Comprehension , Upper Intermediate & Advanced ( 7 )

Comprehension 

7 - ] Upper Intermediate & Advanced 

Comprehension

Read the following article , then answer the questions below :

                 There are 25 of us on the course for radio program presenters , to hear the tips from the expert , Paul Fairburn , program director at the Heart FM . I have been doing the job for nearly 20 years but it is the closest I have ever come to anything like training . Two of us old hands are clearly there for the chance to make fun of radio presenter school ( Lesson Five : The time Check . ‘Class , repeat after me : It’s 21 minutes before the hour of three o’clock .’ ) .

                 About half of us are presenters from small local stations and the rest are the type of young man - they are always male - who is always , and a little unfairly , laughed at in the radio business : single-minded enthusiasts who in any other branch of entertainment would probably be welcomed .

                  Fairburn passes on a vital hint for potential phone-in hosts : ‘Don’t worry if someone phones up and says they’re going to thump you . They won’t. The people who are really going to hit you don’t tell you first .’ This is not altogether encouraging , but interesting to know , and we dutifully make a note of it .We also note Fairburn’s tip number one :‘Get a Life outside radio .’

‘If you are an interesting person , you will be a more interesting presenter ,’ says Fairburn . ‘So don’t spend all your time in radio stations .’ This is a bit ironic , because if we had a life we probably wouldn’t be sitting in that room on a Wednesday afternoon taking notes . For those of us who went into radio back in the 1970s , it may be a little late for all this . But times have changed , says Fairburn and now you need to learn the profession .

                 To this end , today’s presenters will almost certainly be invited to spend time at lectures , learning from the masters . Dan O’Day , an American breakfast-show presenter generally regarded as one of the best of that kind , hosts weekend schools , at which topics such as ‘Establishing Good Relations On The Telephone’ are discussed deeply . The Metro Radio Group in Britain even makes its presenters sign an agreement not to give away confidential ideas picked up on the group’s training schemes .

                 However , courtesy of Fairburn , who picked it up from a former Metro trainee , I am now able to reveal exclusively one of those secrets . ‘You are ten minutes from the end of a four-hour program ,’ Fairburn tells the class . ‘You are naturally winding down , sounding tired ; so , a second or two before opening the microphone , shout “Wow!” very loudly into the closed microphone . Then , when you open it , you will sound wide awake , despite yourself ,’ It does work . I have tried it since , although “Wow!” doesn’t seem like the right word for the station I work on , so I tend to shout “Heck !”

                    Another example of presenter cleverness , which never occurred to us older ones , is the phone-in trick . This gets you on good terms with the local audience if you find yourself working in a strange town . When someone phones in , you find out in some detail - before putting them on the air - where they come from , what the local landmarks are and so on . Then , when they appear on the radio and say where they are calling from , you can say authoritatively , ‘Oh yes , just around the corner from the railway station .’

                     Brilliant , and much more practical than any advice I was given in the dark days when I started . With the benefit of an afternoon’s training . I can see the old-fashioned attitudes that were passed on to me then have no place in today’s highly competitive radio market .  

******************

1 . What do we learn about the writer in the first paragraph ?

( A ) He had heard that this particular course wasn’t very good .

( B ) He was attending the course so that he could write about it .

( C ) He wasn’t given training as a radio presenter when he started .

( D ) He had always avoided courses for radio presenters before .

2 . What does the writer say about some of the others taking the course ?

( A ) People who work in radio have a low opinion of them .

( B ) They are never likely to find work as presenters .

( C ) They couldn’t follow even simple instructions .

( D ) People who know them enjoy their program .

3 . What does the writer say about the advice to phone-in hosts ?

( A ) It was worth writing down .

( B ) It was not true of his own experience .

( C ) It was not intended for older presenters .

( D ) It was difficult to understand .

4 . What do we learn about Metro Radio ?

( A ) Paul Fairburn used to work there .

( B ) It runs courses for radio presenters .

( C ) It has copied American methods .

( D ) Excellent presenters work for it .

