Rock And Rainanglais |
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Comprehension
The man with seven lives
On a cold winter day, many years ago, a famous French art teacher named Pierre Chevalier got on a train in Lyon to go to Paris. When he started his journey, he didn’t know that it was the beginning of almost 40 years of accidents and near death experiences.
During the journey, the train came off the tracks and fell into an icy river, killing 12 passengers. Chevalier managed to swim back to the shore. He had a broken leg and he needed treatment for shock, but was very happy to be alive.
Two years later, Chevalier was on a plane from Paris to Moscow when a door suddenly opened and he fell out. A few minutes later, the plane crashed; 27 people were killed. Chevalier woke up in hospital. The doctors told him he had been lucky – he’d landed in a haystack. He only had minor injuries
A few years later, he was hit by a bus but again had no major injuries. Then a year after that, he was driving on a mountain road when he saw a lorry coming straight at him. He drove the car off the road, jumped out, landed in a tree – and watched his car explode 100 metres below. If he hadn’t jumped out, and if that tree hadn’t been there, he would have died.
“There are two ways you can look at it,” Chevalier said. I’m either the world’s unluckiest man, or the world’s luckiest.” When a reporter asked Chevalier what he thought, he chose the “luckiest” option.
How does his story end? Two years ago, aged 71, Chevalier bought his first lottery ticket in 50 years....and won more than €2 million. Chevalier said he was going to enjoy his life from then on, and told reporters that he wanted to buy a house, a car, and a speedboat and get married.
After this, a TV company in America said they wanted him to make an advertisement. At first he accepted, but then he changed his mind. Chevalier said he wouldn’t fly to Los Angeles for the filming, because he didn’t want to push his luck. Who knows? If he had another accident, he probably would have survived that too!
Embarrassed The man sitting across me on the train was a pretty arrogant sort of person. His bulky briefcase was parked in the passageway, making difficult for anyone to get past. And to make matters worse, his legs were stretched out and several people moving along the train had to step over them. But suddenly the legs disappeared. He was aware that all eyes were focused on his feet. He drew his legs inwards. He tried to cover one foot with the other. He tried to push his feet out of sight beneath the seats opposite. He shuffled in desperate discomfort, as everyone suppressed their glee. At Waterloo he was the first out, blushing furiously. He was wearing highly polished shoes,, perfectly matched – except that one was black and one was brown. I. Circle the right explanation. Only one is correct.
- Near. - Beside. - Opposite - Behind.
- Shiny. - Large. - Little. - Old.
- Bent. - Extended. - Folded. - Crossed.
- Everyone failed to see his feet - Everyone moved his feet - Everyone looked at his feet - Everyone was trying to miss his feet.
- Where nobody could see them - Where nobody would fall over them - Where nobody could step over them - Where nobody would knock them.
- reddening - crying. - shouting. - rishing. II. Write true or false:
III.Answer the following questions:
A flying disaster a. Earthquakes. floods. Hurricanes . Tsunamis. It seems that every day we read about at least one of these somewhere in the world. But every year, somewhere, another kind of disaster causes great damage to plants and people. It’s something much smaller and not so known as an earthquake or a tsunami – it’s an insect called the locust. b.The locust usually does things alone – it lives on its own and eats on its own. But sometimes, something changes the way nature works. When the number of locusts increases somewhere and there are lots of plants to eat, the locusts get together in “swarms”. c. Perhaps the most dangerous locust is the desert locust. It is found in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia – in about 60 countries altogether. When desert locust swarm, they bring problems to one-tenth of all the humans in the world. d. The numbers are huge and frightening. A swarm of desert locust can be 1,200 km2 in size – imagine an area that is over 20 kilometres wide and 50 kilometres long, full of locusts! And there can be50 million locusts in each square kilometre. Each locust eats its own weight in plants every day – so a swarm of desert locust can eat more than 150 million kilos of food in one day. They can also fly very long distances – in 1954 a swarm of locusts from northwest Africa flew thousands of miles to finally land in Great Britain! e. It’s no wonder that farmers in many countries of the world fear the desert locust more than snakes and spiders. It’s the desert locust that destroys the harvest and brings hunger to people all over the world. I. Match topics 1-5 with paragraphs a-e. 1. basic facts about locusts. 2. scary numbers. 3. a disaster that we don’t always hear about. 4.desert locust can destroy the food we need. 5. the problem caused by a certain type of locust. II. answer the following questions:
III . Find in the text words or phrases which mean :
The farmer and the apple tree.
A poor farmer once had a friend who was famous for his wonderful apple trees. One day the friend gave the farmer a young apple tree and told him to take it home and plant it. The farmer was pleased with the gift, but when he got it home he did not know where to plant it.
He was afraid if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the fruit. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbours would come at night and steal some of the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his own children would take the fruit.
Finally, he planted the tree deep in the woods, where no one could see it. But, naturally, without sunlight and good soil, the tree soon died.
Later, the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a poor place.
“ What’s the difference?” the farmer said angrily. “ If I had planted the tree near the road, strangers would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted the tree in one of my fields, my neighbours would have come at night and stolen some of the apples. If I had planted it near my house, my own children would have taken the fruit.”
“Yes,” said the friend. “ But at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now, by your foolish action, you have robbed everyone of the fruit and you have also destroyed a good tree.”
I.The following words or phrases are in the text. Of the four explanations suggested, only one is correct. Write it down.
-envied for
-proud of
-happy with
-well-known for
- Bought
- Given
- Sold
- Stolen
- Intelligent
- Unnecessary
- Unwise
- Inadequate.
