Английский язык. 9-11 класс. Reading Comprehension

Part 1

You are going to read a teacher’s memories of a class she taught. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (А, В, С or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

Halliday’s writing leaned very much back to the left. He was the only pupil in the class who wrote in this way. He was a nuisance in poetry lessons as he would giggle and make faces and could never be persuaded to read aloud.
His silly behaviour made me believe that he didn’t like poetry. However, when I gave 5 the class a test in which they had to write down some poetry they had learned by heart, Halliday seemed to know the most.

Halliday had a special dislike for art and I allowed him to read during this period. He never volunteered for drama and refused to make a speech. Football was the one thing at which he excelled, but the sports teacher decided that he did not assert 1 о himself enough and he made another boy captain. This boy — his name was John Jones — could hardly read or write. All attempts to make him work failed, but he captained the team with amazing skill.

I remember an occasion when he led our school eleven out of the changing rooms for a cup match against our fiercest rivals, the team from nearby Winterton School, is The Winterton girls’ hockey team had already beaten our own girls’ team and this -plus their excellent start to the season — had raised their morale to a fearsome level. Even so, John played like a true professional. Our only scorer, he made good use of Halliday’s passes and scored a goal for every two that the Winterton players could manage between them. Though Kingston lost, the match was a triumph for Captain Jones!

In spite of all this, the pupil who impressed me most in the end was David Halliday. He gained my admiration on a day when I had his class for art. They came into the hut shouting and pushing and I sent them out again and told them they would not have a lesson until they walked in properly. They thought it was fun to waste as 25 much time as possible, and they jeered and cheered outside the hut. I let them go on for a minute. Suddenly the noise stopped and in marched Halliday.

They’re all right now,’ he said. ‘I’ve got them lined up.’ I looked outside and sure enough the pupils of class 2D were arranged like well drilled soldiers; they were in order of size and in perfect line — so still I could see them shivering in the chilly air. 30 ‘Walk in quietly,’ Halliday commanded. They obeyed their superior officer and the lesson began. Halliday himself, as usual, refused to work. ‘Can I just sit and have a nap?’ he asked. After the help he had given me I could hardly refuse.

1 Halliday stood out from the other pupils because of his

A beautiful handwriting.
В bad behaviour.
С love of poetry.
D skill as a footballer.

2 Halliday failed to be chosen as captain of the football team because

A he was thought to be lazy.
В he was thought to be a poor leader.
С Jones was bad at other things and needed encouragement.
D Jones was better at scoring goals when under pressure.

3 Who felt really confident at the start of the match?

A the Winterton girls’ hockey team
В the Winterton football team
С the Kingston team, led by John Jones
D John Jones and David Halliday

4 The match was a triumph for John Jones because

A his team won.
В he scored all Kingston’s goals.
С he made good use of Halliday’s passes.
D he was chosen as Kingston’s captain instead of Halliday.

5 After being turned out of the hut, class 2D started behaving themselves because

A the teacher refused to let them in until they did.
В they had to obey their superior officer.
С David Halliday sorted them out.
D they wanted to get in out of the cold.

6 David Halliday’s teacher

A admired his memory for poetry.
В admired his strong personality.
С realized that he deserved to be captain of the football team.
D realized that he deserved to read or rest during art lessons.

7 Halliday wanted a nap because

A he hated art.
В he thought he deserved it.
С he was lazy.
D he had worked so hard organizing the pupils.

8 Which of the following do you think would be the best title for the passage?

A The Big Match.
В Jones to the Rescue!
С A Difficult Class.
D Halliday Earns a Rest!

Keys 1D, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5C, 6B, 7A, 8D

Part 2

You are going to read an article about Robin Hood. Eight sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-l the one which fits each gap (9-15). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Who was Robin Hood?

Stories and rhymes about a band of robbers led by a man called Robin Hood have been popular for over 600 years. Five hundred years ago, a man called Wynken de Worde collected the rhymes together and printed a book about Robin Hood’s life. Since then, thousands of other books have been based on the rhymes — as well as television programmes, films and computergames.

The Robin Hood stories were certainly very popular with King Henry VIII, who ruled England at the start of the 16th century. Henry was a child when the stories first appeared in print, but they fascinated him for the rest of his life.

After all this time it is hard to tell how the stories began. Some people think that Robin Hood is a fictional character; others think he really lived, and they argue about which part of England he was from.

The idea that they were stealing from rich folk to give to the poor has saved them from being branded as villains. They certainly chose their victims carefully, sparing the poor and picking on those who were wealthy and proud.

A porter is someone who has to do fetching and carrying work, and the idea fits in badly with all the other stories about his life and character. Enthusiasts prefer to believe that he spent the whole of his life in the woods. They say that most of the stories about him are perfectly true — but not this particular episode.

On the other hand, they cannot explain why anyone would ever invent such a story, which ruins the whole Robin Hood romance.

They have studied Edward II’s accounts, which show the wages he paid to his workers — including a porter called Robin Hood. In November 1324, Hood received his final payment: ‘five shillings because he could no longer
work’. If so, Robin Hood was a genuine outlaw who lived in the reign of Edward II. His career of crime was apparently brought to a sudden end when he was captured and made to work as a servant.

A Historians have tried to check the facts by looking for clues in all sorts of places.
B All these things have spread his fame throughout the world.
C One story says that Hood was captured and made to work as a porter at the court of King Edward II.
D According to the stories, Robin Hood and his men were thieves who pounced on wealthy travellers in lonely woods.
E They prefer the idea of a Robin Hood who was free and defiant from birth until death.
F Even as a child he probably played with a bow and arrow, pretending that he was Hood the robber!
G We cannot be sure that this is the famous Robin Hood but it seems very likely.
H As a man he sometimes wore Robin Hood costumes for dances and May Day celebrations.
I Finally pensioned off in old age, his life did not quite match up to the stories!

Keys  9H, 10D, 11C, 12E, 13A, 14G, 15I