Reading Comprehension 7 (І Term)

Read the text

Text 1. Cornelia Funke

Sometimes regarded as the German J. K. Rowling, Cornelia Funke finished the University of Hamburg and after graduation studied book illustration at a design college. She began a career as a book illustrator and game designer, but lost interest in the work after a few years. As a young girl, Funke had been a lover of fantasy — the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and J. M. Barrie — and decided, at the age of 28, to write her own books. During the 1980s and early 1990s, she became a rather well­known author of children’s books in her native Germany, but her success came in 1997 when «Dragonrider» and later «The Thief Lord», both huge successes in Germany, were met with international attention. In fact, as soon as «The Thief Lord» reached the United States, it hit the «New York Times» bestseller list and remained there for 25 weeks.

Task 1. Mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F).

1. Cornelia Funke and J. K. Rowling are friends.                  

2. Cornelia Funke got her education in her native country.        

3. She began a career as a storyteller.       

4. She was always interested in her work of a designer.           

5. She read the famous fantasy books at the age of 28.     

6. The author’s first success came in 1997 when her books became bestsellers in the USA.

Read the text

Text 2. The Story About The Christmas Tree

Long, long ago, on one Christmas Eve, spiders were banished from homes while people cleaned the houses and broke their webs. They had to move to the farthest corner of the attic. Young spiders wanted to see the decorated Christmas trees and the little Christ child. The elders tried to tell the younger spiders that they were not allowed inside the rooms but the young spiders were quite curious. When the house was dark and silent and everybody was asleep, the spiders crept out of their hiding place and slowly reached the Christmas tree. They spent all night in the tree, examining its beautiful ornaments. They left pretty and delicate spider webs all over the tree. In the early hours of the morning, the little Christ child came to bless the house. He was surprised to find little spiders and their webs on the tree. The Christ child gently touched the spider webs and made them sparkling and shining in silver and golden colours. The Christmas tree looked even more beautiful than before.

Task 2. For sentences (7—12) choose the correct answer (a, b, c or d).

7. When were spiders driven out of people’s homes?

8. Where did the spiders live?

9. Who wanted to see the decorated Christmas trees and the little Christ child?

10. When did the spiders go to look at the Christmas tree?

11. The spiders left pretty and delicate spider webs ... .

12. The Christ child ... .

Read the text and for questions 1 to 7 choose the correct answer.

What do you do with your free time?

I’m almost 19 years old, and I finished my first year of university. I’m currently on holiday, and I have a lot of free time. Having free time is nice, but the problem is that when you are a student, you never have money. And when you have a lot of free time, but you don’t have much money, it can get boring.

Every morning I go to the gym, and I read in the afternoons. But I still have a lot of free time. Going to the gym takes me about two hours, including the road time and the post-gym shower. And I usually read for one hour. Another activity that I do is watch documentaries. I study history, and I love historical documentaries. I learn a lot from them. I watch documentaries for one and a half hours four or five times a week.

But those activities are a small part of my day. When I’m not at the gym or reading, I get bored, and I often play video games for hours. I enjoy playing video games, but I don’t think it’s a productive activity. When I play for a long time, I feel bad. I’d like to find more productive activities to do, but it isn’t easy. I live in a small town, and there aren’t many things to do.

Do you have any suggestions? What do you do with your free time?

1. He ...

for questions 1 to 7 choose the correct answer.

2. He ...

for questions 1 to 7 choose the correct answer.

3. He ...

for questions 1 to 7 choose the correct answer.

4. Every day, he ...

for questions 1 to 7 choose the correct answer.

5. He ...

for questions 1 to 7 choose the correct answer.

6. He ...

for questions 1 to 7 choose the correct answer.

7. He ...

Read a text conversation between two friends and choose the best answer.

- Hi Aziz! Are you there? Hello? Hello?!?

- Hi! I’m here! I’m here.

- Good.

- What’s up, Neira?

- Would you like to meet for a coffee?

- Yes! When? I’m working now, but I finish work at five. Maybe at 5.15?

- That’s difficult for me. Can we meet 30 minutes later?

- OK. Where?

- The Blue Café is nice. I love the tea there. ♥

- It’s closed on Mondays. Let’s go to Rocket Boy. It’s new.

- Is it good?

- It’s very good!

- Where is it? I don’t know it.

- It’s next to the school. See you there?

- See you there at 5.45!

1. What does Neira want to do?

2. What time does Neira finish work?

3. Why does Aziz like The Blue Café?

4. What is the problem with The Blue Café?

5. Where are they going to meet?