On Screen B1+/Final Test in Reading

Read the article and choose from the sentences the one which fits each gap.

ALL ABOARD THE SMILE TRAIN!

Smile Train is a charity that is dedicated to helping the millions of children around the world, including India, who suffer from a specific facial defect. The defect occurs when a baby’s top lip or mouth doesn’t form properly before birth. 1_____________ The charity provides free surgery, which gives these children a new smile and with it, new hope and a new beginning.

Children with the defect certainly need all the help they can get. Although many sufferers are accepted by their families, sadly, others are not. In India children with this defect are often abandoned at birth because their parents feel ashamed of them or cannot afford the surgery that will improve their lives. The good news is that the surgery which can change a child’s life forever is not complicated. 2 _____________ The charity raises money to buy medical supplies and finds the right medical volunteers to perform the surgery.

A Smile Train doctor from the UK said, ‘Each child who has surgery is given a second chance at life. After years of living their lives in isolation, the children can finally go to school and be happy. Every year I go to India, where I have performed hundreds of surgeries free of cost through Smile Train. Some of the stories I have heard are quite shocking. 3_____________ Luckily for her, she was found hungry and crying by a passenger who took her home and adopted her.

Luckily for her, she was found hungry and crying by a passenger who took her home and adopted her. This lady then heard about Smile Train and brought the baby to our hospital. I felt honoured to perform the surgery. 4_____________ I know that I am making a real difference in the world and that is more important than making money all the time.’

I know that I am making a real difference in the world and that is more

important than making money all the time.’ The doctor continued, ‘There are many benefits, and not just for the child. The family no longer feels shame and it’s good for the medical community too. Experienced doctors like me share our skills with local doctors. 5_____________

Read the text and do the tasks.

Thomas Alva Edison

The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Ohio in 1847. Tom, or Al, as his family called him, was one of those children who are always asking "Why?" He was always trying to learn how things worked or how they were made. The boy's education was limited to three months in the public school of Port Huron, Michigan. He started work in 1859 when he was only twelve. Young Edison began to travel on one of the trains between Port Huron and Detroit. He sold fruit, sweets and cakes to the passengers. The hours that he had to wait at Detroit before starting' back home, he spent in the library reading technical books. Several years later, in 1863, Edison learned telegraphy and he became a telegraph operator. He was soon one of the fastest operators in a large telegraph company in Boston. He wanted to improve the telegraph system and worked very hard at it. Night after night he read “The Book of Experiments”, by Michael Faraday, the inventor of the electric generator, in the hope that this would help him to solve his problems. He did not sleep more than four hours a night and sometimes he did not go to bed at all. He often did not even find time for breakfast. "Aren't you going to stop to eat your breakfast?" his landlady once asked him. "No", he answered, "I've got so much to do, and life is short". After a few months of work, he built a transmitter of a new kind. This was his first important invention. Edison was advised to go to New York where the opportunities were greater. He did so, but when he reached New York in 1869, he had no money left at all. "I had to walk in the streets all night because I hadn't the price of bed, and in the morning nothing to buy breakfast with", he said. But soon he opened a small workshop. In 1867 he had two inventions. One of Edison's greatest inventions was the gramophone, or the "phonograph", as he called it, which repeated his words. He told his assistants that this was the beginning. The time would come, he said, when this new instrument would record music. "It will play symphonies and whole operas, the world will hear again the great singers who are no longer living". Another of Edison's inventions was the electric lamp. Edison believed that only work could bring success. He continued active work until only eighteen days before his death in 1931, at the age of eighty-seven. That evening, Americans all over the country turned off their electric lights for a few moments — the light which, Edison had given them. 

Where was Edison born?

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Thomas Alva Edison

The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Ohio in 1847. Tom, or Al, as his family called him, was one of those children who are always asking "Why?" He was always trying to learn how things worked or how they were made. The boy's education was limited to three months in the public school of Port Huron, Michigan. He started work in 1859 when he was only twelve. Young Edison began to travel on one of the trains between Port Huron and Detroit. He sold fruit, sweets and cakes to the passengers. The hours that he had to wait at Detroit before starting' back home, he spent in the library reading technical books. Several years later, in 1863, Edison learned telegraphy and he became a telegraph operator. He was soon one of the fastest operators in a large telegraph company in Boston. He wanted to improve the telegraph system and worked very hard at it. Night after night he read “The Book of Experiments”, by Michael Faraday, the inventor of the electric generator, in the hope that this would help him to solve his problems. He did not sleep more than four hours a night and sometimes he did not go to bed at all. He often did not even find time for breakfast. "Aren't you going to stop to eat your breakfast?" his landlady once asked him. "No", he answered, "I've got so much to do, and life is short". After a few months of work, he built a transmitter of a new kind. This was his first important invention. Edison was advised to go to New York where the opportunities were greater. He did so, but when he reached New York in 1869, he had no money left at all. "I had to walk in the streets all night because I hadn't the price of bed, and in the morning nothing to buy breakfast with", he said. But soon he opened a small workshop. In 1867 he had two inventions. One of Edison's greatest inventions was the gramophone, or the "phonograph", as he called it, which repeated his words. He told his assistants that this was the beginning. The time would come, he said, when this new instrument would record music. "It will play symphonies and whole operas, the world will hear again the great singers who are no longer living". Another of Edison's inventions was the electric lamp. Edison believed that only work could bring success. He continued active work until only eighteen days before his death in 1931, at the age of eighty-seven. That evening, Americans all over the country turned off their electric lights for a few moments — the light which, Edison had given them. 

