramer built no fewer than
220 bridges. Each exemplifies Kramer’s
individual style: his acute
sense of detail and his use of many
unusual (5) ….. of
stone and iron.
COMBINE
Kramer’s bridges, which are
now a (6) ….. part of the Amsterdam DISTINCT
landscape, were largely
ignored until a Dutch museum presented
an (7) …..
successful exhibition of his work in 1995. ASTONISH
Writing Test for 9th Form Students
1.
Mobile
telephones have become very popular nowadays. However, some people say that
their use should be restricted.
What can you say for and against using a mobile telephone?
Write not less than 250 words.
2.
Do you agree or
disagree with the following statement? Television
has destroyed communication among friends and family.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Write not less than 250 words.
3.
Do you agree or
disagree with the following statement? People
should read only those books that are about real events, real people,
and established facts.
Use specific reasons and details to support your
opinion.
Write not less
than 250 words.
READING
COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 10TH FORM STUDENTS 40 TASKS
TEXT 1
Read the text below, and chose the word which best
fits each gap from the list below.
TRINITY
COLLEGE
Trinity College was 1) ___________ by Sir Thomas Pope
in 1555. A
devout catholic with no surviving children, Thomas Pope saw the Foundation of
an Oxford college as a means of 2) ___________that he and his family would
always be remembered in the prayers and masses of its members. He came from a
family of small 3) _____________ in Oxfordshire, trained as a lawyer, and rose
rapidly to prominence 4) ____________ Henry VIII. As Treasurer of the Court of
Augmentations he handled the estates of the monasteries 5) _______________ at the
Reformation, and amassed a considerable personal 6) _____________. Pope was a
discreet and trusted privy counsellor of Mary Tudor, and it was from Mary and
Philip that he 7) ______ Letters Patent and royal approval for his new
foundation. Pope died in 1559. Although his religious 8) ______ were never
fully realised - Elizabeth I had succeeded her sister and England 9)
__________ to the Protestant faith -
nonetheless the memory of his name, like his college, has endured the
fluctuating fortunes of over 400 years. His wife, Lady Elizabeth Pope, was a
particularly influential 10) ___________ in Trinity's early years. Pope's
foundation was for a President, twelve Fellows and twelve scholars, all
supported by the income from his 11) ______________ endowment of lands, and for
up to twenty undergraduates. The Fellows, all men, were required to take Holy
Orders and remain unmarried. The College Statutes set out rules for a simple
monastic life of religious observance and study. The Garden was an informal
grove of trees, mainly elms, amongst which the members of the College could 12)
______________ and meditate.
|
1
|
a
|
founded
|
b
|
set
|
c
|
begin
|
d
|
starting
|
|
2
|
a
|
securing
|
b
|
ensuring
|
c
|
clinching
|
d
|
verifying
|
|
3
|
a
|
owners
|
b
|
landowners
|
c
|
freeholders
|
d
|
mistresses
|
|
4
|
a
|
with
|
b
|
on
|
c
|
under
|
d
|
because
|
|
5
|
a
|
dissolved
|
b
|
disintegrated
|
c
|
crumbled
|
d
|
withered
|
|
6
|
a
|
fortune
|
b
|
wealth
|
c
|
rich
|
d
|
money
|
|
7
|
a
|
inherited
|
b
|
conferred
|
c
|
received
|
d
|
excepted
|
|
8
|
a
|
ideals
|
b
|
examples
|
c
|
belief
|
d
|
value
|
|
9
|
a
|
rejoined
|
b
|
repeated
|
c
|
returned
|
d
|
reinstated
|
|
10
|
a
|
outline
|
b
|
symbol
|
c
|
shape
|
d
|
figure
|
|
11
|
a
|
generous
|
b
|
generosity
|
c
|
bounty
|
d
|
teeming
|
|
12
|
a
|
prowl
|
b
|
walk
|
c
|
promenade
|
d
|
yomp
|
TEXT 2
Read the text and choose the best answer (1,
2, 3 or 4), according to the text
My
friendship with Kathy wasn’t a perfect friendship. I learned very soon in our
relationship that Kathy was jealous. We would have great fun going out shopping
but if I bought, say, a dress for a party and she thought my dress was better
than hers, she would start to say slightly unkind things about it. She would be
keen to come out with me to buy the dress. She would give me a lot of helpful
advice while I was trying on the various dresses in the shops. Her advice would
be good. She would even tell the shop assistant if she thought the price was
too high. I can remember one occasion when she said this and, to my surprise,
they knocked the price down so that I could afford to buy it. The trouble would
come later. When we were actually going to the party and we were both dressed
up and she was looking marvellous (for she was very beautiful) she would
suddenly say, “I think, Sarah, we were both wrong about that dress. It looks a
bit cheap, doesn’t it!”