- Damaged
- Grown
- Pulled up
- ruined
II. write true or false:
- the farmer grew wonderful apples.
- The farmer bought a young apple tree from a friend.
- The farmer didn’t want to put the apple tree in a field in case his neighbours took the apples.
- The farmer didn’t want his children to take the apples.
- The farmer chose a bad place to plant the tree.
- The tree gave a lot of fruit.
- The friend agreed with the farmer’s decision to plant the tree in the woods.
- Nobody had any apples from the tree.
III. Answer the following questions:
- Whose apples were known to be good?
- How do you think the friend felt when he knew what had happened to the tree? Justify your answer.
- Where would the farmer have probably lost the most apples; in the field or in his garden? Why?
- If you had been the farmer, where would you have planted the tree?
- Why would you have planted it there?
THE CURSE OF THE MUMMY People have always been fascinated by the incredible Egyptian Pyamids. Even today archaeologists wish they knew more about the history and the legends behind these amazing stone buildings. over the years, many strange stories have been told about the Pyramids in Egypt, but perhaps the strangest is about a coffin of an Egyptian priestess. Legend has it that a young Englishman who was on holiday in Egypt bought her coffin in the 1890s. After buying the coffin, he was seen walking towards the desert. He never returned. Local people began to talk about "the curse of the Mummy". The coffin was sent to England and was bought by a london businessman who had heard the story of the young Englishman."There are no such things as "curses". The young man can't have just disappeared.He must be in the desert somewhere," he said. However, when three members of the businessman's family were injured in a road accident and his house caught fire, he changed his mind. "The coffin must be cursed. I wish had never bought it," he said, and arranged for the coffin to be sent to the British Museum. On the morning of the delivery, one of the two workers carrying the coffin fell and broke his leg. The other worker died two days later.Many visitors to the museum had very bad luck after visiting the coffin at the museum. Finally, the coffin was locked in a room in the basement of the museum until it could be sold.Within a week, one of the workers who had carried the coffin was seriously ill and the other one was found dead at his desk. In the decade that the coffin was in England, 20 people who had come close to it had either been injured, become ill, or died. Many people wished someone would take the coffin away. An American archaeoligist bought the coffin and arranged to take it back to New York with him. "Surely people can't beleive in curses - this is the 20th century!" he said. In April 1912, the archaeologist and the coffin boarded a brand new luxury ship on its very first voyage to New York. The name of the ship was Titanic. Choose the correct answer: 1 In the 1890s, the coffin was bought by
2 The London businessman thought the young Englishman
3 The businessman changed his mind about the curse when
4 when the coffin was being delivered to the museum,
5 The coffin was in England for
6 The american araeologist
Match the words from the extract to their meaning.
Ali Baba and the 40 thieves One day, a man called Ali Baba was in the forest when he saw forty thieves.He hid and watched them.They stood outside a cave, said the magic words "open Sesame!" and the cave opened. After the thieves had left, Ali said the magic words. the cave opened and Ali found lots of gold and silver inside. He put some of it on his donkey and went back home. Ali's brother, Qasim, was jealous. When Ali explained what had happened, he immediately went to the cave. He took some of the gold, but he couldn't get out because he had forgotten the magic words. the thieves found him in the cave and killed him. They wanted to kill Ali, too, so they thought of a plan. They hid in big jars which were taken to Ali's house. However, Ali's clever servant, Murganah, had already found about their plan, so she poured boiling oil into the jars to kill the thieves. Ali was grateful because Murganah had saved his life, so he married her and they lived happily ever after. Read the text and answer the following questions
Desert Flower Waris Dirie was born in Somalia. Her name means ‘desert flower’. Her mother was quite well-off but her father was from a poor family. After they married, her parents were on the move all the time with their goats and camels. Life was hard but Waris had a happy childhood. She used to race camels with her brothers and sisters. When she was twelve, her father arranged for her to marry an old man in exchange for five camels. The man was sixty. It was such a horrible idea that she decided to run away to the capital, Mogadishu. There, she moved from one relative to another. Finally, a kind aunt got her a job as a maid in the Somalian Embassy in London. When the ambassador returned to Somalia, she lost her job. Suddenly, she was in real trouble. Waris was on her own and out of work in a foreign country. She lived by herself, had no money and her English was so bad that it was difficult for her to find work. Eventually, she got a job as a cleaner in McDonalds. One day, everything changed. By chance, a fashion photographer came in for a burger and saw Waris cleaning the floor. She looked like a perfect model so he immediately offered her work. Within months, she had started a new career. She became a top fashion model, advertising Revlon beauty products, and her face was on the covers of hundreds of magazines around the world. She was even in a James Bond film, The Living Daylights, in 1987. Waris had such a warm and attractive face that her modelling career was a huge success. However, in 19997 she decided to give up her life as a model. She wrote her autobiography, Desert flower, about her exciting and exceptional life. « It’s very sad », she says. « I had to make the choice to leave my country ». What was it like in Africa ? « Africa was different », she says. « I was young. I had nothing to worry about. I had my family, I had my animals, I had my simple life ». Waris now lives in New York. She works for the United Nations and campaigns for women’s rights all over the world. There is never a dull moment. « I’m trying to sit down for a moment and there’s no time for that », she laughs. « In Somalia, we don’t care what time it is ! ». Answer the following questions 1. Where was Waris born ? 2. What was her childhood like ? 3. Why did she run away ? 4. What were the most difficult times of her life ? 5. What was the first job she got ? 6. What changed her life ? 7. What rights does she campaign for now ? 8. How was her childhood in Somalia different from her life now ?
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