Reading Multiple Choice ODP

Reading - Multiple Choice

Aaron Spelling

Aaron Spelling is said to be the richest and most successful television producer in Hollywood and, in a city famous for its wealth, his wife Candy, is the biggest spender. They recently paid more than $10 million for the huge house Bing Crosby used to live in. Then they had it torn down so that an even bigger and more wonderful mansion could be built. Not only will it have a more luxurious swimming-pool but an indoor ice-skating rink and a private zoo, as well. The final bill will come to at least $25 million.
They say that a few years ago, on a typically warm Californian Christmas Eve, Candy had a huge amount of real snow delivered to the Spelling mansion and spread all over the green lawns so that their children could enjoy "a white Christmas".
Not long ago Candy decided she needed a few more clothes. She had a whole fashion show flown out to her from New York, along with the designer and three models. Not only did she buy the entire collection but - so the story goes at least - the bags and hats the models travelled with, as well. A lot of people in Hollywood wonder what she is going to buy next.

pytania

Aaron and Candy Spelling are now living in

a house that they had paid $ 10 million for.

a more luxurious house than the one they bought.

a house that needed a lot of repairs.

a lovely old-fashioned mansion.

The house they bought

had an ice-skating ring and a private zoo.

belonged to Bing Crosby.

was torn down because it was so old.

was too small for them.

The real snow Candy wanted for Christmas was

brought to her home from elsewhere.

placed on the edge of the lawns.

manufactured at her own home.

more than she needed to cover her property.

A short while ago, Candy decided to

fly to New York to buy some clothes.

run a clothing company herself.

employ a fashion designer and three models.

purchase every single item in a fashion show.

Key:

 Aaron and Candy Spelling are now living in
a house that they had paid $ 10 million for.

 The house they bought
belonged to Bing Crosby.

 The real snow Candy wanted for Christmas was
brought to her home from elsewhere.

 A short while ago, Candy decided to
purchase every single item in a fashion show.

People who stutter

Most people who stutter are very embarrassed about it. In many areas special classes are set up to help them. Even if they do not improve, it is comforting to meet other people to share their problem with.
In one town, a young speech therapist decided to try his first experiment. He would send his patients to different shops to ask for something. He practised certain sentences with them first to give them confidence. Then he sent them all off to ask for something in a shop during the following week. So that they wouldn't have to buy anything, he advised them to ask for something that wasn't normally sold in the shop. As an example, he suggested that someone should go to the local bookshop to ask for a ping-pong ball.
One of them followed his suggestion and went to the bookshop. "C-c-could I have a p-p-ping-pong ball, please?" he asked the owner. "I'm afraid we don't stock ping-pong balls. Why don't you go to the sports shop down the road to get one?" A few minutes later, another man came in to ask for the same thing. The owner looked puzzled and repeated his suggestion. Several days later, after three more visits, the bookseller decided to go to the sports shop himself to get some ping-pong balls. When the last member of the group went in and asked for the same thing, the bookseller handed him one. The man opened his mouth to try to say that he didn't really want one, but he was so surprised that he could not speak. He just paid the money and left.
On his way out, he met his speech therapist and stopped to try to explain what had happened. The therapist went into the bookshop to find out why they stocked ping-pong balls there. "Well, we don't normally, sir. But we don't like disappointing our customers. There have been so many people asking for them, that I went to the sports shop to get some. But what I don't understand is why everyone who plays ping-pong stutters."

pytania

From what the speaker says many people who stutter feel very ___________ about it.

embittered

ashamed and socially uncomfortable

embarassing

What is done to help those who have speech problems?

Patients are sent into the streets.

Special classes are conducted for them.

All of them have to buy ping-pong balls.

According to the speaker such patients

never improve.

can at least share their problem with others.

feel very comfortable.

How did the young speech therapist experiment?

He experimented by practising sentences with his patients and suggesting that they then should use them in some situations.

His patients were made to put down everything he was saying.

He forced his patients to sell something in one of the bookshops.

Why did the therapist practise so much with his patients?

He first of all wanted to give them belief in their own ability.

He wanted them to be good booksellers.

He thought he would be given more money for his work.

What was so very surprising about the experiment?

He was selling his patients ping-pong balls.

All his patients had to go to the bookshop he had suggested earlier to buy a ping-pong ball.

All his patients followed his advice which was meant as an example.

Why was the bookseller puzzled?

He was puzzled because his customers wanted to play ping-pong in the shop.