Once or
twice I “dropped” Kathy. I told her I was too busy to see her. Or I told her I
had to see another friend. All these lies hurt me because I had no other friend
and I was so lonely. But they never hurt her. She just smiled sweetly and said
she’d see me next week. And of course, within a week or so, I’d be on the phone
asking her to come out. She never minded this. She never sulked at me and
pretended that she was too busy.
Students always celebrated
the end of the college year with a fancy-dress ball. It was a big event. But as
luck would have it, Kathy and I had made other arrangements for the day of the
ball. We had booked to go to the theatre. We had talked for ages of going, and
at last we had our tickets. For us it was a big event. It was a musical and our
favourite singer star was in it, so our hearts were set on the theatre.
Then Kathy came round to see me. Mother was in at the
time, and I had to speak to her on the doorstep because Mum had just been
having a go at me for seeing too much of Kathy.
“I don’t want that girl coming in this house and
nosing around.” So I told Kathy I couldn’t invite her in because my Mum had a
bad headache.
Kathy didn’t mind. She smiled and said she was sorry
about my mother’s bad head. I was sure she knew what had really happened.
But she carried on smiling, and then she said: “I’m
sorry, but I can’t come to the theatre with you after all. My brother’s come
home and he wants to take me to the fancy-dress ball at the college. I can’t
let him down.” I couldn’t believe that she would let me down. She knew how much
I had looked forward to the theatre trip. We had talked about it together for
months.
I was almost in tears by the time I had
said goodbye to her and closed the door. My Mum was kind and understanding. She
made me promise I would never see Kathy again. I agreed, and felt that was the
least I could do by way of revenge for my disappointment. I told myself that I
would never so much as talk to Kathy if
I saw her. Our relationship was at an end. I would never forget what she had
done to me.
1. When Sarah
says that Kathy was jealous she implies that Kathy didn’t like it when Sarah
|
1)
|
had fun
going out.
|
|
2)
|
managed to
buy the dress cheaply.
|
|
3)
|
wore
expensive clothes.
|
|
4)
|
wore
clothes smarter than her own.
|
2. When Sarah
was buying a dress in a shop Kathy would
|
1)
|
start to
say slightly unkind things about it.
|
|
2)
|
do her
best to ensure that Sarah made the best buy.
|
|
3)
|
insist
that Sarah should buy a cheap dress.
|
|
4)
|
be keen to
buy a marvellous dress for herself.
|
3. When Sarah
tried to “drop” her, Kathy
|
1)
|
pretended
to be busy.
|
|
2)
|
went to
see another friend.
|
|
3)
|
felt hurt
and lonely.
|
|
4)
|
always
took it easy.
|
4. “But as luck would have it” in paragraph 3
means Kathy and Sarah
|
1)
|
had the
luck to get the tickets for the musical.
|
|
2)
|
were happy
to have made arrangements for the ball.
|
|
3)
|
were
looking forward to hearing their favourite singer.
|
|
4)
|
had by
chance two events on the same day.
|
5. Sarah
couldn’t invite Kathy to come in because
|
1)
|
their
house was in a mess.
|
|
2)
|
her mother
was suffering from a bad headache.
|
|
3)
|
her mother
disapproved of her daughter’s friend.
|
|
4)
|
Kathy had
come to their house to nose around.
|
6. Kathy said
she didn’t mind speaking to Sarah on the doorstep because she
|
1)
|
didn’t
want to make Sarah feel uncomfortable.
|
|
2)
|
believed
that Sarah’s Mum had a headache.
|
|
3)
|
did not
want anyone to overhear them talking.
|
|
4)
|
was in a
hurry to see her brother.
|
7. Sarah
decided not to see Kathy again because
|
1)
|
her mother
forbade her.
|
|
2)
|
she
couldn’t forgive Kathy.
|
|
3)
|
her mother
was disappointed.
|
|
4)
|
she wanted
to revenge for her mother.
|
TEXT 3
For questions 1-8 read the text below. Use the word
given in capitals at the end of each line to form
a word that fits in the space in the same line.
