Reading 8-th form

Read the text and choose the right answer.

A SAD STORY

Three men came to New York for a holiday. They came to a very large hotel and took a room there. Their room was on the forty-fifth floor.

In the evening the three men went to the theatre and came back to the hotel very late.

‘I am very sorry,’ said the hotel clerk, ‘but our lifts are not working. If you do not want to walk up to your room, you will have to sleep in the hall.’

‘No, no,’ said one of the three men, ‘no, thank you. We do not want to sleep in the hall. We shall walk up to our room.’

Then he turned to his two friends and said: ‘It is not easy to walk up to the forty-fifth floor, but I think I know how to make it easier. I shall tell you some jokes. Then you, Andy, will sing us some songs. Then you, Peter, will tell us some interesting stories. That will pass the time.’

So they began to walk up to their room. Tom told them many jokes. Andy sang some songs. At last they came to the thirty-fourth floor. They were very tired.

‘Well,’ said Tom, ‘now it is your turn, Peter. Tell us a long and interesting story with a sad ending.’

‘I shall tell you a story’, said Peter. ‘It is not long, but it is sad enough: we left the key to our room in the hall.’

1.   ______ men came to New York.

 Their room was on the __________ floor.

The three men enjoyed a(an) _______ in the evening.

When they came back ____.

The men decided to...

On the way to their room one of them ...

Another man ...

It was a(n) ____ walk up.

Peter was asked to tell them a story with a _____ end.

Peter would tell a different story if...

They stayed at ...

The main idea of Peter’s story was:

 Six people share their thoughts about books and magazines and share which one they prefer. Read them and choose the best answer for each question. 

Why doesn’t Chris read books?

        Chris, Belgium

 I prefer magazines over books because I just cannot spend that much time reading a book. It takes just too much time, and a magazine, well you can read it on the toilet. You can read it on the train. You can read it in the car if you have to wait for somebody. It's much nicer. Time passes by and you don't have to invest that much time, like for example if you would have to read a whole book. 

Buddhi, Sri Lanka

Do I prefer books or magazines? I'll say magazines ,short articles, because I don't like to read for too long. I actually don't read for too long, so I prefer short articles or something interesting that would finish quickly. I don't like to read for too long. I know that's a bad habit. I’ve got to work on it but I prefer magazines.

 What does Buddhi like in magazines?

Tom, the UK

I read a lot of books. Magazines ... uh, very pretty and they look nice on the shelf but I almost never look through them. I'm not interested in the advertising, but give me a good book, and I can read it for hours and hours.

 What doesn’t Tom like in magazines?

Aiste, Lithuania

I think books are really nicer to read, at present I read most books from my major area, and as about magazines, so most of the time I don't read magazines. I just take them and scan them while checking out the pictures and what the major topic out if is it but about reading, I think it's a little bit too shallow.

 What books does Aiste read at present?

Chrystal, the USA

I prefer both. Actually, I like both, but then if I were to choose, I would choose magazines because they're easier and books are ... honestly, they're boring. I fall asleep all the time. They say that magazines are not good for your imagination, so it's really good to read books more when you're a child, but I don't think that's quite necessarily true because magazines also provide a good pictures and colors and I think it's better for imagination.

How can we understand that books are boring for Chrystal?

David, Kenya

What do I prefer between books or magazines? I'm more into magazines because they're interesting and easy to follow. Both, they are good but you know you have to go to ... I have to go to like a deeper level to it and sometimes it's boring for me.

What does David like better?