reading pre intermediate - english rose learning · pre -intermediate - english grammar the silver...

PRE- INTERMEDIATE

READING COMPREHENSION

BY ENGLISH ROSE LEARNING

CONTENT

The Silver Glove 2

Just Married 6

English Town 10

Pen Pals 13

Eating Out 15

The Circus: Superlatives and Comparatives 18

Black Hollywood 21

Aunt Helen's House 23

The Scotland Trip 27

PRE -INTERMEDIATE - ENGLISH GRAMMAR

THE SILVER GLOVE Read the film reviews below of The Silver Glove

and then decide the best answer for the

questions below. For some questions, there are

two answers. In this case, put the two letters

in alphabetical order and with a hyphen in

between. e.g. C-F

The Silver Bore

Daniel Jones

If you've ever seen a pirate film in the past, you can

save your money. This is one of the most predictable

films I have seen this year. The plot is totally

unbelievable and the script is something amateurish

out of filmmaker college. There is some nice

cinematography but the Hawaiian scenery is not

enough to save this film. Great support acting from

the Frenchman Thierry Montpasse as the evil Captain

Scar.

Pirates At The Speed Of Light 2


Angela Moore

I just loved this fast-moving pirate thriller. The story

moves at dizzying speed from one terrifying battle

scene to the next and you really feel as if you are on

the ships with these evil thieves and smugglers.

Chief pirate, British actor Colin Williams, is given all

the best, wittiest lines and the film has its share of

laughs as well as scary moments. The storm scene

at the beginning leaves you both exhausted and

terrified.

A Hidden Treasure

Max Court

I found this film absolutely delightful. An inspiring

cast is directed with great skill and invention by

German Dieter Muller. There are plenty of surprises

in the story to keep the audience guessing until the

last minute. Some clever jokes give the film a

surprising level of humor too, which I really wasn't

expecting from a film about pirates.

Film Should Walk The Plank

3


Deborah McGhee

The Silver Glove promises much but delivers very

little. The opening scene, filmed in a storm of

lightning and high waves, is an exciting start but as

the film takes you from one swordfight to another, it

starts to seem a bit monotonous. Patricia Groves

plays the doctor wonderfully and there may be an

Oscar nomination for her in the new year.

Sharp Sword Drama

William Wilson

The Silver Glove is an action-packed pirate drama in

the best traditions of this genre. If you only want

swordfights and buried treasure, you may be

disappointed as this intriguing film also offers a

complex plot which is never dull. Some of the

language may be too crude for younger children but

this is really my only complaint. Some fine acting

completes this fun movie.

Glove Sinks In The Sea

Maria Thomson

4


After all the money that has been spent on this

simplistic pirate tale, you would expect more than

this dull movie. The battle scenes are so repetitive

that you may think you've seen the film before.

Some of the camera work is inventive and is to be

complimented. The ship chase creates a lot of

tension and excitement that the rest of the film fails

to do.

Which film critic(s):

1. Likes the opening scenes?

2. Didn't expect to laugh at the film?

3. Compliments an actress on her performance?

4. Has a warning for traditional pirate film fans?

5. Comments on the humor of the film?

6. Has a warning for parents?

7. Says something about the film's location?

8. Praises the "look" of the film?

9. Knew what was going to happen in the film?

10.Makes fun of the film's title?

A. Daniel Jones

5


B. Angela Moore

C. Max Court

D. Deborah McGhee

E. William Wilson

F. Maria Thomson

JUST MARRIED Read about a newly-wed couple, Richard and

Victoria. Then answer the True or False

questions below.

Considering their wedding cost over $20,000

and took a year and a half to organize, you

would be surprised to hear that Richard and

Victoria Hammond now intend to forget it. Well,

almost.