The History
of Man
|
How long
has man been on earth? Let us travel 5,000 years into the past. We are in the
days before man ____1_______ to write.
|
LEARN
|
|
Recorded
history _____________2___________
yet.
|
NOT BEGIN
|
|
Let us
go ___3________ into the past to 8,000 years ago.
We are in
a world without cities or towns, houses or roads.
|
FAR
|
|
Yet there
are people, about five million of them,
____4_______
on all
five continents.
|
LIVE
|
|
They have
cows and horses and they ___5_______the
land.
|
FARM
|
|
To find
the ___6_______ man we must go many hundreds of
thousands of years into the past.
|
ONE
|
|
The ___7______ true human being, Homo sapiens, appeared
in Europe more than 50,000 years ago.
|
EARLY
|
|
We can be
proud of the progress the man ___8________ since
then.
|
MAKE
|
TEXT 4
You are
going to read a magazine article about John Prince, a dancer, dance teacher and
choreographer. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose the
most suitable sentence from the list A-H for each part (1-6) of the article.
There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example
at the beginning.
Career
success in the arts
John Prince, famous dancer and choreographer, gives
advice on how to succeed in a career in the arts.
"So all in all I'm really happy to be a
dancer!" I asked John how he got started and what requirements there are.
"Well, to be a professional dancer it's useful to have had acting lessons
or some background in drama. If you want to succeed in musical theatre you have
to have a good singing voice as well. When you approach an agent you should
take a portfolio with your CV, your statistics sheet and some good photos and
reviews of past performances. You'll need dance clothes, ballet shoes, tap
shoes, and even roller skates depending on what kind of show you are going to
go for."
|
0 H
|
"Of course, you need to be extremely fit if you
want to be a professional dancer. I dance or move about for about six hours a
day. There are great health benefits to being a dancer. I can eat a lot of
pasta without gaining weight because dancing increases your metabolism so
much."
|
1
|
John has a very busy schedule in the next few months.
He took time out to speak to me today from the making of a pop video to promote
N-ergy's latest record. "I choreographed the dance routine for the boys
and they only had 2 days in which to learn it! I am going to be working on a
video for another well known band - but that's top secret. Next month I'll be
touring Spain in a production of a musical that was written by a friend of
mine, Michaela Evans.
|
2
|
As for the future, I've come to realise that I would
never be content to be just a chorus dancer - I'm too much of an individual for
that. Like all artists I'd love to become a household name by writing and
choreographing my own musicals."
John was born in Jamaica to a Jamaican father and a
Scottish mother but the family emigrated to England 20 years ago. "I have
a little sister I adore, who is also training to be a dancer." How does it
feel to have someone else following in your footsteps?
|
3
|
Has he much more to learn, I wondered. "I've
spent an incredible amount of my life training to get where I am. I went to
college for two years in England, I trained for six months in Paris and about
eight months in America. But you never really stop training or learning your
art."
|
4
|
So, would you say it's been plain sailing? "I
feel I've been lucky to a degree; many people hit problems breaking into the
arts. It can be a vicious circle really. You can't become a member of Equity,
which is the actors' and dancers' union, without good contracts and you can't
get good contracts without being a member of Equity. My advice to people who
want to get into the arts would be to go out into the world, and try everything
else first.
|
5
|
What has a dance career done for you as a person?
"Thanks to dancing, I've visited and performed in 23 countries so far.
This has opened my eyes to the world, and I've been able to understand issues
like racism and inequality from a wider perspective.
|
6
|
A It's fine,
but I try not to give out too much advice as it gets irritating!