All his customers were trying to buy something he did not have in the shop.

He was puzzled because none of the customers knew where the sports shop was.

How many patients who came to buy a ping-pong ball managed to get one?

None.

All of them.

One.

Why did the bookseller think it might be good to stock ping-pong balls in his shop?

He did not want to disappoint his customers.

Some of his shelves were empty so he thought he might have some ping-pong balls there.

He thought he might earn more money.

What couldn't the bookseller understand?

He couldn't understand what they were saying.

He wondered all the time why they were not buying the books he had.

It was not clear for him why all those people who played ping-pong spoke with such great difficulties.

Key:

From what the speaker says many people who stutter feel very ___________ about it.
ashamed and socially uncomfortable
What is done to help those who have speech problems?
Special classes are conducted for them.
According to the speaker such patients
can at least share their problem with others.
How did the young speech therapist experiment?
He experimented by practicing sentences with his patients and suggesting that they then should use them in some situations.
Why did the therapist practice so much with his patients?
He first of all wanted to give them belief in their own ability.
What was so very surprising about the experiment?
All his patients followed his advice which was meant as an example.
Why was the bookseller puzzled?
All his customers were trying to buy something he did not have in the shop.
How many patients who came to buy a ping-pong ball managed to get one?
One.
Why did the bookseller think it might be good to stock ping-pong balls in his shop?
He did not want to disappoint his customers.
What couldn't the bookseller understand?
It was not clear for him why all those people who played ping-pong spoke with such great difficulties.

III

Dolphin Pools as Zoos?

The public are always numerous and enthusiastic. Children can't wait to get near the dolphins, to touch, stroke and feed them.
It's the same each day all over the world. And the dolphins love it; they stick their heads out of water, rubbing themselves against the side of the pool, making their typical clicking noises.
They are extremely sociable creatures, with an enormous curiosity towards human beings and it is this particular aspect which singles them out from other mammals.
During these meetings at "close-quarters" a deep friendship develops between man and animal. People crowd to watch as the dolphins perform their wonderful acrobatic water games, but they also want to know more about them. For example that they are mammals and not fish, that they breathe air, that they pick out their prey and other objects using their hearing, that they live in groups with very strict rules. Sometimes dolphin pools are used as hospitals for sick cetaceans. It is not a rare thing to find specimen washed up a beach because of environmental pollution and saved with the help of dolphins from those pools. Ecological campaigns aimed at protecting the species can always count on the help of those people who have learnt to love these animals by having actually seen them.
Sadly though, admiration has recently been mixed with pity. Conservationists have complained about the negative aspects of the aquariums, comparing them to zoos. Life in cement pools confines the dolphins to a very limited space, isolates them from their shoal and prevents them from having social relationships and protection of their group.
Also the hygienic conditions in many pools are not up to standard. Dolphins have very delicate skin: too much chlorine or salt in the water can cause sores and ulcerations on their bodies. Another problem is that animals are made to perform all sorts of unnatural and ridiculous exercises which make them a toy for man to play with. Of course, not all dolphin pools are prisons. In the U.S.A., for example, natural lagoons which have been fenced off from the sea, are now being used. Though the dolphins have limited freedom in them, they do have wide areas to swim in with real sea water and sea life, while people still look at them and study them. Let's hope all dolphin pools will follow this example!

mammals - ssaki
cetaceans - walenie
species - gatunek, gatunki
shoal - stado, lawica
ulcerations - owrzodzenie

pytania

People don't find dolphins interesting.

true

false
Children like to touch, stroke and feed dolphins.

true

false
Dolphins are not very fond of people.

true

false
Barking is a typical noise made by dolphins.

true

false
People come to see dolphins because they want to watch them perform and to learn more about them.

true

false
Dolphins use their hearing to find their food.

true

false
Dolphins prefer to live alone rather than in groups.

true

false
Aquariums are compared to zoos.

true

false
Dolphins in aquariums do not have enough space and have no contact with the rest of the group.

true

false
Dolphins can have problems with their skin if there is too much salt or chlorine in the water.

true

false

Key:

People don't find dolphins interesting.
false
Children like to touch, stroke and feed dolphins.
true
Dolphins are not very fond of people.
false
Barking is a typical noise made by dolphins.
false
People come to see dolphins because they want to watch them perform and to learn more about them.
true
Dolphins use their hearing to find their food.
true
Dolphins prefer to live alone rather than in groups.
false
Aquariums are compared to zoos.
true
Dolphins in aquariums do not have enough space and have no contact with the rest of the group.
true
Dolphins can have problems with their skin if there is too much salt or chlorine in the water.
true