When did he start work at the railway?

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Thomas Alva Edison

The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Ohio in 1847. Tom, or Al, as his family called him, was one of those children who are always asking "Why?" He was always trying to learn how things worked or how they were made. The boy's education was limited to three months in the public school of Port Huron, Michigan. He started work in 1859 when he was only twelve. Young Edison began to travel on one of the trains between Port Huron and Detroit. He sold fruit, sweets and cakes to the passengers. The hours that he had to wait at Detroit before starting' back home, he spent in the library reading technical books. Several years later, in 1863, Edison learned telegraphy and he became a telegraph operator. He was soon one of the fastest operators in a large telegraph company in Boston. He wanted to improve the telegraph system and worked very hard at it. Night after night he read “The Book of Experiments”, by Michael Faraday, the inventor of the electric generator, in the hope that this would help him to solve his problems. He did not sleep more than four hours a night and sometimes he did not go to bed at all. He often did not even find time for breakfast. "Aren't you going to stop to eat your breakfast?" his landlady once asked him. "No", he answered, "I've got so much to do, and life is short". After a few months of work, he built a transmitter of a new kind. This was his first important invention. Edison was advised to go to New York where the opportunities were greater. He did so, but when he reached New York in 1869, he had no money left at all. "I had to walk in the streets all night because I hadn't the price of bed, and in the morning nothing to buy breakfast with", he said. But soon he opened a small workshop. In 1867 he had two inventions. One of Edison's greatest inventions was the gramophone, or the "phonograph", as he called it, which repeated his words. He told his assistants that this was the beginning. The time would come, he said, when this new instrument would record music. "It will play symphonies and whole operas, the world will hear again the great singers who are no longer living". Another of Edison's inventions was the electric lamp. Edison believed that only work could bring success. He continued active work until only eighteen days before his death in 1931, at the age of eighty-seven. That evening, Americans all over the country turned off their electric lights for a few moments — the light which, Edison had given them.

What did young Edison do when he had to wait at Detroit before starting back home?

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Thomas Alva Edison

The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Ohio in 1847. Tom, or Al, as his family called him, was one of those children who are always asking "Why?" He was always trying to learn how things worked or how they were made. The boy's education was limited to three months in the public school of Port Huron, Michigan. He started work in 1859 when he was only twelve. Young Edison began to travel on one of the trains between Port Huron and Detroit. He sold fruit, sweets and cakes to the passengers. The hours that he had to wait at Detroit before starting' back home, he spent in the library reading technical books. Several years later, in 1863, Edison learned telegraphy and he became a telegraph operator. He was soon one of the fastest operators in a large telegraph company in Boston. He wanted to improve the telegraph system and worked very hard at it. Night after night he read “The Book of Experiments”, by Michael Faraday, the inventor of the electric generator, in the hope that this would help him to solve his problems. He did not sleep more than four hours a night and sometimes he did not go to bed at all. He often did not even find time for breakfast. "Aren't you going to stop to eat your breakfast?" his landlady once asked him. "No", he answered, "I've got so much to do, and life is short". After a few months of work, he built a transmitter of a new kind. This was his first important invention. Edison was advised to go to New York where the opportunities were greater. He did so, but when he reached New York in 1869, he had no money left at all. "I had to walk in the streets all night because I hadn't the price of bed, and in the morning nothing to buy breakfast with", he said. But soon he opened a small workshop. In 1867 he had two inventions. One of Edison's greatest inventions was the gramophone, or the "phonograph", as he called it, which repeated his words. He told his assistants that this was the beginning. The time would come, he said, when this new instrument would record music. "It will play symphonies and whole operas, the world will hear again the great singers who are no longer living". Another of Edison's inventions was the electric lamp. Edison believed that only work could bring success. He continued active work until only eighteen days before his death in 1931, at the age of eighty-seven. That evening, Americans all over the country turned off their electric lights for a few moments — the light which, Edison had given them.

What did Edison want to improve when he became a telegraph operator?

