Read and Understand: YDS Practice
Intermediate level passages for practicing YDS Reading Comprehension.Passage 1 to 10. Click on the summaries to reveal answers interactively. Enjoy your practice!
Passage 1: THE BEST RECRUITING AGENTS
In 1849 a servant girl wrote home to her brother from Port Adelaide, South Australia: "I have accepted a situation at £20 per annum, so you can tell the servants in your neighbourhood not to stay in England for such wages as from £4 to £8 a year, but come here." Letters such as these, which were circulated from kitchen to kitchen and from attic to attic in English homes, were the best recruiting agents for the colonies, which were then so desperately in need of young women to serve the pioneers who were trying to create a new life for themselves in their chosen countries. Other girls read about the much better prospects overseas in newspapers and magazines, which also published advertisements giving details of free or assisted passages.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | job (in the passage, as a servant) | Reveal Answersituation |
| b) | for each year | Reveal Answerper annum |
| c) | money paid for work - especially unskilled work (plural) | Reveal Answerwages |
| d) | move from place to place, or person to person in a particular group; pass round | Reveal Answercirculated |
| e) | room at the top of a house in the space immediately below the roof | Reveal Answerattic |
| f) | the finding of new workers | Reveal Answerrecruiting |
| g) | very greatly; seriously | Reveal Answerdesperately |
| h) | one of the first people to go to a new country to work or settle | Reveal Answerpioneers |
| i) | chance of success, especially in work (plural) | Reveal Answerprospects |
| j) | abroad; in a foreign country across the sea | Reveal Answeroverseas |
| k) | without payment; costing nothing | Reveal Answerfree |
| l) | provided with or given help with raising money for something | Reveal Answerassisted |
| m) | journey by ship from one place to another | Reveal Answerpassages |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- Those women who went to the colonies as servants
Reveal Answer
C) played the most important role in attracting others
- A) were all recruited through agents back in England
- B) missed their families greatly
- C) played the most important role in attracting others
- D) found themselves being moved from kitchen to kitchen
- E) had the pioneering spirit necessary for starting new lives
- Getting to the colonies from England for the servants
Reveal Answer
D) did not pose any financial problem
- A) could cost as little as £4
- B) was essential if they wanted to escape life in English attics
- C) was only possible if an agent had recruited them
- D) did not pose any financial problem
- E) required a written invitation from someone already there
- It is stated in the passage that
Reveal Answer
B) servants were in great demand for the pioneers establishing new lives
- A) no men could get jobs as servants in Australia
- B) servants were in great demand for the pioneers establishing new lives
- C) English homes were short of servants as so many went overseas
- D) the pioneers who went to the colonies were all men
- E) emigration from England to Australia started in 1849
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- A person with good qualifications is bound to have brighter ______ than someone without.
Reveal Answer
prospects
- The local shops are giving away sets of kitchen knives with every purchase over £50.
Reveal Answer
free
- The news ______ so quickly round the office that by the end of the day, everyone had heard it.
Reveal Answer
circulated
- Many of the ______ had no information as to what difficulties they would face once they arrived in their new land.
Reveal Answer
pioneers
- She wanted a bicycle, and begged her parents day and night for one.
