Reading comprehension. The Dancing Marathon (Level B1+,B2)

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Тест з читання для 9-10 класу за текстом "Dancing Marathon" є тестом з метою розвитку навичок читання з повним розумінням змісту тексту в деталях або з метою моніторингу рівня сформованості навичок читання. Крім цього, завдання до запропонованого тексту можно використовувати для підготовки до ЗНО. Завдання складаються з 4 частин: 1) визначити відповідні/невідповідні речення (True/False sentences), 2) завдання на множинний вибір - a b c варіанти, 3) з'єднання заголовків з абзацами 4) робота з лексикою - знайти слова за дефініціями. Тест сприяє в учнів розвитку навичок читання, уміння узагальнювати зміст прочитаного та з'ясовувати значення незнайомих лексичних одиниць.

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Reading Comprehension

Level B1+B2 (Intermediate - Upper-Intermediate)

Dancing Marathon

1_ After forty-five minutes of dancing the bell rang. The dancers left the dance floor and slowly headed for the beds in the next room. Fifteen minutes later, the bell rang again and the weary dancers straggled back to the dance floor. All day and all night, the same dancers continued to dance. Weeks passed and they kept on dancing. They were called dance marathons and people were crazy about them in 1930s. In the longest marathon, the dancing went on for 5,148 hours or nearly 215 days. It was just after the stock market crash of 1929 in the United States. The Great Depression that followed affected everyone, and thousands of people were out of jobs. For some young people, entering a dance marathon was simply a way to earn money for food. As long, as they continued to dance, they got food to eat.

2_ The first 500 hours of a dance marathon were the most difficult. Dancers had to get used to leaping while leaning on their partners. Feet got sore and swollen, and tempers flared as dancers got tired. Three times a day, tables were pulled out onto the dance floor and the dancers ate – while dancing.

3_ For many people, watching a dance marathon was a cheap form of entertainment. At any time of day and night they could go and watch the dancers in the marathon. They yelled and threw money at their favourite dancers to encourage them to keep dancing. Some took bets on who would quit or fall down next.

4_ Dancers in a marathon were pushed to their limits. Without proper sleep, many got sick. When several dancers died from overexertion in a 1929 dance marathon, government officials tried unsuccessfully to outlaw marathons. Instead, marathons continued to be popular until the United States entered World War II. The wartime economy brought the country out of the Depression and people finally began to lose interest in dance marathons.

Tasks to the text “Dancing Marathon”

Task I.

Put “True” if the sentence is right and “False” if the sentence is wrong.

Nowadays, people are crazy about dance marathons.
In the longest marathon, the dancing went on for nearly seven months.
Dance marathons appeared during the Great Depression.
Entering a dance marathon was a way to become rich.
Professional dancers only had the right to participate in a marathon.
Watching a dance marathon was an expensive form of entertainment.
Bets were made on who would stop competing in a marathon.
Lots of dancers died of indigestion in 1929.
Government officials outlawed marathons when the US entered World War II.
People finally began to lose interest in dance marathons in the 1990s.

Score: 10 points

Task II.

Choose the right answer: A, B or C.

1. How long did hourly breaks last?

a) five minutes b) ten minutes

c) fifteen minutes

2. When did people become crazy about dance

marathon?

a) in the 1920s b) in the 1930s

c) in the 1940s

3. When did the US stock market crash?

a) in 1929 b) in 1930 c) in 2001

4. How long did the longest dance marathon

last?

a) 115 days b) 215 days c) 250 days

5. What did the dancers get as long as they

participated in the contest?

a) bed and breakfast b) free meals

c) pocket money

6. When could people watch the dancers

in the marathon?

a) at any time of day and night

b) in the evening c) at night

7. What did spectators throw at their favourite

dancers?

a) some food b) some towels

c) some money

8. Why did several dancers die?

a) They got poisoned.

b) They got exhausted. c) They got bribed.

9. Did the government ban dance marathons?

a) Yes, it did. b) No, it didn’t.

c) They failed.

10. Why did people finally begin to lose

interest in dance marathons?

a) The USA entered World War II.

b) People became fed up with them.

c) The marathons were outlawed.

Score: 10 points

Task III.

Match the headings (A – G) to the passages (1 – 4) of the text. There are three extra headings.

A. The interest in dancing marathons isn’t lost.

B. The way lots of people entertained.

C. The dancers are pleased at the marathon.

D. The reasons why people entered a dance

marathon.

E. The difficulties and sufferings of dancers.

F. The attempt to stop dancing marathon.

G. The behaviour of dancers.

Score: 7 points

Task IV.

Find words or word combinations in the text to the following definitions. The passage is given in the brackets.

to use force to take something from the place where it is fixed or held (2)
to completely stop something by making it illegal (4)
to go towards a particular place, especially in a deliberate way (1)
to have experienced something so that it no longer seems surprising, difficult, strange etc. (2)
an agreement to risk money on the result of a race, game etc. (3)
when people in the group go somewhere fairly slowly and with large spaces between them (1)
to give somebody confidence to do something (3)
very strange and not sensible (1)

Score: 8 points

Total: 35 points

Answers to the text “Dancing Marathon”

Task I.

1 False 2 True 3 True 4 False 5 False 6 False 7 True 8 False 9 False 10 False

Task II.

1 C 2 B 3 A 4 B 5 B 6 A 7 C 8 B 9 C 10 A

Task III.

1D 2 E 3 B 4 F Extra: A C G

Task IV.

1 pulled out 2 to outlaw (marathons) 3 headed for 4 to get used to

5 took bets 6 straggled back 7 to encourage 8 crazy