Reading Comprehension Multiple Choice Questions Exercise 2

(Please note: The following questions are related to a specific reading passage, available solely before the first question. Remember, referring back to the reading text while answering the questions may be helpful to ensure accuracy.)

On the day of my first piano recital, I became increasingly nervous. To help me calm down, my piano teacher told me to place several cabbages in the room where I practised. I was so eager to overcome my nerves that I was willing to try anything. For the next few hours, I played to an audience of cabbages. When the time of the recital finally arrived, I was still extremely nervous. My hands felt like ice. When I finally walked across the stage, I looked out into the dark audience. I couldn't see anyone! All those people out there could just as easily have been cabbages! As I sat down to play, my hands relaxed. Before I knew it, I had played all my pieces without a mistake. For the first time, the cabbage heads applauded!

On the day of the recital, the music teacher _____.

The writer stopped feeling nervous _____.

In the passage, it is explained that _____.

Mountaineering has this advantage over most other sports: enjoyment depends very little indeed on natural ability or technical skill; it is a sport without winners and without losers. By all means, study the technique of climbing if it interests you. But, believe me, provided you go to a really good mountain country, it doesn't much matter how you climb or what you climb. There are three things that matter: look up frequently to see the way ahead; don't leave the holds you have until you have tested new ones; do all you can to help those climbing with you.

As it is pointed out in the passage, mountaineering is a sport _____.

When climbing, one must _____.

The passage emphasises the fact that _____.

The desires of a child were naturally rather limited in the Victorian Era. Toys were simple and comparatively few. There were no bicycles or mechanical models; the average child "made his own fun" from very cheap materials. Really, the only shop the child dreamed of entering for his own purposes was the sweetshop. Nowadays, a bewildering variety of toys, magazines, and entertainments in a multitude of shops compete for his interest and money; and the boredom of having everything ready-made leads to a constant desire for something new.

It is suggested in the passage that the modern child _____.

According to the passage, _____.

The passage emphasizes _____.

Most people were not impressed when, in 1913, the Daily Mail newspaper offered £10,000 to the first pilot to fly across the Atlantic in under 72 hours. The majority of scientists even said it could not be done. Certainly, the problems involved were many and far-ranging. Obviously, the design of the aeroplane was of great importance, but so too were the skill and courage of the pilot and the navigator; weather conditions also had to be taken into consideration. A very few enthusiasts thought it might be possible ten years later. They were wrong. A pilot received the prize just six years later.

When the Daily Mail offered a prize in 1913 for flying across the Atlantic, _____.

The £10.000 prize offered by the Daily Mail in 1913 _____.

The passage points out that _____.

It is a mistake to assume that "educational" programmes on television are likely to be boring. In fact, as long as these programmes are made in a rich and creative manner, there is no doubt that they can and do draw the attention of people, especially young people. Perhaps some of the best examples of successful educational programmes are those which deal, for instance, with ancient historical sites, environmental problems, wildlife, geography, or the strange world at the bottom of the sea.

In the passage, the term "wildlife” _____.

Some people seem to think that _____.

In the passage, it is emphasized that a good educational programme _____.

Nowadays, in England, tea is quite the most popular and also the cheapest of all drinks. People drink their tea in different ways. Some like it with sugar, some without. Some drink it with milk, some with lemon; yet, one way or another, just about everyone drinks tea. This, however, has not always been the case. During the last century, when tea was very expensive, it was kept locked up and the lady of the house had the key. Tea drinking then was quite a ceremony, reserved for the evenings. At breakfast, everyone drank beer!

Compared with the past, in England today _____.

It is obvious from the passage that _____.

In the passage, it is explained that _____.

Elizabeth parked the car and then went into the busy station to meet Jane, who was going to spend the weekend with her. Elizabeth's friends often came for the weekend, but there was something a little different about Jane's visit. She and Jane hadn't seen each other for 15 years. While at the university, they had shared a flat together for 2 years, but then each had married, and Jane and her husband had lived abroad a great deal. Elizabeth began to ask herself: "Will we even be able to recognize each other after all these years?" Right then, she saw Jane walking towards her and smiling straight at her with the old, unforgettable smile, quite unchanged.

The first thing Elizabeth noticed about Jane when they met at the station was _____.

Elizabeth's friendship with Jane _____.

Elizabeth is worried _____.