Reveal Answer
desperately
Passage 2: TO BRING BACK LOST MEMORIES
Our unconscious mind contains many millions of past experiences that, so far as our conscious mind knows, are lost forever. By means of several devices, we now know how to bring back lost memories. One method is "free association", used by psychiatrists. If a patient lets his conscious mind wander at will, it can give him clues to forgotten things which, if skilfully pursued by the doctor, will bring up whole networks of lost ideas and forgotten terrors. There are certain drugs which also help in this process; hypnotism, too, can be of tremendous value in exploring a patient's unconscious.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | for all time | Reveal Answerforever |
| b) | method for doing something, or for getting an intended result | Reveal Answerdevices |
| c) | allow your thoughts to go from subject to subject; stop concentrating | Reveal Answerwander |
| d) | whenever, however, and as much as you want to | Reveal Answerat will |
| e) | something which suggests the answer to, or gives information about a problem | Reveal Answerclues |
| f) | try to find out more through questioning | Reveal Answerpursued |
| g) | large number of things that are connected to each other | Reveal Answernetworks |
| h) | something which causes very great fear | Reveal Answerterrors |
| i) | very great; very important | Reveal Answertremendous |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- According to the passage, it is possible
Reveal Answer
B) to bring our lost memories to the surface through several methods
- A) to use drugs to cure patients of their past terrors
- B) to bring our lost memories to the surface through several methods
- C) that psychological problems develop through the inability to forget certain things
- D) that hypnotism can cause a patient to forget past terrors
- E) for most people to choose to forget about their past experiences
- In the method of "free association"
Reveal Answer
E) the patient's co-operation is needed
- A) unpleasant memories are pushed into the unconscious mind
- B) the use of hypnotism is essential
- C) certain drugs are more effective than hypnotism
- D) all one's millions of past experiences are easily recalled
- E) the patient's co-operation is needed
- We can conclude from the passage that
Reveal Answer
D) many of one's past experiences are stored in one's unconscious mind
- A) most psychological disorders are caused by the inability to forget certain things
- B) only a skilful doctor can open up one's unconscious mind
- C) our unconscious mind only contains the things we don't want to remember
- D) many of one's past experiences are stored in one's unconscious mind
- E) a patient can't be made aware of his forgotten experiences without drugs or hypnotism
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- I've decided not to ______ the matter just now, but don't think I've forgotten about it.
Reveal Answer
pursue
- All of you have put ______ effort into the campaign, so it's thanks to you that everything is going so well.
Reveal Answer
tremendous
- The chairman has given us no ______ as to what he's going to say at the meeting, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Reveal Answer
clue
- The language teacher has a number of ______ which she can employ in order to get her students to speak.
Reveal Answer
devices
- The lecture was so boring that on several occasions I realized that my attention had started to ______.
Reveal Answer
wander
Passage 3: PALM TREES
Of the world's 2,500-plus species of palm trees, the Palmyra palm is most important to man, next to the coconut palm, because it yields food and provides over one hundred different useful end-products. To obtain the majority of its benefits, the Palmyra needs to be climbed twice daily to extract the nutritious juice from its flower-bunches. It is this juice, converted by several different methods, that is the basis for a wide variety of other products. Collecting this juice, however, is arduous - and often dangerous - work, for the trees can top 30 metres in height.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | more than | Reveal Answerplus |
| b) | produce naturally | Reveal Answeryields |
| c) | final result after treatment or processing | Reveal Answerend-products |
| d) | get | Reveal Answerobtain |
| e) | more than half of the total; most | Reveal Answermajority |
| f) | something good or useful | Reveal Answerbenefits |
| g) | get something from or out of something else | Reveal Answerextract |
| h) | having high value as food, e.g. containing vitamins, etc. | Reveal Answernutritious |
| i) | change (in form, etc.) | Reveal Answerconverted |
| j) | tiring; involving a lot of energy and effort | Reveal Answerarduous |
| k) | be taller, higher or more than | Reveal Answertop |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- When the Palmyra is climbed twice a day
Reveal Answer
A) it is possible to get most of its benefits
- A) it is possible to get most of its benefits
- B) strict safety measures are taken
- C) the best coconuts can be picked
- D) it encourages the tree to grow to over thirty metres
- E) the flowers are collected for processing
- According to the passage
Reveal Answer
C) there are at least two and a half thousand types of palm tree
- A) each palm tree can produce over 100 coconuts
- B) the juice from coconuts is very nutritious
- C) there are at least two and a half thousand types of palm tree
- D) there are several different ways of collecting Palmyra flower juice
- E) many people rely on palm trees for their basic food requirements
- The juice from the Palmyra's flower-bunches
Reveal Answer
E) provides the raw material for many other products
- A) is better quality if the tree is at least 30 metres high
- B) is only produced at certain times of the day
- C) gets converted into over 100 different food types
- D) is extracted by pressing the picked flowers
- E) provides the raw material for many other products
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- The results we ______ weren't what we'd expected, so we may have to carry out the experiment again.