"It was a wonderful wedding, an unbelievable

day," says Victoria. "But we have so much we want

to do together now, we are both looking to the

future." Her husband, banker and amateur race

driver Richard, agrees. "Both our minds are now

fixed firmly on the future. I'll never forget our 6


wedding ceremony or the reception we had at a cliff-

side hotel afterwards, but there's so much we want,

so many hopes. Our marriage is so much more

important than the wedding.”

"At the moment, we are still living with my

parents," explains Victoria, "so our first wish is to

find our own place. We intend to start looking for a

new house with all the modern conveniences in the

suburbs in the new year." Both Victoria and husband

Richard have a lot of siblings. Do they intend to add

to the extended Hammond family? "We plan on

having two or three children ourselves," Richard tells

me. "Victoria is just wonderful with children and I

can get 3 years paternity leave from my work, which

is just perfect.

The young couple has just returned from a

two-week honeymoon spent in an authentic Scottish

castle. Both the newly-weds are big travel lovers and

Richard hopes this will continue. "I would like to go

travelling as much as possible together. Travelling

with someone else is such a sharing experience. I

think it's sad to experience all the wonderful places

7


in the world and have no-one else there." Victoria

also has another great travel ambition that she might

have to do alone. "I have always been fascinated by

safari and my real wish is to go on safari. Richard

has no interest in wildlife though.”

And what about the marriage itself? In a world

with such a high divorce rate, how do Richard and

Victoria hope to avoid all the problems that beset so

many other couples? Richard explains thoughtfully

that "our ambition is to always talk to each other. If

you stop communicating, what chance do you have?"

His wife goes along with that completely. "I hope

that we can speak about things, but also not expect

everything to be easy. I think many people expect

the wedding to be the end of getting to know each

other. I think it's the start.”

1. Victoria and Richard have been married for about

a year and a half.

True

False

2. They got married in a dramatic location.

8


True

False

3. The wedding was expensive.

True

False

4. Their first ambition is to find a house to live in.

True

False

5. Victoria wants an old fashioned house.

True

False

6. They both have many brothers and sisters.

True

False

7. Richard can temporarily leave his job to look after

his children.

True

False

8. Richard and Victoria have identical tastes

regarding vacations.

True

False

9


9. Richard hopes to make talking an important part

of their marriage.

True

False

10. Victoria thinks she now knows Richard

sufficiently well.

True

False

ENGLISH TOWN Read about this piece of England in China, then

answer the true/false questions.

The building company Hong Kong Housing is

building a new suburb in Shanghai, a city

with a population of more than 15 million

people. But this suburb is not like other parts of

Shanghai. It is a little piece of England. The name of

the new area is "English Town". The manager of

Hong Kong Housing, Shi Guangsheng, says many

people in this area of China want to buy an English

house and live in an English town.

"This town is like Bristol or Chester. There is an 10


English square and there are pigeons to feed like in

Trafalgar Square, London. There are four English-

style pubs and you can buy English beer to drink.

There is a canal and you can row a boat there like in

Cambridge."

Are there any cricket fields? "No, there aren't

any places to play cricket because nobody in

Shanghai can play this game. But there is a football

stadium like those in England. And the thing we are

very proud of is our shopping street. There are

several shops where you can buy traditional English

food like fish and chips or Christmas Pudding."

The rich Shanghai businessman can do some

gardening too. For with every house in "English

Town", there is an English lawn and there are long

gardens with ponds and tall hedges.

But there is one problem. The houses in this

part of town cost a minimum of $400,000!

1. "English Town" is in a Chinese city.

True

False

11


2. These houses are only for English people to buy.

True

False

3. There are pigeons in all the gardens.

True

False

4. The English pubs look like pubs in Cambridge.

True

False

5. There aren't any cricket fields in the new

development.

True

False

6. Shi Guangsheng feels proud about the English-

style shops.

True

False

7. Most houses have a lawn.

True

False

8. The houses are cheap.

True

12


False

PEN PALS Read this letter from Milena to her pen-pal,

Elena. There are six paragraphs. Match each

paragraph to a subject by writing the correct

letter (A-F) for what it talks about.

