My Own Resources
Practice
Intermediate
Reading Comprehension Texts
Mother
AOrdinary@ was the worst insult she could find for
anything. I remember her taking me shopping and the look of scorn with which
she would freeze the shop assistants when they suggested that some dress or
pair of shoes was Avery
popular -we=ve
sold fifty already this week@.
That was all she needed to hear.
ANo@,
she would say, Awe=re not interested in that. Haven=t you got something a little more unusual?@ And then the assistant would bring out all
the strange colours no one else would buy -stuff which would have had to be
sold off cheaply at sale-time at the end of the season but for my mother. And
later she and I would argue fiercely because I wanted to be ordinary as
desperately as my mother wanted to be unusual.
AI can=t stand that hair-do@ (she said when I went to the hairdresser with
my friend and came back with a pageboy haircut straight out of Seventeen
magazine), Ait=s so terribly ordinary.@ Not ugly, not unsuitable. But ordinary...
Her
fears of ordinariness came out most strongly in her clothes.
ACouldn=t you please wear something else?@ I pleaded when she was dressing for Parents= Day in tight-fitting bullfighter=s pants and a bright pink sweater, with a
Mexican cape.
AWhat=s wrong with what I=m wearing?@
What
wasn=t
wrong with it!
AIt=s
just that I wish you=d
wear something more plain,@
I said sheepishly, Asomething
that people won=t
stare at.@
She
looked at me angrily and drew herself up to her full height of five feet ten
inches.
AAre you ashamed of your own mother? Because if
you are, Isadora, I feel sorry for you. I really do.@
Comprehension.
1.
Choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
(1 point each)
1.1.
What did the shop assistants expect Isadora=s mother to want?
a.
Something really unusual.
b.
Styles they had sold out of.
c.
Clothes that were cheap.
d.
The most popular clothes.
1.2.
When Isadora had her hair cut in a pageboy hairstyle, her mother
a.
was angry.
b.
disliked it.
c.
told her to change it.
d.
thought it was childish.
2.
Answer these questions in your own words. (1 each)
2.1.
What was Isadora=s
mother=s
reaction on Parents=
Day when Isadora asked her to change her clothes?
2.2.
What did Isadora think of her mother=s
taste in clothes?
Vocabulary.
3.
Find words in the text which mean the same as the following.
(0.5 each)
3.1.
normal, not special
3.2.
begged, asked in a serious way
Grammar
4.
Complete the following sentences using can, may, ought to, need, dare, used
to.(0.2
each)
3.1.
You____________________ go to bed earlier.
3.2.
I ____________________ not tell him I have had an accident with the car.
3.3.
You ____________________ all go out to play when you have finished this
exercise.
3.4.
____________________ I help you?
3.5.
You ____________________ do it if you try hard enough.
3.6.
He ____________________ play golf very well but he hasn=t practised for a long time.
3.7.
You ____________________ not work so hard.
3.8.
I ____________________ not spend all the money on a hat. My husband would be
cross.
3.9.
He ____________________ run faster than all the other boys in his class.
3.10.
You ____________________ not expect him to remember your birthday.
Summary.
5.
Write a summary of the text from the beginning up to A...but for my mother@. Use no more than 30 words.
(1 point)
Composition.
6.
Write a composition about an argument you had with your parents. Write 80 words.
(2 points)