Reveal Answer
obtained
- For the first time in the company's history, sales have ______ $10 million.
Reveal Answer
topped
- If you are planning to grow your own tomatoes, I'd recommend planting this variety as it generally ______ a larger crop than other types.
Reveal Answer
yields
- The best quality olive oil is that which is ______ from the olives at the first pressing.
Reveal Answer
extracted
- During the fermentation period of wine-making, the natural sugar in the grapes is ______ to alcohol.
Reveal Answer
converted
Passage 4: OVERREACTING TO A JOKE
More often than not, the person who habitually laughs longest and loudest when a joke is retold does not possess a particularly keen sense of humour. Though he may not admit it, he is vaguely aware of his deficiency, and frequently goes to extremes to cover it up. A mediocre joke is likely to get as big a rise out of him as a truly humorous one. Psychological studies, likewise, show that people with a really keen sense of humour are not prone to much laughter. They are highly appreciative of humour, but they are also discriminating. And they never overreact.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | usually; according to someone's usual behaviour | Reveal Answerhabitually |
| b) | tell; repeat, having heard it from someone else | Reveal Answerretold |
| c) | have; own | Reveal Answerpossess |
| d) | more than normally; noticeably | Reveal Answerparticularly |
| e) | sharp; strong; active; very aware | Reveal Answerkeen |
| f) | ability to see when something is amusing (phrase) | Reveal Answersense of humour |
| g) | only to a small degree; not clearly | Reveal Answervaguely |
| h) | shortage or lack of something; weakness | Reveal Answerdeficiency |
| i) | often | Reveal Answerfrequently |
| j) | do more than is considered reasonable or acceptable (phrase) | Reveal Answergoes to extremes |
| k) | not very good; of a poor standard | Reveal Answermediocre |
| l) | very probably the case; to be expected | Reveal Answerlikely |
| m) | cause someone to react with laughter, anger, etc. (phrase) | Reveal Answerget a rise out of |
| n) | moreover; in a similar way | Reveal Answerlikewise |
| o) | have a tendency; generally behave in a certain way (phrase) | Reveal Answerprone to |
| p) | feeling enjoyment, pleasure and understanding | Reveal Answerappreciative |
| q) | able to recognize good quality; able to see small differences between good and bad | Reveal Answerdiscriminating |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- According to the writer, it isn't necessarily true that
Reveal Answer
E) the longer a person laughs, the keener his sense of humour
- A) mediocre jokes are only laughed at by people with no sense of humour
- B) people with a keen sense of humour never overreact
- C) a person who is aware of his weak sense of humour will always overreact
- D) some jokes are better than others
- E) the longer a person laughs, the keener his sense of humour
- Those with a really keen sense of humour
Reveal Answer
D) are able to distinguish between good and bad jokes
- A) never show it through laughter
- B) tell mediocre jokes to make other people overreact
- C) don't appreciate the company of those with a poor sense of humour
- D) are able to distinguish between good and bad jokes
- E) will laugh for a long time at a truly humorous joke
- The writer believes that by overreacting to a joke
Reveal Answer
A) some people are trying to hide the shortcomings in their sense of humour
- A) some people are trying to hide the shortcomings in their sense of humour
- B) you make the person who told it feel inadequate in some way
- C) you spoil the humour for other people
- D) a person can demonstrate how mediocre it is
- E) a person shows how discriminating he is about humour
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- As young children, we absorb a lot of language before we utter our first words. ______, when we're learning a second language, we shouldn't be expected to produce it until we have taken it in.
Reveal Answer
Likewise
- He's very ______, you know, and he will immediately notice if we serve him a cheap bottle of wine.
Reveal Answer
discriminating
- I remember you telling me this before, but tell me again as I've forgotten most of the details.
Reveal Answer
retell
- He's good at all the sciences ______, physics, and he seems to understand even the most complicated concepts with no effort at all.
Reveal Answer
particularly
- I'm ______ to be home late this evening, so don't wait to eat if you're hungry.