Dear Elena,

Thank you for the letter you sent me last

week. I'm very happy to hear that you and

Francesco are well and that your exam results were

so good. Well done! I know you studied hard and you

deserve your success.

Mine are next week so at the moment I'm

studying a lot. I'm really nervous about them

because, if you remember, I was ill for a couple of

months at the end of the year and so I missed a lot

of lessons. When they finish I would like to come and

visit you for a few days, if that's OK with your mom

and dad.

Do you remember I told you about my friend

Amanda from Scotland? She's going to come here 13


next month and is going to stay for two weeks. I'd

like you to come too so you can meet her and we

can all go out together. What do you think? We can

practice our English!

I remember last year we had such a good

time. The beaches near your house are wonderful

and I really enjoyed meeting your friends (especially

Roberto! Is he still single?) I can't remember the

name of the disco next to the train station but I'd

like to go there again - it was fun.

Oh, guess what! Jason broke his arm last

weekend! He went to the skateboard park with his

friends from school and fell down some steps (he

doesn't know how to skateboard!) He's got a plaster

cast and he's going to have it for at least six weeks.

He's such an idiot!

My mom's calling me for lunch so I'll finish this

letter now. Say hello to your family and don't forget

to congratulate Francesco for me.

lots of love

Milena x x

14


PS. Say Hi to Roberto too!

Paragraph 1.

Paragraph 2.

Paragraph 3.

Paragraph 4.

Paragraph 5.

Paragraph 6.

•Memories

•Well done!

•Plans

•Me

•News

•Bye!

EATING OUT Here are four people talking about eating out.

After you read, answer each question with a

paragraph number (1-4).

1.The last time I went to a restaurant was about 2 15


months ago. My wife and I wanted to celebrate our

wedding anniversary with a good meal so we went to

an expensive Italian restaurant in downtown Lisbon.

We both had pasta to start and for the main course

my wife ordered a steak and I chose fish. For dessert

we both ate chocolate cake topped with fresh cream.

Delicious!

2. I went to a restaurant yesterday evening with my

sister's children. It wasn't very expensive and the

menu was very limited. We all had a burger and

French fries, and drank cola. It wasn't very good.

3. My boyfriend loves spicy food so this restaurant

was perfect. The waiters were all really friendly and

polite, and they played traditional sitar music which

was very relaxing. The menu offered vegetarian

dishes as well as meat dishes served with rice and a

sauce - it depended on how hot you wanted it! I

chose a mild beef curry but my boyfriend had a lamb

'vindaloo' - he also drank 2 liters of water!!

16


4. My class at the university went there last

weekend. It's a very popular type of restaurant in my

country. It generally offers one type of food (a kind

of bread with cheese and tomato sauce) which you

then choose what ingredients to add on top of it. I

asked for olives and mushrooms on mine and my

classmates each had something different so we could

taste a piece of each person's meal.

1. In which text did the person go there for a

special occasion?

2. In which text did the person visit an Indian

restaurant?

3. In which text did the person eat pizza?

4. In which text did the person eat fast food?

5. In which text did someone eat seafood?

6. In which text did the person talk about the

atmosphere of the restaurant?

7. Which restaurant was cheap?

8. In which text didn't the person enjoy their

meal?

9. In which text did someone eat a very hot dish?

17


10.In which text did the person have a vegetarian

meal?

THE CIRCUS: SUPERLATIVES AND COMPARATIVES

Read through the text about a circus, then

answer the questions below.

The Rodriguez Brothers Circus is in town!

Every year, the circus arrives and stays for

a week. Then they go to the next town.

There are not many animals in the circus.

People told the circus that they didn't like seeing

animals performing. There is an elephant called

Jacob and two old lions, Hattie and Meg.

Most of the performers are human! There is

Leopold, The Strongest Man In The World. His father

also worked in the circus, but Leopold is stronger

than him, he has bigger arms and bigger legs too!