B And if nothing you like comes out of it, then come
back and be an actor or dancer.
C Without a strict daily timetable like this you find
yourself wasting too much time.
D After that it's back to England to start a new term of
dance classes.
E Hopefully this has enabled me to become a better and
more tolerant person as a result.
F When it comes to coping with stress, I find that
exercise helps me to cope with my problems, so I stay in good shape mentally as
well.
G Like any profession where you're always travelling,
you tend to acquire something new almost every day.
H Being fully equipped with all this stuff beforehand
makes it easier when you go for auditions.
TEXT 5
Read the
text and look at the questions that follow it. In this reading comprehension,
the questions are true or false.
Mother Fined
For Son's Absences.
An Ipswich mother, who allowed her son to go on
holiday during school term, has been fined Ј400 after her son repeatedly refused to go to school.
The 36-year-old mother, who can not be named for legal
reasons, appeared before South East Suffolk Magistrates Court yesterday where
magistrates heard her 14-year-old son was currently on holiday in Spain.
She told that court: "He just does not like going
to school. Although he is getting better now and seems to be enjoying it."
The boy has had 145 unauthorised absences between
October 15 last year and March 22 this year. His absences were blamed on a
late-night life style.
The mother has been attending parenting classes
voluntarily and told the court that she thought they were helping her.
Out of the last eight school sessions - there are two
a day - he has attended five.
Chairman of the bench David Coe asked her if she thought
she could get her son to school in future.
"Yes I think I can with some help," she
said.
She told the court that he was on holiday during the
time other pupils were doing work experience because he had not been given a
place.
On sentencing Mr Coe said: "He is not in school
and then he disappears on holiday. We would expect the local authority to bring
this back to court quickly if there are further problems."
She was fined Ј400 and
ordered to pay Ј50.
Yesterday's case is the second to be dealt with by
south east Suffolk magistrates recently. Last month a 37-year-old was fined Ј50 after her son had attended just
16 out of 182 sessions.
And the cases follow national concern after
Oxfordshire mother Patricia Amos was jailed for allowing her children to miss
school. She was originally sentenced to 60 days' jail, but this was reduced on
appeal.
1. The boy had returned to school when his
mother was in court. T/F
2.
The main reason for his absences was the fact that he went out late every
night. T/F
3. The mother has to go to parenting
classes.
T/F
4. The mother claims her son is not
currently missing school lessons.
T/F
5. The mother may find herself in court
again soon.
T/F
6. There have been other similar cases
nationwide but this is the first in this area. T/F
7. There was national support for the tough
treatment of Patricia Amos. T/F
Writing Test for 10th
Form Students
1.We are becoming increasingly dependent on computers.
They are used in business, crime detection and even to fly planes. What things
will they be used for in future? Is this dependence on computers a good thing
or should we be more suspicious of their benefits?
Write not less than 250 words.
2.
In many
countries children are engaged in some kind of paid work. Some people regard
this as completely wrong, while others consider it as valuable work experience,
important for learning and taking responsibility.
What is your
opinion on this?
Write not less than 250 words.
.Do you agree
or disagree with the following statement? A
person should never make an important decision alone.
Use specific
reasons and examples to support your answer.
Write not less than 250 words.
READING COMPREHENSION TEST FOR 11TH FORM
STUDENTS 46
TASKS
TEXT 1
Choose the most suitable sentence from the list A-G
for each part (1-6) of the text. There is one extra sentence which you do not
need to use.
|
Before the Hubble Space Telescope
was launched, scientists thought they knew the universe. They were wrong.
The Hubble Space Telescope has
changed many scientists’ view of the universe. The telescope is named after
American astronomer Edwin Hubble,
1 _______________________.
He established that many galaxies
exist and developed the first system for their classifications.
In many ways, Hubble is like any
other telescope. It simply gathers light. It is roughly the size of a large
school bus. What makes Hubble special is not what it is,
2 _______________________.
Hubble was launched in 1990 from
the “Discovery” space shuttle and it is about
It is far from the glare of city
lights, it doesn’t have to look through the air,
4 _______________________.