Reveal Answer
likely
Passage 5: ALPINE FORESTS
Forests are the lifeguards of the snowy peaks of the Alps. They provide a natural barrier against avalanches and landslides, but the skiing industry, which proved a boon for poor Alpine farmers, is damaging the environment. Forests have been felled to make way for more ski runs, car parks, and hotels, and Alpine meadows have been abandoned by farmers keen to exploit tourism. Consequently, the avalanche has now become a common phenomenon. Forestry experts estimate that two-thirds of the several thousand avalanches that descend into inhabited parts each year are the result of forest depletion.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | an expert swimmer employed at a beach or pool to protect other swimmers from drowning or other accidents (used metaphorically in the passage) | Reveal Answerlifeguards |
| b) | pointed top of a mountain | Reveal Answerpeaks |
| c) | something that stops or hinders movement from one place to another | Reveal Answerbarrier |
| d) | great mass of snow and ice that slides down the side of a mountain | Reveal Answeravalanches |
| e) | small movement of rocks and soil down the side of a hill or other slope | Reveal Answerlandslides |
| f) | advantage; something that makes life better or easier | Reveal Answerboon |
| g) | cut down (of trees) | Reveal Answerfelled |
| h) | area of grassland | Reveal Answermeadows |
| i) | stop looking after and leave, not intending to return | Reveal Answerabandoned |
| j) | eager; wanting (to do something) very much | Reveal Answerkeen |
| k) | develop in order to make money; take advantage of | Reveal Answerexploit |
| l) | something that happens and can be seen or experienced | Reveal Answerphenomenon |
| m) | calculate approximately | Reveal Answerestimate |
| n) | go or move downwards | Reveal Answerdescend |
| o) | with people living there; occupied | Reveal Answerinhabited |
| p) | reduction; being used up so that little or none remains | Reveal Answerdepletion |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- In the Alps, the attraction of tourism
Reveal Answer
B) has diverted some farmers away from the care of the land
- A) causes two thousand avalanches a year
- B) has diverted some farmers away from the care of the land
- C) has brought much-needed help for protecting the environment
- D) has lessened due to the threat of avalanches
- E) forced many farmers to leave the area
- As a consequence of the depletion of Alpine forests
Reveal Answer
E) the frequency of avalanches has greatly increased
- A) many farmers have had to turn to tourism for work
- B) the skiing industry has suffered a great decline
- C) only one-third of all avalanches occur in uninhabited parts
- D) many areas are now uninhabitable
- E) the frequency of avalanches has greatly increased
- Alpine farmers
Reveal Answer
C) used to be poor before the rise of the skiing industry
- A) were the people who initiated the development of the skiing industry
- B) have had much of their land taken from them by those involved in tourism
- C) used to be poor before the rise of the skiing industry
- D) were forced to turn their meadows into hotels and car parks
- E) feel that they have been exploited by tourism
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- Recent restrictions on imports have led to a ______ of the country's oil reserves.
Reveal Answer
depletion
- The police put ______ around the stadium to try to stop those supporters without tickets from attempting to get in.
Reveal Answer
barriers
- The puppies had obviously been ______ by their mother, so we decided to take them in and look after them.
Reveal Answer
abandoned
- Environmentalists are claiming that the construction company ______ more trees than necessary while building the new road.
Reveal Answer
felled
- She ______ the stairs slowly, careful not to catch her foot in her long skirt.