Leopold performs his act every night for the town's

people who come to watch.

18


Another performer is Clara. She says she has

the longest hair in the world. It's about 4 metres

long! She also has a daughter who works in the

circus. Her name is Sue-Ellen. Her hair is a lot

shorter, but she wants to grow it as long as her

mother's. Sue-Ellen helps look after the animals and

she's also learning how to juggle.

The highlight of the circus are the three

clowns, Pit, Pot and Pat. They all wear long red

shoes, but Pat's shoes are the longest and

sometimes, he falls over because they're so long!

They perform for about twenty minutes and they are

always the most popular act with the audience,

especially the children. Many people think Pit, Pot

and Pat are three brothers, but Pat is older than the

other two - he's their father! He's the oldest clown in

the country, but he has a lot of energy.

Tomorrow will be the longest day because the

circus is leaving town and everything must be

packed away into big trucks.

1. The circus comes to the town twice a year.

19


True

False

2. There are not many animals in the circus.

True

False

3. People don't come to the circus because of the

animals.

True

False

4. Leopold and his father work in the circus together.

True

False

5. Leopold's father is the strongest.

True

False

6. Clara's hair is longer than her daughter's hair.

True

False

7. Sue-Ellen wants to be a clown in the circus.

True

False

8. Pit is the father of the other two clowns.

20


True

False

9. The three clowns wear identical shoes.

True

False

10. Everyone is very tired on the day that the circus

leaves town.

True

False

BLACK HOLLYWOOD Match words from the reading text with these

definitions:

Patricia Denning stars in a sad movie about

ambition and heartbreak.

When Cecilia leaves college in Texas, she

has everything: a wonderful boyfriend, Carl, an

interesting job and an expensive house in a pretty

town. Her life is perfect. Even her black Labrador

dog, Perky, is a star: he wins the local dog

21


competition and Hollywood wants to put him in a

movie.

Cecilia goes to Hollywood with him and leaves

her boyfriend alone back home. When the studio

fires Perky, Cecilia decides to stay in Hollywood and

tries to get other movie roles for her beautiful dog.

Carl gives Cecilia an ultimatum: come home

and stop behaving crazily, or stay there forever.

Cecilia decides to stay in Hollywood and wants to

become an actress herself. She sends Perky back to

Texas and starts an acting course. After six months,

Cecilia realizes she can't act and she misses home,

but it's too late. Carl has found another girlfriend.

Cecilia tries to win him back, and also discovers a lot

about herself on her long journey.

This is a very sad movie, which makes you

think about what we want from life. Patricia Denning

is very convincing as Cecilia, but the star of the

movie is gorgeous Perky, the black Labrador who

steals our hearts. Black Hollywood is in cinemas from

next week.

22


1. famous, a celebrity __________

2. without anyone, solitary __________

3. a final demand or set of conditions __________

4. to sack, dismiss from job __________

5. a program of educational instruction, often at a

college or university __________

6. a period of travel, travel from one place to another

7. persuasive and assuring, believable __________

8. beautiful, very pretty, physically attractive

__________

AUNT HELEN'S HOUSE After reading the text, choose the best answer.

I'm going to tell you about my Aunt Helen's

house. It's not her main house, that's in the

city. No, this house is by the lake. There

was a small town by the lake called Miller's Ford, but

all the people moved away when the fishing and

mining stopped about sixty years ago. But the

houses stayed, of course. My Aunt Helen uses that

house as a vacation home and she goes there for a 23


few weeks every year to relax.

But staying in that house isn't a relaxing

experience. I think the house is haunted! I think

there's a ghost there from many many years ago.

Helen says I'm silly and that I've got an over-active

imagination. But there are many things that happen

in that house that cannot be easily explained.

One day, shortly after getting up, I went to find

my Aunt Helen to say "good morning" and I heard

her talking in a room that she usually never uses. I

think it used to be the nursery of the house when

Miller's Ford was a busy town in the 19th Century. I

listened at the door and could hear Helen reading

something out, or perhaps she was dictating a letter.