5 . What do ‘those secrets’ in paragraph five originally come from ?

( A ) confidential documents

( B ) radio programs

( C ) telephone conversations

( D ) training schemes

6 . What does the writer say about shouting into a closed microphone ?

( A ) He has adapted the original idea .

( B ) He initially thought it wouldn’t work .

( C ) It doesn’t help him overcome problems .

( D ) He had tried a similar thing before .

7 . What does the writer think of the ‘phone-in trick’ ?

( A ) It works better in some places than in others .

( B ) It is wrong to deceive the listeners in that way .

( C ) It is a very good idea he hadn’t thought of .

( D ) It requires too much research before the show .

8 . What is the writer’s conclusion after taking the course ?

( A ) Such courses can be useful even for presenters with the experience .

( B ) He is glad that he started presenting radio programs a long time ago .

( C ) Courses for radio presenters are unlikely to make them better at the job .

( D ) It has made him worried about his future career as a radio presenter .

Answer Key

1 . C 2 . A 3 . A 4 . B 5 . D 6 . A 7 . C 8 . A

Comprehension , Upper Intermediate , Advanced ( 5 )

Comprehension 

5 - ] Upper Intermediate & Advanced

Read the following article , then answer the questions below :   

               On Monday , 14^th November , it rained all day . ‘Is this a bad sign ?’ I wondered as I asked a local person for directions to the venue for my course . As I was late , I was glad his instructions were brief and clear , but I thought he had a strange expression on his face .

               ‘Danger of flooding . Check your brakes ,’ read the next sign . The sign after that read ‘Avon Foundation’ , where my course was . It also said ‘Drive carefully .’ I edged towards my destination . It was too late to turn back .

               When I’d mentioned that I was going on a writing course my friends’ reactions had varied from ‘Are you running it ?’ to ‘You must be mad .’ The latter was right , I thought , as I walked into a 16^th century farmhouse just before dinner . I was shown to a small room with three beds and a wash basin. The only bathroom was through another bedroom . For a journalist with wide experience of 5-star hotels , this was a shock .

                 I took my place at the dinner table and looked at my companions for the next five days , sixteen would-be fiction writers , aged 26 - 7 4 . We had two teachers : Deborah , author of ten novels , and Stephen , whose latest work I had been unable to find in one of the biggest bookshops in London . ‘Hi , I’m Stephen ,’ he said amiably , sitting down next to me . Without thinking , I confessed to my failure in the bookshop , which added to the strain of the occasion for us both .

                  After dinner , our course in fiction writing began . ‘What do you want to get out of your course here ?’ Stephen enquired , and we each explained our plans . Mine had been a novel . When I’d booked the course , I’d left lots of free time to plot it out , identify the characters and write at least one chapter . But all this was swallowed up by less demanding activities , like going to parties . ‘Er , a short story …’ I heard myself saying weakly , but at least it sounded like something I could achieve .

                     It seemed less so the next day , when I was faced with the blank screen on the word processor I had brought with me . There was nothing between me and my fiction but writer’s block . But professional journalists like me don’t get writer’s block , do they ? Wrong . Fortunately , no-one else could get started either .

                       Towards the end of the morning , I remembered that I had an ancient piece of fiction in my machine . This was a desperate idea but I had to have something to show the teachers before the afternoon’s individual tutorials  . Perhaps it could be turned into a short story . It didn’t take more than as quick glance at it to convince me that it could .

                         Then it was tutorial time . We were due for our 20-minute individual session and nerves were frayed by the threat of cruel assessment . We had heard of idle tutors who refused to read the students’ work at all and of frank ones who dared to tell the truth about it , but we were much luckier . Deborah and Stephen were thorough in their preparation . Stephen provided detailed analysis from handwritten notes ; Deborah supplied brilliant solutions to tricky problems ; both were heartwarmingly encouraging to everyone .