And what a view it is! Hubble is
so powerful it could spot a fly on the moon.
Yet in an average orbit, it uses
the same amount of energy as 28 100-watt light bulbs. Hubble pictures require
no film. The telescope takes digital images
5 _______________________.
Hubble has snapped photos of
storms on Saturn and exploding stars. Hubble doesn’t just focus on our solar
system. It also peers into our galaxy and beyond. Many Hubble photos show the
stars that make up the Milky Way galaxy. A galaxy is a city of stars.
|
||||||||||||||||
TEXT 2
Read the text and
choose the best answer (1, 2, 3 or 4), according to the text
Sometimes my father scares me. He can tackle something
he knows nothing about, and nine times out of ten, it will come out all right.
It’s pure luck, of course, but try convincing him. “Frame of Mind,” he says.
“Just believe you can do a thing, and you’ll do it.” “Anything?” I asked. “Some
day your luck will run out. Then see what good your Frame of Mind will do,” I
said.
Believe me, I am not just being a smart aleck. It so happens that I have
actually tried Frame of Mind myself. The first time was the year I went all out
to pass the civics final. I had to go all out; on account of I had not cracked
a book all year. I really crammed, and all the time I was cramming I was
concentrating on Frame of Mind. Just believe you can do a thing – sure. I made
the lowest score in the history of Franklin High. “Thirty-three percent,” I
said, showing my father the report card. “There’s your Frame of Mind for you.”
He put it on the table without looking at it. “You have to reach a certain age
and understanding,” he explained. “That’s the key to Frame of Mind.” “Yeah?
What does a guy do in the meantime?” “Maybe you should study. Some kids learn a
lot that way.”
That was my first experience with Frame of Mind. My latest one was for a
promotion at the Austin Clothing Store. Jim Watson had a slightly better sales
record and was more knowledgeable and skilful. Me, I had Frame of Mind. Jim
Watson got the job. Did this convince my father? It did not. To convince him,
something had to happen. To him, I mean. Something did happen, too, at the
Austin Clothing Store. My father works there, too. What happened was that Mr
Austin paid good money for a clever Easter window display. It’s all set up and
we’re about to draw the curtain when we discover the display lights won’t work.
I can see Mr Austin growing pale. He is thinking of the customers that could go
right by his store in the time it will take him to get hold of an electrician.
This is when my father comes on the scene. “Is
something the matter?” he says. “Oh, hello, Louis,” Mr Austin says. He calls my
father “Louis.” Me, Joe Conklin – one of his best salesmen – he hardly knows.
My father, a stock clerk, he calls “Louis.” Life isn’t always fair. “These
darned lights won’t work.” “H’mm, I see,” my father says. “Maybe I can be of
service.” From inside his pocket comes a screwdriver. Mr Austin looks at him.
“Can you help us, Louis?” “No, he cannot,” I volunteer. “You think he’s Thomas
Edison?” I don’t intend to say that. It just slips out. “Young man, I was
addressing your father,” Mr Austin says, giving me a cold hard look. My father
touches something with his screwdriver and the display lights go on.
What happened next was that the big safe in Mr
Austin’s office got jammed shut with all our pay checks in it. From nowhere
comes my father. “Is something the matter?” he says. “The safe, Louis,” Mr
Austin is saying. “It won’t
open, I was going to send for you.” “H’mm, I see,” my father says. “Can you
help us, Louis?” Mr Austin inquires. I start to say he cannot, but I stop
myself. If my father wants to be a clown, that’s his business. “What is the
combination of this safe?” my father says. Mr Austin whispers the combination
in my father’s ear. Armed with the combination, he starts twirling the knob. I
can’t believe it: grown men and women standing hypnotized, expecting that safe
door to open. And while they stand there, the safe door opens.
“Go ahead, say it was luck, my opening the safe today,” my father says.
“OK,” I reply. Then I tell him what I saw in the faces of those people in Mr
Austin’s office: confidence and trust and respect. “The key to Frame of Mind is
you have to use it to give support to those who need it when there’s no one
else to save the situation. Otherwise it will not work.”