I couldn't hear any other person in the room with her

so it wasn't a normal conversation. I didn't want to

disturb my aunt, so I went back downstairs and went

to make breakfast in the kitchen, which I ate on the

porch that overlooked the lake. It was a beautiful

sunny morning. Half an hour later, I heard my aunt's

car arriving. She had been to the local store to buy

some bread and milk. I couldn't believe it!

24


"What are you looking so shocked for?" she

asked me.

"I thought you were in the old nursery, working

on your letters, Auntie," I replied.

"I never go in that room," she said. "I haven't

been in that room for fifteen years."

A few other things like that happened over the

next few visits I made to that house and I grew to

dislike it very much. Then, one day in my local

library, I found a story in an old newspaper with the

title "The Constant Babysitter". The story was that a

baby had died in one of the houses by the lake at

Miller's Ford and the babysitter was blamed, a

woman of 37 who was a family friend and had

offered to look after the baby. But she spent all her

time in the kitchen writing her letters and didn't

know that someone had climbed in the baby's

window and taken her. The baby was never found.

The woman killed herself through depression after

the baby's disappearance and local people then said

her ghost stayed very close to where the baby was

left by the parents - in the nursery.

25


I never went back to that house, despite my

Aunt Helen's many invitations.

1. The narrator describes the house where her aunt

lives all year.

false

true

2. Why did the people leave Miller's Ford

the lake flooded

the haunted house

the economy

3. Aunt Helen also believes there's something

"strange" in the house.

true

false

4. Why was the narrator looking for Aunt Helen?

to tell her about the nursery

to have breakfast

to greet her

5. Why did the narrator think it wasn't a "normal

conversation"?

she heard only one person

26


the people were shouting

the voices were strange

6. What did Aunt Helen say about the nursery?

she didn't like to use it

that she never used it

the room was locked

7. Who took the baby in the story?

a friend of the babysitter

the babysitter

nobody knows

8. Why does the ghost probably stay in the nursery?

it feels guilty about what happened

because of the lake view

she jumped from that window

THE SCOTLAND TRIP Read these instructions, then answer the

questions choosing either True, False or Not

Stated if the information is not included in the

reading.

27


Here are the instructions for next weekend's

camping trip in Scotland. There are

seventeen people going on this trip so it's

important that you arrive at the meeting point early

enough for us to be able to leave at 8am. There will

be two minibuses and please make sure you are on

the right one. Last week's e-mail gave all this

information.

We should arrive in the camping area at about

2pm, which will give us enough time to buy the food

we need in the local supermarket and then go to the

area where we will set up the tents, which is a long

way from town.

There will be a total of four large tents put up

and each tent will have a tent leader, a person who

went on this trip last year and therefore has the

necessary experience. If you have any problems

during the two days, you should always go directly to

your tent leader and speak to him/her.

We are not expecting there to be very bad

weather this weekend in Scotland, but the weather

situation in the Scottish hills is always very

28


unpredictable and for this reason, we have advised

everyone to take wet weather clothing with you. If

windy, stormy weather arrives at the camping area,

it may also be necessary to leave the hills and go

down into the town.

It's very likely that your phones will not work

in the hills, so you must warn your parents of this.

You will be able to use your phones when we are in

the town, but not when we are camping.

If you have any other questions about the trip,

come either to me or Mrs. Sanderson.

1. This letter is from a teacher.

true

false

not stated

2. Instructions about the minibuses will be in a

future e-mail.

true

false

not stated

3. The tents will be set up near the supermarket.

29


true

false

not stated

4. Some of the people going camping this year also

went last year.

true

false

not stated

5. There was very bad weather on the camping trip

last year.

true

false

not stated

6. Wet weather clothing can be hired in the town.

true

false

not stated

7. Nobody can use their phone during the trip.

true

false

not stated

30

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