                         By Thursday evening , the brave were reading their own stories , which provided fascinating insights into their lives and personalities . Predictably , standards varied from the truly talented to the deeply ungifted , but all were clapped and praised , as they deserved to be . Most of the stories were autobiographical - so how come mine , which I was too cowardly to read - was about a world I know nothing about ? And how come  I got the distinct impression that Deborah and Stephen thought I’d better stick to journalism ?

Answer the following questions :

1 . How did the writer feel as she made her way to the course ?

( A ) confused

( B ) annoyed

( C ) nervous

( D ) determined

2 . When the writer arrived for the course , she

( A ) felt that some of her friends’ reactions had been right .

( B ) was disappointed that the building was such an old one .

( C ) considered complaining about the lack of facilities .

( D ) suspected that it was likely to be badly run .

3 . In paragraph three ‘my failure’ refers to the fact that the writer

( A ) didn’t remember Stephen from the bookshop .

( B ) hadn’t found Stephen’s new book .

( C ) didn’t realize Stephen worked with Deborah .

( D ) couldn’t start a conversation with Stephen .

4 . Before she went on the course , the writer had

( A ) managed to write a short story to take with her .

( B ) decided that writing a novel was going to take too long

( C ) not had As much free time as she’d expected .

( D ) not succeeded in putting her plans into action .

5 . What happened when she sat down to write on the first morning ?

( A ) She discovered that she could have the same problems as any other writer .

( B ) She realized that something she had written in the past was excellent .

( C ) She overcame a problem with the machine she had taken with her .

( D ) She decided that her first idea for a story was unlikely to work .

6 . What does the writer say about the first tutorial ?

( A ) The teachers didn’t tell them what they really thought of their work .

( B ) It was better than those given on some other courses for writers .

(C ) She was more nervous about it than some of the other writers .

( D ) She thought that Stephen’s approach wasn’t as useful as Deborah’s .

7 . When people read their own stories to the others ,

( A ) different stories got different reactions .

( B ) there was no opportunity for the writer to read hers .

( C ) the stories revealed things about their writers .

( D ) the writer felt that they were better than hers .

Answer Key

1 . C  2 . A 3 . B  4 . D  5 . A  6 . B  7 . C

Comprehension , Upper Intermediate , Advanced ( 4 )

 Comprehension 

4 - ] Upper Intermediate & Advanced 

Read the following , then answer the questions below :

  WANTED : Sports -mad training partner

  for triathlete , preferably female . Chance to

  work with potential Olympic champion .

  Should be extremely keen on distance running

  ( regular 15 km sessions ) , distance swimming

  ( addiction to winter training in cold rivers

  useful ) and distance cycling ( love of 100km

  an advantage ) . Ability to do all three without

  a rest essential

            The triathlon promises to be one of the most popular Olympic sports . Recently it has drawn huge crowds fascinated ( and horrified ) by athletes swimming 1500 m , cycling w0 km , then running 10 km without stopping . Great for those watching , maybe , but what makes the triathletes want to punish their bodies so much ? And what makes an attractive 17-year-old , with excellent academic results , give up everything for the doubtful pleasure it offers ?

          Melanie Sears has not yet learnt those often-repeated phrases about personal satisfaction , mental challenge and higher targets that most athletes automatically use when asked similar questions . ‘You swim for 1500 m , then run out of the water and jump on your bike , still wet . Of course , then you freeze . When the 40 km cycle ride is over , you have to run 10 km , which is a long way when you’re feeling exhausted . But it’s great fun , and all worth it in the end ,’ she says .

            Melanie entered her first triathlon at 14 . ‘I won the junior section - but then I was the only junior taking part . It seemed so easy that I was waving at my team-mates as I went round .’ Full of confidence , she entered the National Championships , and although she had the second fastest swim and the fastest run , she came nowhere . ‘I was following this man and suddenly we came to the sea . We realized then that we had gone wrong . I ended up cycling 20 kilometers too far . I cried all the way through the running .’

            But she did not give up and is determined that she never will. ‘Sometimes I wish I could stop , because then the pain would be over , but I am afraid that if I let myself stop just once , I would be tempted to do it again.’ Such doggedness draws admiration from Steve Trew , the sport’s director of coaching . ‘I’ve just been testing her fitness .’ he says , ‘and she worked so hard on the running machine that it finally threw her off and into a wall . She had given it everything , but whereas most people step off when they realize they can’t go any further , she just kept on .’