English Channel

I must say right at the start that, having crossed the Channel by ferry three or four times every year for the past fifteen to twenty years - either on business or for holidays - I am personally very much in favour of what is now called the "fixed link" between Great Britain and France. It is a fact that more and more people are crossing the Channel: in 1984, for instance, 14 million passengers made the crossing from Dover to the Continent. And freight transport (that's lorries) is increasing too: in 1984, 740,000 lorries made the crossing, and that number is likely to double by the year 2000.
The idea of a fixed link's not new, of course. Napoleon first thought of it back in 1802, and since then there have been a number of proposals and plans to connect the 21 miles that separate the two countries. But there have always been objections to the idea - quite often on military grounds. Such objections were formally withdrawn in 1955, and preliminary work was begun on a joint project in the 1970s. That one was abandoned, but not until 53 million pounds had been spent. (A lot of money, but not as much as they are proposing now.) So here we are in the late 1980s discussing the "fixed link" again, and it will, as we all know, now be in the form of a rail tunnel.
Before the decision was taken, however, it was a choice, you will remember, between three; a rail tunnel, a bridge and tunnel combined, and a bridge (pure and simple). Even though the decision's already been taken, I'd like to discuss each of these in a moment with the aid of slides, but let's just remind ourselves of some of the problems involved in planning a fixed link. First of all, the English Channel is not a calm lake: there are winds of up to 90 mph and waves of 40 feet high. Any bridge, for instance, or tunnel built above the surface of the sea, would have to withstand such conditions. There's an awful lot of shipping in the Channel, too, so any supports would have to be able to withstand collision from a ship. And now - and this was a new consideration for the planners - there's the problem of terrorists. Just imagine the bargaining power of threatening to blow up the centre of the tunnel.
Then of course there's the cost. Estimates at the moment range from 2 billion to 6 billion pounds - figures I can't really comprehend. But at least I gather that taxpayers won't have to pay. It'll all have to come from investors.

From what the author says we know that he

has made twenty visits to France.

has made lots of visits to France in the past two decades.

has been to France fifteen to twenty times.
It is said in the text that in 1984

14 million people crossed to France on the fixed link.

14 million people crossed to different European countries.

14 million people crossed to Great Britain.
The amount of freight transport crossing the Channel

is likely to be about 2000000 lorries by the year 2000.

is going to be more or less the same in the year 2000.

is becoming larger and larger.
The idea of a fixed link between Great Britain and France

was proposed about two hundred years ago.

has been given up.

was suggested by Napoleon in 1820.
The earlier plans to link the two countries have been abandoned

mainly for money reasons.

for climatic reasons.

in many cases for military reasons.
The first attempts to build the fixed link were given up

after spending several million pounds on it.

in 1955.

in the year 1970.
The amount of money which the builders planned to spend on the fixed link in the late 1980s

was the same as in the 1970s.

was much bigger.

was not very big.
What have the planners of the link always had to consider?

The natural conditions and safety reasons.

They have had to consider how to withstand kicks and blows.

They have had to take into consideration how to support terrorists.
According to the author the planners of this project

have always had to consider the danger from terrorists.

have never considered the problem of terrorism.

have now a new problem to think about.
Several calculations of how much will be spent on the project have been made. The costs are such that:

the author can't understand them.

they will be paid jointly from taxes and private investments.

taxpayers will have to pay them.

From what the author says we know that he
has made lots of visits to France in the past two decades.
It is said in the text that in 1984
14 million people crossed to different European countries.
The amount of freight transport crossing the Channel
is becoming larger and larger.
The idea of a fixed link between Great Britain and France
was proposed about two hundred years ago.
The earlier plans to link the two countries have been abandoned
in many cases for military reasons.
The first attempts to build the fixed link were given up
after spending several million pounds on it.
The amount of money which the builders planned to spend on the fixed link in the late 1980s
was much bigger.
What have the planners of the link always had to consider?
The natural conditions and safety reasons.
According to the author the planners of this project
have now a new problem to think about.
Several calculations of how much will be spent on the project have been made. The costs are such that:
the author can't understand them.