1. The narrator thought that his father
|
1)
|
believed that he was the luckiest man in the
world.
|
|
2)
|
was a knowledgeable and highly qualified man.
|
|
3)
|
succeeded in almost everything he did.
|
|
4)
|
didn’t mind being called a lucky man.
|
2. In paragraph 2 “I had to go all out” means that the narrator had to
|
1)
|
take the civics examination one more time.
|
|
2)
|
take the civics examination in a different
school.
|
|
3)
|
try as hard as he could to prepare for the
exam.
|
|
4)
|
find somebody to help him pass the exam.
|
3. They didn't promote the narrator because he had
|
1)
|
proved less successful than Jim.
|
|
2)
|
sold few records.
|
|
3)
|
no Frame of Mind.
|
|
4)
|
not reached the promotion age.
|
4. Mr Austin was in despair because
|
1)
|
the curtain wouldn’t draw open.
|
|
2)
|
he couldn’t find an electrician.
|
|
3)
|
the display had cost him a lot of money.
|
|
4)
|
he was likely to lose some customers.
|
5. When Mr Austin called the narrator’s father “Louis” the young man felt
|
1)
|
proud of his Dad.
|
|
2)
|
hopeful of his Dad.
|
|
3)
|
jealous of his
Dad.
|
|
4)
|
sorry for his
Dad.
|
6. The narrator was sure that
|
1)
|
his Dad would open the safe.
|
|
2)
|
his Dad knew nothing about safes.
|
|
3)
|
Mr. Austin wanted to make fun of his Dad.
|
|
4)
|
Mr. Austin had sent for his Dad to open the
safe.
|
7. According to Louis’ words, Frame of Mind worked if one was
|
1)
|
an expert in many fields.
|
|
2)
|
ready to help other people.
|
|
3)
|
a lucky person.
|
|
4)
|
respectful and
trustful.
|
|
|
|
TEXT 3
Read the text and
choose the best word (a, b, c or d), according to the text
What makes you lose your temper?
You think it is 1 ... time your neighbour put a new gate up between your two
gardens. Do you a) 2 ... the matter
with him in a friendly way? b) 3 ...
him over the disputed fence? Or c) Kick the old one down?
This is not a new board game, 4 ... a question form researchers at
the University of Birmingham trying to find out why people lose their tempers.
Their research shows that there are some very angry people 5 ... . One man who had been rung up at random had no 6... in answering (c). He was one of 50
people picked from the phone book and asked 7 ... sort of things really 8
... them mad. The team found that, despite our calm 9 ... , Britons get upset about the strangest things-10... men wearing polyester ties ore
putting creases in their denim jeans, to people who 11 ... their food in tomato sauce or bus drivers who drive badly
and bounce their passengers down the stairs.
The question the researchers are now
asking is: Why? and what do we do to 12
... that anger? The work is being 13
... by two clinical psychologists and 14
... from being a light- hearted study, it has serious 15 ... They are hoping it will provide a 16 ... to more effective treatment of violent criminals.
|
1
|
a
|
just
|
b
|
about
|
c
|
over
|
d
|
the
|
|
2
|
a
|
talk
|
b
|
deal
|
c
|
explain
|
d
|
discuss
|
|
3
|
a
|
argue
|
b
|
face
|
c
|
meet
|
d
|
propose
|
|
4
|
a
|
nor
|
b
|
though
|
c
|
but
|
d
|
however
|
|
5
|
a
|
about
|
b
|
outside
|
c
|
nearby
|
d
|
round
|
|
6
|
a
|
reason
|
b
|
doubt
|
c
|
hesitation
|
d
|
choice
|
|
7
|
a
|
the
|
b
|
any
|
c
|
that
|
d
|
what
|
|
8
|
a
|
set
|
b
|
made
|
c
|
put
|
d
|
had
|
|
9
|
a
|
image
|
b
|
character
|
c
|
name
|
d
|
face
|
|
10
|
a
|
like
|
b
|
as
|
c
|
from
|
d
|
even
|
|
11
|
a
|
spread
|
b
|
eat
|
c
|
spoil
|
d
|
cover
|
|
12
|
a
|
refuse
|
b
|
revise
|
c
|
control
|
d
|
cope
|
|
13
|
a
|
followed
|
b
|
done
|
c
|
practised
|
d
|
made
|
|
14
|
a
|
different
|
b
|
far
|
c
|
instead
|
d
|
away
|
|
15
|
a
|
project
|
b
|
cause
|
c
|
promise
|
d
|
purpose
|
|
16
|
a
|
just
|
b
|
about
|
c
|
over
|
d
|
the
|
TEXT 4
For questions 1-10, read the text
below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same
line. There is an example at the beginning (0).