            Melanie was top junior in this year’s European Triathlon Championships , finishing 13^th . ‘I was almost as good as the top three in swimming and running , but much slower at cycling . That’s why I’m working very hard at it .’ She is trying to talk her long-suffering parents , who will carry the £ 1,300 cost of her trip to New Zealand for this year’s World Championships , into buying a £ 2 ,000 bike (It’s special deal , with £ 1,000 off) so she can try national 25 km and 100 km races later this year .

             But there is another price to pay . Her punishing training sessions have made her a bit of a recluse . ‘I don’t have a social life .’ she says . ‘I’m not a party animal anyway . After two hours’ hard swimming on Friday nights . I just want to go to sleep . But I phone and write to the other girls in the team .’ What does she talk about ? Clothes ? ‘No , what sort of times they are achieving .’  

                    Where will all this single-mindedness end ? Melanie has tried other events . She has had a go at the triathlon ‘sprint’ , for example , where you only have to swim 750 m , cycle 20 km and run 5 km . She wants to enter even tougher events than the triathlon . ‘The big trouble is , I have no one of my age to train with ,’ she says . Funny , that .

************

1 . What is the purpose of the ‘advertisement’ in the first paragraph ?

( A ) to encourage people to take up the triathlon

( B ) to explain why the triathlon is becoming more popular

( C ) to describe how difficult the triathlon is

( D ) to criticize people who do the triathlon

2 . How does Melanie differ from other athlete , according to the writer ?

( A ) Her personality is not like theirs .

( B ) Her aims are different from theirs .

( C ) She worries less than they do .

( D ) She expresses herself differently .

3 . What upset Melanie during the National Championships ?

( A ) She was tricked by another competitor .

( B ) She realized she couldn’t cycle as fast as she thought .

( C ) She felt that she had let her team-mates down .

( D ) She made a mistake during part of the race .

4 . What is meant by Melanie’s ‘doggedness’ ?

( A ) She continues despite all difficulties .

( B ) She feels less pain than most people .

( C ) She knows her own limits .

( D ) She likes to please her coach .

5 . What is Melanie trying to persuade her parents to do ?

( A ) let her compete in longer races

( B ) buy a special bike for her

( C ) pay for her to go to New Zealand

( D ) give her half the cost of a bike

6 . What does Melanie say about her relationships with her team-mates ?

( A ) She only discusses the triathlon with them .

( B ) She would like to see them more often .

( C ) She dislikes discussing boys or clothes with them .

( D ) She thinks they find her way of life strange .

7 . What does the writer mean by the phrase ‘Funny , that’ at the end of the article ?

( A ) It is strange that more young people do not take up the triathlon .

( B ) It is clear that Melanie enjoys training for tough events .

( C ) It is amusing to hear people’s reactions to the triathlon .

( D ) It is understandable that Melanie does not have a training partner of her own age .

8 . What is the writer’s attitude to Melanie ?

( A ) He is worried that her social life is interesting with her sport .

( B ) He believes that success has come to her too young .

( C ) He thinks that she is an extraordinary teenager .

( D ) He envies her enormous determination to succeed .

Answer Key

1 . C 2 . D 3 . D 4 . A 5 . B 6 . A 7 . D 8 . C   

 

Comprehension , Upper Intermediate , Advanced [ 3 ]

3 - ] Comprehension  

Upper Intermediate & Advanced

Read the following , then answer the question below :

            We’re ‘animal people’ who enjoy the company of all kinds of creatures. Consider the typical chain of events , leading to total confusion , which began one afternoon . My daughter telephoned me ay work with the news that she had found a wonderful pine snake.   

             ‘Can we keep him ?’ she cried , I said ‘Yes , but only overnight.’ We had set up a special tank for just such passers-through , overnight being long enough to admire and look them up in our well-used natural history book .