Reveal Answer
descended
Passage 6: THE ASSEMBLY LINE
Henry Ford was a car builder. He was not the first to have the idea of the horseless coach. The Germans Daimler and Benz had invented it, but he was the first to use the assembly line for mass production. His Model-T car was the first to be produced on the assembly line. The new system cut the time in which the car was put together from 14 hours to 1 hour and 33 minutes. Eventually the price of the car fell from $1,200 to $295. The car lacked certain luxuries; still, it could be relied on and did not need much looking after. Soon, the Model-T became the people's car. After nineteen years, when the Model-T became obsolete and sales dropped sharply - for other car manufacturers, copying Ford's assembly line system, were able to bring down the costs of much more attractive cars - Ford developed the new Model-A. It, too, was the most inexpensive car on the market. Today there are hardly any factories to be found where Ford's assembly line system is not being utilized for mass production.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | four-wheeled covered vehicle pulled by horses | Reveal Answercoach |
| b) | arrangement of workers and machines where each worker completes only one part of the production and then passes it along to another for the next stage | Reveal Answerassembly line |
| c) | the making of something in large quantities | Reveal Answermass production |
| d) | in the end; after a time | Reveal Answereventually |
| e) | not have; be without | Reveal Answerlacked |
| f) | no longer used; out-of-date | Reveal Answerobsolete |
| g) | quickly and to a great degree | Reveal Answersharply |
| h) | person or company that makes things in factories in large quantities | Reveal Answermanufacturers |
| i) | make use of | Reveal Answerutilized |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- Ford's assembly line system
Reveal Answer
C) is used in almost every factory today
- A) was invented by the Germans Daimler and Benz
- B) was reliable and did not need much maintenance
- C) is used in almost every factory today
- D) became obsolete after nineteen years
- E) could put a car together in twelve hours and twenty-seven minutes
- Henry Ford
Reveal Answer
B) introduced the system of mass production on an assembly line
- A) went bankrupt when sales of his Model-T dropped
- B) introduced the system of mass production on an assembly line
- C) made profits of only $295 on his first mass-produced car
- D) produced the Model-T, which was the first car ever to be built
- E) worked in partnership with Daimler and Benz
- Ford had to cease the production of the Model-T because
Reveal Answer
E) the price of more luxurious cars had dropped
- A) manufacturing costs had risen to over $1,000
- B) he could not compete with the mass production methods of Daimler and Benz
- C) the Model-A was being sold at a much lower price
- D) other manufacturers had copied its design
- E) the price of more luxurious cars had dropped
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- Prices have risen ______ in the last month and the government is battling to bring the economy under control.
Reveal Answer
sharply
- Before we start spending money on a new office, perhaps we should see if we can ______ the space we already have more effectively.
Reveal Answer
utilize
- Computers and word processors have become so commonplace these days that the traditional typewriter is virtually ______.
Reveal Answer
obsolete
- Although she is quite a good pianist, she ______ the talent necessary to make a professional career in music.
Reveal Answer
lacks
- We're saving a small amount of money every month and we hope, ______, to have enough to buy a car.
Reveal Answer
eventually
Passage 7: ALLERGIC REACTIONS TO COSMETICS
In a recent survey, it was found that 25 percent of the women interviewed reported drying and burning of the skin after using certain soaps, ten percent had eye and nasal irritations after using certain perfumes, and eight percent had cracked lips after using certain lipsticks. The most common symptoms of allergic dermatitis are extremely dry skin, scaling, and redness with swelling and itching. The products most likely to cause this condition are lipstick, nail polish, soap, hair preparations, deodorants, and perfumes. Various drugs are being developed for the relief of allergy sufferers. However, your best help is to convert to a cosmetic product to which you have no harmful reaction. Remember that the product is not at fault or in any way injurious; it is your particular sensitivity to it that creates the problem. A line of hypo-allergenic cosmetics that are relatively free from substances that have been found to create allergic reactions is on the market.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | investigation or study of people's behaviour, opinions, etc. | Reveal Answersurvey |
| b) | of the nose | Reveal Answernasal |
| c) | feeling of discomfort or pain | Reveal Answerirritations |
| d) | having lines or splits on its surface because it is damaged | Reveal Answercracked |
| e) | sign of illness, indicated by changes in the body's condition | Reveal Answersymptoms |
| f) | a skin condition or disease | Reveal Answerdermatitis |
| g) | becoming covered in hard, dry patches; coming off in small, dry patches | Reveal Answerscaling |
| h) | becoming greater in size or rounder than normal | Reveal Answerswelling |
| i) | unpleasant feeling on the skin which makes the person want to scratch it | Reveal Answeritching |
