Form 11 Reading Comprehension Test: "Youth in Mind"

Form 11

Reading Comprehension

LOVE STORY

    John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his army uniform and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.

    At the front of, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.

    During the next year and one-month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.

    When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting – 7:00 p.m. at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So, at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.

    I’ll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. “Going my way, sailor?” she murmured. Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl.

    A woman well past 40, she had greyish hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, arid yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.

    And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her grey eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful.

    I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. “I’m Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?”

    The woman’s face broadened into a tolerant smile. “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”

    It’s not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell’s wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Form 11

Reading Comprehension

LOVE STORY

Test

Variant 1

1. Choose the correct variant and complete the sentence:

1. John Blanchard was looking for the girl __________.

    a) in Grand Hotel;

    b) at the Railway Station;

    c) in a Florida library.

2. __________ had begun thirteen months before.

    a) Their love;

    b) His interest in her;

    c) Their understanding.

2. Blanchard __________ a photograph.

    a) sent her;

    b) wanted to see;

    c) took.

3. Blanchard felt __________ to a forty-year-old woman with the rose on her lapel.

    a) more love;

    b) respect and fascination;

    c) gratefulness for her friendship.

4. He saluted, introduced himself and __________.

    a) invited her to dinner;

    b) said he could meet her next time;

    c) felt ashamed.

5. The young woman __________.

    a) wanted to make sure of his feelings;

    b) did not believe him;

    c) was afraid not to be liked.

 

2. Answer the questions:

1. Why did John Blanchard study the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station?

2. How and why did he acquaint with Miss Hollis Maynell?

3. Why didn’t he meet her after writing a letter?

4. How long did they correspond?

5. How did their relations develop?

6. Could they recognize each other at the station?

7. Did he love the girl?

8. Whom did John Blanchard meet at first?

9. What did “older Miss Hollis Maynell” look like?

10. What did he feel to her?

11. Why could we admire Miss Maynell’s wisdom?

 

3. Write the alternative heading to the story. Explain your variant.

 

Form 11

Reading Comprehension

LOVE STORY

Test

Variant 2

Task 1. Choose the correct variant and complete the sentence.

1. John Blanchard knew __________.

    a) what the girl could say to him;

    b) what the girl looked like;

    c) the girl was with the rose.

2. He found her __________ in the library book he read.

    a) address;

    b) notes to her friend;

    c) notes written.

3. She __________ her photograph.

    a) presented him;

    b) took;

    c) didn’t send him.

4. The girl at the station __________.

    a) recognized him;

    b) asked him about the time;

    c) passed by.

5. He brought __________ that was to identify him to Miss Hollis Maynell.

    a) the small worn blue leather copy of the book;

    b) a new magazine;

    c) her letters.

6. The woman wearing the rose on her coat ___________.

    a) was John Blanchard’s mother;

    b) miss Hollis Maynell’s friend;

    c) had to tell the man where Miss Hollis Maynell was.

 

Task 2. Answer the questions.

1. Why did John Blanchard study the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station?

2. How and why did he acquaint with Miss Hollis Maynell?

3. Why didn’t he meet her after writing a letter?

4. How long did they correspond?

5. How did their relations develop?

6. Could they recognize each other at the station?

7. Did he love the girl?

8. Whom did John Blanchard meet at first?

9. What did “older Miss Hollis Maynell” look like?

10. What did he feel to her?

11. Why could we admire Miss Maynell’s wisdom?

 

Task 3. Write the alternative heading to the story. Explain your variant.