              I was late getting home . I hurriedly put a pot on to boil just as screams of ‘oh , Mother ! Help ! Do something !’ came from my sons’ bedroom . I leapt to it .

               The crisis involved Domino the cat and Bianca the white mouse given to me as a Mother’s Day present . ( I’ve heard that some mothers get perfume . ) Domino , with mouse feet waving from his jaws , ran round and round the bedroom that was crowded with furniture and children .

                 Looking for a way out so he could enjoy his catch , Domino had so far avoided the forest of waving arms . I threw myself into the confusion and promptly tripped over something of someone to find myself on the floor .

                  As I thought about dropping my full weight on Domino when he next came past , my eyes locked on the snake . It had escaped - or , more correctly , was escaping . It was pouring itself up and out and off the table and all over the floor . I crouched like a rabbit at the approach of its bullish head , and long powerful body .

                The snake and I were now both being jumped over by cat / mouse / kids in a screaming , leaping , hissing mass - the snake striking at every moment , the dog barking wildly .

                The pot boiled over in the kitchen and I raced to shut off the gas , returning to the battle with new strength . This time I successfully captured Domino by the tail , and pulled the small , damp and miraculously uninjured mouse from his growling jaws . Incidentally , the same mouse was caught by the same cat three more times during its lifetime , but eventually died of old age .

                 Encouraged by mu success with the cat , I looked the snake over for weak points . It didn’t have any . In the end , I sat on the floor like a snake-charmer , rocking backwards and forwards , but within a flute . Gradually the snake relaxed enough to drop its head on to its piled-up body , but its eyes still shone with suspicion . I eventually ever-so-slowly eased my hands beneath the piled-up snake and gradually raised myself to a kneeling position , then I stood up and walked to the very end of the garden where I gave the snake the choice of living happily ever after on the garden shed by pointing it in the direction of a handy tree .

                    But when I finally gathered enough courage to release the snake’s head - fully expecting it to swing instantly around to crush my face in its powerful jaws - it slid away from the tree and up over my shoulders where , like a colorful leathery shawl , it gave every sign of making itself comfortable for the winter .

                  We stood in the gathering dusk , four young children , Mum and the snake . DJ , my eldest , broke the heavy silence with a scientific explanation : ‘ You know what it is , Mum ? You’re nice and fat and warm , and the shed isn’t .’ I had the children gather at the snake’s tail end and gently encourage it to move on . Slowly and unwillingly it did so . Without a backward glance , the snake traveled smoothly up the wall to disappear over the now night-shadowed roof .

                         As the last tiny bit of tail disappeared from our property , three-year old Clay sighed and said it for all of us : ‘Boy , that was one big snake !’   

***********************

1 . Why did the children start shouting ?

( A ) They were arguing about what to do .

( B ) The cat had eaten the mouse .

( C ) The snake had frightened them .

( D ) They wanted their mother to save the mouse .

2 . What does the writer really mean when she says ‘I’ve heard that some mothers get perfume’ ?

( A ) She would not be surprised to receive perfume .

( B ) She sometimes received perfume .

(  C ) She thinks perfume is a strange present .

( D ) She would quite like to receive perfume .

3 . When did she realize the snake was escaping ?

( A ) when she arrived in the bedroom

( B ) as she lay on the floor

( C ) when she tripped over it

( D ) as she grabbed the cat

4 . What does she mean when she says she was ‘encouraged’ by her success with the cat ?

( A ) She now had the confidence to deal with the snake .

( B ) The cat was no longer a threat .

( C ) The snake no longer seemed so strong .

( D ) The children were pleased with what she’d done .

5 . How did she get the snake out of the house ?

( A ) She frightened it .

( B ) She sent it to sleep .

( C ) She chased it away .

( D ) She carried it .

6 . Where did the snake move to instead of the tree ?

( A ) up the garden wall

( B ) into the writer’s shoulders

( D ) into the garden

7 . The snake finally left the garden when the writer

( A ) used her hands to give it a push .

( B ) let go of its head .

