Comprehension - Intermediate [ 2 ]

[ 2 ] Comprehension . 

[  2  ]Intermediate

Read the following , then answer the questions below :

              A small crowd had gathered round the entrance to the park . His curiosity aroused  , Hosham crossed the road to see what was happening  . He found that the center of attraction was an old man with a performing monkey. The  monkey’s tricks he soon discovered were in no way remarkable , so after throwing a few coins in the dirty hat which the man hat placed on the pavement , Hosham began to move off , along with other members of the crowd .

             At this point the man suddenly let out a loud cry . Everyone turned to see what had happened . The man was bending over his monkey which now lay quite still on the pavement . He picked up the apparently lifeless body and holding it close to him , began to weep . A young man stepped forward from the crowd and taking some money from his pocket , dropped it into the hat . Hosham and several other people did likewise , until the hat was covered with coins . Meanwhile , the man continued to hold the dead monkey in his arms and seemed to take no notice of what  was going on about him .

              A few months later , Hosham came across the old man again in another part of the city . The man had a monkey bought no doubt with the money which the crowd had given him . It did not , however seem any better at its tricks than the previous one . Hosham was pleased to see that the old man was still able to earn a living , though on this occasion , having partly paid for the monkey out of his own project , he did not feel inclined to throw any money into the hat .

             But the performance was not yet over ! Once again the old man let out a loud cry . Once again the monkey lay still on the pavement . The man picked up the dead monkey and clutching it into his arms began to weep . The same young man stepped forward and threw some money into the hat . Again the crowd followed suit – except for Hosham . Smiling to himself , he went on his way , amazed at the man’s audacity .

A-] Answer the following questions :

1-] What was the crowd round the entrance to the park doing ?

………………………………………………………………………………………

2-] Why did he crowd soon begin to move off ?

……………………………………………………………………………………….

3-] What was the old man doing while the crowd threw money into his hat ?

……………………………………………………………………………………….

4-] How many monkeys did the old man have ? How do you know ?

……………………………………………………………………………………….

B-] Choose the correct answer :

1-] Audacity means …….

A-] boldness      B-] stupidity      C-] cleverness     D-] humor

2-] When the crowd threw money into the old man’s hat , he …….

A-] thanked them        B-] bought a new monkey        C-] began to weep                           D-] continued to hold the dead  monkey in his arms

3-] In your opinion , the old man deserves ……..

A-] to help him     2-] to laugh at his tricks    3-] to deal with him carefully

4-] to inform the police about him