Nothing to match it!
There's nothing to
match the (0) .warmth. and
coziness of a WARM
genuine log-fire. The
luxury and sheer (1)............ of
sitting back RELAX
and watching the
progress of fire and flame is almost (2).......... BELIEVE
A log-fire appeals
to all the senses. Yes, you can (3)........ ACTUAL
taste and smell the
(4)............. of newly cut timber - and then FRESH
enjoy the sight and
sound of the minor (5)........... as it burns. EXPLODE
Logs hiss for a while
before they (6)........... burst in the heat, FINAL
so the moment of (7)............. comes as a climax after lots of DESTROY
suspense!
All of this is very (8)............. , and the thing that makes it more DRAMA
(8)............... than ever is that one's feet are up and one's
whole ENJOY
body is being bathed
in tropical heat. It's a (10)............................ MARVEL
experience!
TEXT 5
Read the text and look at the questions that follow
it. In this reading comprehension, the questions are true or false.
Couple Sue TV Station
The couple
banished from the hit "reality" series "Temptation Island"
because they are parents of a young child have sued the production company and
Fox-TV for defamation, claiming that producers knew about the toddler all
along.
Ytossie
Patterson and Taheed Watson claim in their Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit
that producers edited an episode of the hit show to make it appear that they
had concealed their status as parents and then chastised them on the air in an
"extremely condescending and humiliating manner."
A spokeswoman
for Rocket Science Laboratories, the show's producers, referred calls regarding
the lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday, to Fox, which said it would have a
statement "later in the day."
Patterson, 34,
and Watson, 29, were among four couples sent last season to an island off
Belize in the Caribbean to film "Temptation Island," which separates
the partners and sets each person up on dates with attractive singles to see
who will cheat.
Patterson and
Watson were booted off the show midway through the season after the network
said it had discovered that they had a two-year-old child together, making
their further participation inappropriate.
The couple
claims in their lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, that they revealed
the existence of their child when asked during preliminary interviews with
Rocket Science and were told that that was "the wrong answer."
Patterson and
Watson claim that "Temptation Island" producers decided that it would
boost the show's ratings if the child's existence were suddenly revealed during
a broadcast.
During that
broadcast, the couple claims, hours of conversation between them and producers
was edited and "manipulated" to create a false impression that they
had kept their child secret.
"The
footage was edited to exclude plaintiffs' responses to the producers questions
and falsely portrayed plaintiffs as mischievous and immoral (and that) they had
in fact concealed the existence of their own child and that they had nothing to
say about it in the face of this disgraceful tongue-lashing," the lawsuit
claims.
1. The programme mentioned is successful.
T/F
2. The couple say they had told Fox of the child.
T/F
3. The couple felt embarrassed by their treatment on
the show.
4. The four couples go on dates with each other to see
what happens.
5. The couple are suing for financial loss.
T/F
6. The court case is in the Caribbean.
T/F
7. The couple say that the producers changed the film to make them look
dishonest. T/F
Writing Test for 11h Form Students
- Some movies
are serious, designed to make the audience think. Other movies are
designed primarily to amuse and entertain.
Which type of movie do you prefer? Use specific
reasons and examples to support your answer.
Write not less
than 250 words.
- People attend
college or university for many different reasons (for example, new
experiences, career preparation, and increased knowledge.)
Why do you think
people attend college or university? Use specific reasons and examples to
support your answer.
Write not less than 250 words.
- Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement? People behave differently
when they wear different clothes. Do you agree that different clothes
influence the way people behave?
Use specific examples to support your answer.
Write not less
than 250 words.
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