Mrs Henderson

Mrs Henderson was not happy about the flight - not happy at all. It wasn't that she hadn't flown much before; in fact, she thought of herself as quite a hardened traveller, going as she did every summer to visit one of her numerous relatives in various parts of the world. She was on her own; her job was well-paid, and she lived quite modestly for the greater part of the year, so that when holiday time came around she was able to undertake quite spectacular journeys. Why, only last summer she had flown out to visit her younger daughter in Auckland, and had returned by way of Japan and the States, and in all those many hours of flying she had not felt the slightest discomfort. In fact, she had thoroughly enjoyed it.
Why, then, this nagging fear about such a short journey? After all, Amsterdam is only a stone's throw from London in terms of air travel. She had done the trip before, several times. No sooner are you up and your seat-belt undone than you have to fasten it again for the landing at Schiphol.
'Good morning, Madam', said the pretty hostess, with a flashing smile, as Mrs Henderson arrived, a trifle breathless, at the top of the entrance stairs. 'May I see your boarding card, please? 25 F. Yes, that's right, at the back of the aircraft, on the left, just by the emergency door.'
Thank you', murmured Mrs Henderson. She knew perfectly well that the seat was next to the emergency door. She had chosen it for that express reason, although she could not have said why she wanted to be in that particular seat on this particular flight, when such fancies had never troubled her in the past.
As she carefully folded her tweed coat and tried to fit it neatly into the minute cupboard that was provided for the purpose above her seat (she decided that her hat, small though it was, had better stay on her head), a phrase rang through her head.
'Second sight, that's what she has. Second sight, they call it.'
It had been a family joke, some twenty-five years before. Their next-door neighbour at that time, a somewhat simple-minded woman by the name of Nellie Parsons, had asked Mrs Henderson (young, newly-wed Mrs Henderson as she was then) to help her choose a holiday hotel. Mrs Henderson had told her that she didn't think the Hotel Majestic (which Nellie had already tentatively decided upon as it was marginally cheaper than the others) looked very good, and said that if she were going to Braydon for her holiday she would rather stay at the Hotel Bella Vista. Nellie was only too glad to have her mind made up for her, and had a most enjoyable holiday with her children at the Hotel Bella Vista, marred only by the fact that during their stay there was a disastrous fire at the Hotel Majestic, and six people were killed.
When she came back to Downtown Avenue, she was lavish in her praise of Mrs Henderson's prophetic powers.
'Just think! We might all have been burned to death in our beds. What an escape! Second sight, that's what she has. Second sight, they call it."
And it was useless for Mrs Henderson to protest that she had simply thought that the Hotel Bella Vista, on the strength of its brochure, looked more comfortable. She and Henry had often laughed about Nellie's claim that she had second sight. But why should it have come into her head just now?

Mrs Henderson

wasn't used to flying.

flew everywhere.

didn't like flying.

flew away every summer.
How was Mrs Henderson able to afford to make such long holiday journeys?

She was a very rich woman.

She had no husband or young children.

She saved up her money between holidays.

She only stayed with members of her own family.
Why was Mrs Henderson going to Amsterdam?

To visit a relative.

For a short holiday.

Because she was afraid.

We don't know why.
The air hostess asked to see Mrs Henderson's boarding card

to discover whether she had a ticket or not.

to find out where she wanted to go.

to see where she was going to sit.

to know who she was.
Why had Mrs Henderson chosen seat 25F?

She always liked to be near the emergency door.

She never flew in any other seat.

Because there was a cupboard above it.

She did not know why.
Did Mrs Henderson take her hat off?

Yes - and put in the cupboard with her coat.

No - she put it on before she sat down.

No - there was no room for it in the cupboard.

Yes - it was too small for her and uncomfortable.
Nellie Parsons

had already decided to spend her holiday at Braydon and asked Mrs Henderson's advice about hotels.

didn't know where to go for her holiday and asked Mrs Henderson to give her some advice.

didn't want to stay at the Hotel Bella Vista because it was very expen-sive.

asked Mrs Henderson which hotel she had stayed at when she went to Braydon.
Did Nellie Parsons follow Mrs Henderson's advice?

Yes - but rather reluctantly.

No - she went to the Hotel Majestic.

Yes - and very willingly.

No - because the Hotel Majestic was cheaper.
Nellie Parsons claimed that Mrs Henderson

was able to foretell the future.

was a most valuable friend.

was able to see everything twice.

had advised her to go to the Hotel Majestic.
Mrs Henderson did not understand why

she had unexpectedly remembered a remark made many years before.

Nellie Parsons had claimed that she had second sight.

she and her husband had laughed about what Nellie Parsons had said.

Nellie Parsons would not believe she didn't have second sight.