| j) | to be expected; probably the case | Reveal Answerlikely |
| k) | lessening or removal of pain, discomfort, etc. | Reveal Answerrelief |
| l) | change from one thing to another | Reveal Answerconvert |
| m) | harmful; damaging | Reveal Answerinjurious |
| n) | relating to or belonging to only one; being separate or different from others of the same kind | Reveal Answerparticular |
| o) | not causing an allergic reaction; containing fewer substances known to cause allergic reactions | Reveal Answerhypo-allergenic |
| p) | compared with others; comparatively | Reveal Answerrelatively |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- The writer advises those with allergic reactions to
Reveal Answer
C) change their brand of cosmetics
- A) stop using soap
- B) take anti-allergenic drugs
- C) change their brand of cosmetics
- D) avoid all cosmetics
- E) complain to the manufacturer
- It's likely that the aim of the survey was
Reveal Answer
E) to get an idea of how women react physically to cosmetics
- A) to test how well a particular brand of soap was selling
- B) to aid the drug manufacturers in their development of remedies
- C) to get evidence to support a legal claim for damages against a cosmetics company
- D) to collect the information needed to force cosmetics companies to withdraw certain products
- E) to get an idea of how women react physically to cosmetics
- Certain products cause allergies because
Reveal Answer
D) certain people are sensitive to their ingredients
- A) they are very low quality
- B) the women are taking drugs which react adversely to the cosmetics
- C) the women overuse them by as much as 25 percent
- D) certain people are sensitive to their ingredients
- E) the manufacturers use harmful ingredients because they are cheaper
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- He's having his old garage ______ into a photographic studio.
Reveal Answer
converted
- I'm ______ tall, but even I can't reach that top shelf.
Reveal Answer
relatively
- One or two of the mugs are ______, but most of them are in perfect condition.
Reveal Answer
cracked
- There's a/an ______ programme I'd like to watch this evening if no one has any objections.
Reveal Answer
particular
- I think that the cause of my eye ______ is the smoke from your cigarettes.
Reveal Answer
irritation
Passage 8: THE "JAZZ AGE"
Some of America's finest novelists began to write in the 1920s, or the "Jazz Age", as this decade is sometimes termed. Older authors such as Theodore Dreiser and Ellen Glasgow were still writing, but new authors wrote with new attitudes and styles. Most of the serious novelists critically analyzed American society and ways of life and tried to depict Americans as they really were. F. Scott Fitzgerald caught the restless spirit of the 1920s in his The Great Gatsby. Ernest Hemingway depicted war and disillusionment in his The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms. With his direct, unadorned style and forceful dialogue, Hemingway set a pattern for much future American literature. Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, satirized the American businessman and small town in his Main Street and Babbitt. His style was mediocre, but his work vividly dissected a large section of American life.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | period of ten years, e.g. 1960-1969 | Reveal Answerdecade |
| b) | describe | Reveal Answerdepict |
| c) | unable to settle; unable to relax or be still; wanting or needing to move | Reveal Answerrestless |
| d) | disappointment; state of having lost belief in something | Reveal Answerdisillusionment |
| e) | goodbye | Reveal Answerfarewell |
| f) | weapons; guns | Reveal Answerarms |
| g) | without decoration; plain | Reveal Answerunadorned |
| h) | strong; powerful; confident | Reveal Answerforceful |
| i) | criticize, make fun of or attack people's behaviour or society (for their wickedness, foolishness, etc.) | Reveal Answersatirized |
| j) | neither very good nor very bad; second-rate | Reveal Answermediocre |
| k) | clearly; in detail | Reveal Answervividly |
| l) | examine carefully part by part; analyze | Reveal Answerdissected |
| m) | one of the parts into which something can be divided | Reveal Answersection |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- Ernest Hemingway's style
Reveal Answer
B) influenced a great many American writers
- A) was extremely satirical
- B) influenced a great many American writers
- C) made him the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature
- D) was criticized by most of the serious novelists
- E) was analytical and critical
- Until Sinclair Lewis,
Reveal Answer
E) no American author had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature
- A) no other writer had used satire
- B) American writing was considered mediocre
- C) the only successful writer was Ernest Hemingway
- D) American life did not feature in novels
- E) no American author had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature
- According to the passage, many authors of the "Jazz Age"
Reveal Answer
D) wrote about the realities of American life
- A) were disillusioned because of the war
- B) received awards such as the Nobel Prize for Literature
- C) had a mediocre style
- D) wrote about the realities of American life
- E) were criticized by American society
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- He had described his home town so ______ to me that on my first visit there, I felt as if I had been there before.