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Thomas Alva Edison

The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Ohio in 1847. Tom, or Al, as his family called him, was one of those children who are always asking "Why?" He was always trying to learn how things worked or how they were made. The boy's education was limited to three months in the public school of Port Huron, Michigan. He started work in 1859 when he was only twelve. Young Edison began to travel on one of the trains between Port Huron and Detroit. He sold fruit, sweets and cakes to the passengers. The hours that he had to wait at Detroit before starting' back home, he spent in the library reading technical books. Several years later, in 1863, Edison learned telegraphy and he became a telegraph operator. He was soon one of the fastest operators in a large telegraph company in Boston. He wanted to improve the telegraph system and worked very hard at it. Night after night he read “The Book of Experiments”, by Michael Faraday, the inventor of the electric generator, in the hope that this would help him to solve his problems. He did not sleep more than four hours a night and sometimes he did not go to bed at all. He often did not even find time for breakfast. "Aren't you going to stop to eat your breakfast?" his landlady once asked him. "No", he answered, "I've got so much to do, and life is short". After a few months of work, he built a transmitter of a new kind. This was his first important invention. Edison was advised to go to New York where the opportunities were greater. He did so, but when he reached New York in 1869, he had no money left at all. "I had to walk in the streets all night because I hadn't the price of bed, and in the morning nothing to buy breakfast with", he said. But soon he opened a small workshop. In 1867 he had two inventions. One of Edison's greatest inventions was the gramophone, or the "phonograph", as he called it, which repeated his words. He told his assistants that this was the beginning. The time would come, he said, when this new instrument would record music. "It will play symphonies and whole operas, the world will hear again the great singers who are no longer living". Another of Edison's inventions was the electric lamp. Edison believed that only work could bring success. He continued active work until only eighteen days before his death in 1931, at the age of eighty-seven. That evening, Americans all over the country turned off their electric lights for a few moments — the light which, Edison had given them.

What was Edison's first invention?

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Thomas Alva Edison

The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Ohio in 1847. Tom, or Al, as his family called him, was one of those children who are always asking "Why?" He was always trying to learn how things worked or how they were made. The boy's education was limited to three months in the public school of Port Huron, Michigan. He started work in 1859 when he was only twelve. Young Edison began to travel on one of the trains between Port Huron and Detroit. He sold fruit, sweets and cakes to the passengers. The hours that he had to wait at Detroit before starting' back home, he spent in the library reading technical books. Several years later, in 1863, Edison learned telegraphy and he became a telegraph operator. He was soon one of the fastest operators in a large telegraph company in Boston. He wanted to improve the telegraph system and worked very hard at it. Night after night he read “The Book of Experiments”, by Michael Faraday, the inventor of the electric generator, in the hope that this would help him to solve his problems. He did not sleep more than four hours a night and sometimes he did not go to bed at all. He often did not even find time for breakfast. "Aren't you going to stop to eat your breakfast?" his landlady once asked him. "No", he answered, "I've got so much to do, and life is short". After a few months of work, he built a transmitter of a new kind. This was his first important invention. Edison was advised to go to New York where the opportunities were greater. He did so, but when he reached New York in 1869, he had no money left at all. "I had to walk in the streets all night because I hadn't the price of bed, and in the morning nothing to buy breakfast with", he said. But soon he opened a small workshop. In 1867 he had two inventions. One of Edison's greatest inventions was the gramophone, or the "phonograph", as he called it, which repeated his words. He told his assistants that this was the beginning. The time would come, he said, when this new instrument would record music. "It will play symphonies and whole operas, the world will hear again the great singers who are no longer living". Another of Edison's inventions was the electric lamp. Edison believed that only work could bring success. He continued active work until only eighteen days before his death in 1931, at the age of eighty-seven. That evening, Americans all over the country turned off their electric lights for a few moments — the light which, Edison had given them.

What did Americans do the evening he died?

Read the text and do the tasks.

Thomas Alva Edison

The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Ohio in 1847. Tom, or Al, as his family called him, was one of those children who are always asking "Why?" He was always trying to learn how things worked or how they were made. The boy's education was limited to three months in the public school of Port Huron, Michigan. He started work in 1859 when he was only twelve. Young Edison began to travel on one of the trains between Port Huron and Detroit. He sold fruit, sweets and cakes to the passengers. The hours that he had to wait at Detroit before starting' back home, he spent in the library reading technical books. Several years later, in 1863, Edison learned telegraphy and he became a telegraph operator. He was soon one of the fastest operators in a large telegraph company in Boston. He wanted to improve the telegraph system and worked very hard at it. Night after night he read “The Book of Experiments”, by Michael Faraday, the inventor of the electric generator, in the hope that this would help him to solve his problems. He did not sleep more than four hours a night and sometimes he did not go to bed at all. He often did not even find time for breakfast. "Aren't you going to stop to eat your breakfast?" his landlady once asked him. "No", he answered, "I've got so much to do, and life is short". After a few months of work, he built a transmitter of a new kind. This was his first important invention. Edison was advised to go to New York where the opportunities were greater. He did so, but when he reached New York in 1869, he had no money left at all. "I had to walk in the streets all night because I hadn't the price of bed, and in the morning nothing to buy breakfast with", he said. But soon he opened a small workshop. In 1867 he had two inventions. One of Edison's greatest inventions was the gramophone, or the "phonograph", as he called it, which repeated his words. He told his assistants that this was the beginning. The time would come, he said, when this new instrument would record music. "It will play symphonies and whole operas, the world will hear again the great singers who are no longer living". Another of Edison's inventions was the electric lamp. Edison believed that only work could bring success. He continued active work until only eighteen days before his death in 1931, at the age of eighty-seven. That evening, Americans all over the country turned off their electric lights for a few moments — the light which, Edison had given them.

Edison got his education in a private school in Detroit.