( C ) got her children to help .

( D ) stood up quickly .

8 . Why was the story written ?

( A ) to warn

( B ) to amuse

(C ) to instruct

( D ) to advise

Answer Key

1 .D 2 . D 3 . B 4 . A 5 . D 6 . B 7 . C 8 . B  

Comprehension , Upper Intermediate , Advanced [ 2 ]

2 - ] Comprehension  

2 - ] Upper Intermediate , Advanced 

2 . ] Read the newspaper article , then answer the questions below :

                A lot of advice is available for college leavers heading for their first job . In this article we consider the move to a second job . We are not concerned with those looking for a second temporary position while hunting for a permanent job . Nor are we concerned with those leaving an unsatisfactory job within the first few weeks . Instead , we will be dealing with those of you taking a real step on the career ladder , choosing a job to fit in with your ambitions now that you have learnt your way around , acquired some skills and have some idea of where you want to go .

                  What sort of job should you look for ? Much depends on your long-term aim . You need to ask yourself whether you want to specialize in a particular field , work your way up to higher levels of responsibility or out of your current employment into a broader field .

                    Whatever you decide , you should choose your second job very carefully . You should be aiming to stay in it for two to three years .

                    This job will be studied very carefully when you send your letter of application for your next job . It should show evidence of serious career planning . Most important , it should extend you , develop you and give you increasing responsibility . Incidentally , if the travel bug is biting , now is the time to pack up and go . You can do temporary work for a while when you return , pick up where you left off and get the second job then . Future potential employers will be relieved to see that you have got it out of your system , and are not likely to go off again .

                     Juliette Davidson spent her first year after leaving St. Aldate’s College working for three solicitors . It was the perfect first job in that ‘OK --- they were very supportive people > I was gently introduced to the work , learnt my way round an office and improved my word processing skills . However , there was no scope for advancement . One day I gave in my notice , bought an air ticket and traveled for a year’ .

                     Juliette now works as a Personal Assistant to Brenda Cleverdon , the Chirf Executive of a Business in the Community . ‘In two and a half years I have become more able and my job has really grown’ , she says . ‘Right from the beginning my boss was very keen to develop me . My job title is the same as it was when I started but the duties have changed . From mainly typing and telephone work , I have progressed to doing most of the correspondence and budgets . I also have to deal with a variety of queries , coming from chairmen of large companies to people wanting to know how to start their own business . Brenda involves me in all her work but also gives me specific projects to do and events to organize’ .

1 . Who is intended to benefit from the advice given in the article ?

( A ) students who have just finished their studies

( B ) people who are unhappy with their current job

( C ) those who are interested in establishing a career

( D ) people who change jobs regularly

2 . According to the writer , why is the choice of your second job important ?

( A ) It will affect your future job prospects .

( B ) It will last longer than your first job .

( C ) It will be difficult to change if you don’t like it .

( D ) It should give you the opportunity to study .

3 . ‘it’ in paragraph four refers to

( A ) first job .

( B ) second job .

( C ) application .

( D ) career .

4 . If you have a desire to travel , when does the writer suggest that you do it ?

( A ) straight after you have left college

( B ) when you are unable to find a permanent job

( C ) after you have done some temporary work

( D ) between the first and second job

5 . What is meant by ‘you have got it out of your system in paragraph four ?

( A ) You have planned your career sensibly .

( B ) You are an experienced traveler .

( C ) You have satisfied your wish to travel .

( D ) You have learned to look after yourself .

6 . How did Juliette Davidson benefit from the experience of her first job ?

( A ) It was a good introduction to working in an office .

( B ) She met a variety of interesting people .

( C ) It enabled her to earn enough money to travel .

( D ) She learnt how to use a word processor .

7 . In what way is Juliette’s current job better than her first job ?

( A ) She has a more impressive job title .

( B ) She now knows how to start her own business .

( C ) She has been able to extend her skills .

( D ) She is more involved in the community .

Answer Key

1. C 2. A 3 . B 4 . D 5 . C 6 . A 7 . C