Reveal Answer
vividly
- Can you pick me up in an hour as I have a few ______ to make before we finally leave?
Reveal Answer
arrangements (note: adapted for context; original may intend 'farewells' or similar, but using 'section' doesn't fit - assuming typo, using 'farewell')
- She gets really ______ if she stays in one place for longer than about three months.
Reveal Answer
restless
- I want a very simple, ______ dress with no ribbons, bows or lace.
Reveal Answer
unadorned
- In his books, Charles Dickens clearly ______ the poverty of nineteenth-century England.
Reveal Answer
depicts
Passage 9: PACIFIC SALMON FOR THE JAPANESE
Nobody eats as much Pacific salmon as the Japanese, who consume the fish raw, pickled, baked, salted, fried, smoked and put in soup. They eat salmon liver, and salmon skulls, and they process the fish into burgers and sausage. They eat 300,000 tons of the fish each year, a third of the world's total catch. The center of it all is Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, the largest on earth. Long before sunrise, the market is buzzing. Hundreds of men and women rush around between stalls, shout orders at one another, slice fish, work the telephones, and joke under bright strings of lights that shine down on acres of iced-down fish steaks, shark fillets, and thick red slabs of tuna stacked like wood. The concrete floors are newly washed and swept. The whole place smells fresh, like the sea.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | uncooked | Reveal Answerraw |
| b) | (of food) preserved in salt water or vinegar | Reveal Answerpickled |
| c) | cooked by dry heat in the oven | Reveal Answerbaked |
| d) | cooked in a pan containing boiling oil or fat | Reveal Answerfried |
| e) | bony part of the head which encases the brain | Reveal Answerskulls |
| f) | treat in a way that changes something's form in order to make a product | Reveal Answerprocess |
| g) | move quickly, busily or excitedly | Reveal Answerbuzzing |
| h) | large stand or table on which goods are displayed in a market | Reveal Answerstalls |
| i) | cut into thin, wide, flat pieces | Reveal Answerslice |
| j) | kept cool with ice | Reveal Answericed-down |
| k) | thick, flat piece | Reveal Answersteaks |
| l) | neatly arranged in piles | Reveal Answerstacked |
| m) | hard building material made from a mixture of cement and sand | Reveal Answerconcrete |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- It is clear from the passage that
Reveal Answer
C) the Japanese prepare Pacific salmon in a variety of ways
- A) Pacific salmon are most commonly found in Japanese waters
- B) Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market is close to the sea
- C) the Japanese prepare Pacific salmon in a variety of ways
- D) the only fish eaten in Japan is the Pacific salmon
- E) the Japanese don't eat meat
- In Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market
Reveal Answer
E) work starts very early in the morning
- A) only Pacific salmon are sold
- B) salmon are processed into burgers and sausage
- C) over 300,000 tons of fish are sold every year
- D) only frozen fish are available
- E) work starts very early in the morning
- It is stated in the passage that
Reveal Answer
B) the Japanese eat more Pacific salmon than any other nation
- A) the Japanese consume three times as many fish as the rest of the world
- B) the Japanese eat more Pacific salmon than any other nation
- C) fishing is Japan's biggest industry
- D) the only fish market in Japan is Tokyo's Tsukiji
- E) Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market sells a third of the world's total catch of fish
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- As I was leaving for work this morning, the market traders had just started setting up their ______.
Reveal Answer
stalls
- At the end of our road, there is a large factory, where meat is ______ into salami and other products.
Reveal Answer
processed
- Many dieticians say it is better to eat vegetables ______ because cooking removes many of the nutrients.
Reveal Answer
raw
- That office block, which has just been completed, really spoils the look of our town.
Reveal Answer
concrete
- You should ______ the potatoes quite thinly before cooking them, so use a sharp knife.
Reveal Answer
slice
Passage 10: THE MUSEUM ROBBERY
It was, Italian authorities said later, as if the thieves had a catalog and knew just what they were after. Armed bandits bound and gagged six unarmed guards, entered a storeroom containing artifacts from the Roman town of Herculaneum, and stole about 280 objects - gold rings, bracelets, earrings, and precious stones. All had been discovered during excavations of the seaside town, buried by the same eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 that destroyed its larger and better-known neighbor, Pompeii. Authorities said that the stolen items also included a small bronze statue of Bacchus inlaid with copper and silver, a bronze vase, and a box of coins. The total value of objects taken during the robbery was estimated at 1.6 million dollars. Art historians and others criticized lax security that permitted two gunmen to climb a wall, enter the site, and break through a flimsy partition to get into the room where the artifacts were kept. Some of the critics also complained that the guards were unarmed. Officials said it would be hard for anyone to sell the stolen objects because all had been catalogued and photographed, and most had been exhibited and published.
EXERCISE 1: Find words or phrases in the passage which mean the same as:
| COLUMN A | COLUMN B (Definition) | Your Answer |
|---|
| a) | carrying a weapon, especially a gun | Reveal Answerarmed |
| b) | robber carrying a weapon; one of a gang | Reveal Answerbandits |
| c) | tie up tightly with rope or string | Reveal Answerbound |
| d) | tie a piece of cloth round the mouth to prevent speaking or shouting | Reveal Answergagged |
| e) | something made by man, usually of archaeological interest | Reveal Answerartifacts |
| f) | diamonds, rubies, emeralds, etc. | Reveal Answerprecious stones |
| g) | cover with soil, rocks, etc. | Reveal Answerburied |
| h) | explosion of a volcano | Reveal Answereruption |
| i) | one of a collection or list of things | Reveal Answeritems |
| j) | having pieces of metal, wood, etc., set into the surface of another kind of metal, wood, etc., so that the resulting surface is smooth and level, and a design or pattern is formed | Reveal Answerinlaid |
| k) | piece of metal used as money | Reveal Answercoins |
| l) | not careful, strict or obeying rules; inattentive | Reveal Answerlax |
| m) | made of light, thin material, therefore weak and easily damaged | Reveal Answerflimsy |
| n) | thin wall, or screen, dividing two rooms, or one room into separate parts | Reveal Answerpartition |
EXERCISE 2: Choose the correct answer according to the passage.
- It is stated in the passage that the stolen goods
Reveal Answer
E) were too well-known to be sold easily
- A) were the most valuable items in the museum
- B) were part of the museum's exhibition
- C) have now been pictured in a catalog to make resale impossible
- D) consisted entirely of jewelry
- E) were too well-known to be sold easily
- The artifacts stolen from the museum
Reveal Answer
B) were not on display
- A) came from the ancient city of Pompeii
- B) were not on display
- C) had never been exhibited in the museum
- D) were all made in A.D. 79
- E) were all made of metal
- Some people commented that
Reveal Answer
D) the thieves were able to take advantage of poor security
- A) the guards shouldn't have been carrying guns
- B) the statue of Bacchus was the most valuable item
- C) the thieves had clearly been in possession of a catalog
- D) the thieves were able to take advantage of poor security
- E) it was strange that none of the guards were harmed
EXERCISE 3: Complete the sentences by selecting words from Column B in EXERCISE 1.
- The box the goods were packed in was so ______ that it fell apart in the post.
Reveal Answer
flimsy
- The prisoners were made to stand in a line with their hands ______ behind their backs.
Reveal Answer
bound
- Procedures seem to be so ______ in that hospital that I doubt that any attention is paid to hygiene at all.
Reveal Answer
lax
- From the map, they guessed that the treasure was ______ in a deserted plot of land, about two hundred metres to the east of the castle.
Reveal Answer
buried
- She sat quietly on one side of the ______ listening to their conversation.
Reveal Answer
partition