Originally Posted by
huynhnoseed
Read the following passage and choose the answer (A,B,C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
Extract 1:
It was going to be an epic experience. Everybody assured me of it. The train journey, they said, south from Fort William in Scotland, is the most scenic, the most awe-inspiring, the most breathtaking in Braitain. The highlands, Glencoe, the Moor of Rannoch, Loch Lomond, all, all this would be mine, and by the time I reached the whisky warehouses of Dumbarton I should be ready to retire to my sleeper worn out with wonder and weighed down by British Rail cuisine.
In a state of high expectation, I boarded the 18.22 at Fort William, found a quite window-seat affording unimpeded panoramic views, resolutely closed my book and settled back. I would adjourn to the dining car, I mused, on the Moor of Rannoch and take coffee as we skirted Loch Lomond.
Extract 2:
‘Stanley’, said a voice behind me, ‘ what did you do with the thermos flash?’
‘ It’s in the carrier bag next to the cheese biscuits. I put it in fresh this morning.’
‘ No you never, Stanley. We finished the cheese biscuits last night on the coach. You know we did, because you put your banana skin and wrappers in the box and threw it in that litter basket at Glenfinnan.’
‘ Maybe it’s in the string bad. Have you looked in the string bag?’
‘ Strewth, Stanley, what did you go and put it in there for? Now see what you’ve gone and gone. You’ve squashed the pork pie, shoving it in like that. Why don’t you ever think, Stanley?’
Extract 3:
I looked out of the window. The sun shone. The river splashed over rocks coloured every shade of the rainbow. A deer dashed across a clearing into a thicket, and a backdropof sun-capped mountains could have been freshly cut out of marzipan.
‘What time will you be serving dinner?’ I asked the ticket inspector. He looked at me strangely.
‘ They’ll put on a microbuffet with coffee and sandwiches at Rannoch as fa as Dumbarton, he said.
‘ You mean there’s no dining car or even a bar?’ I said incredulously.
‘ Not all this line; it doesn’t pay. You should have gone to Inverness if you wanted a proper meal.’
Extract 4:
The guard brought me a cup of tea for consolation, and when we go to Glasgow I retire for the night, worn out with wonder and weighed down with potato crisps. At 7a.m we reach Stafford at 9 am we were still there because our engine had broken down at 10 am the spare engine arrived. Thanks to further engine failure, we were able to spend a full half-hour sight-seeing at Nuneaton Station, and I have never seen such awe manifest on the faces of a group of travellers as that inspired by the first sight of the backyards of Mornington Creacent, heralding the misty lunchtime magificence of Euston Station.
1. Which extract makes the place name(s) mentioned sound romantic?
A. extract 1
B. extract 2
C. extract 3
D. extract 4
2. In which extract does the writer express complete contentment?
A. extract 1
B. extract 2
C. extract 3
D. extract 4
3. Which extract makes ironic reference to the language of another extract?
A. extract 1
B. extract 2
C. extract 3
D. extract 4 to extract 1.
4. Which sentence suggests that the speaker is rather uneduacated?
A. No you never, Stanley
B. Not on this line; it doesn’t pay
C. You mean there’s no dining car?
D. Why don’t you ever think, Standley?
5. Who is Stanley?
A. the writer
B. the microbuffet attendant
C. a passenger unknown to the writerD. the ticket inspector
There is my keys: 1. C , 2. D , 3. A , 4. B , 5. C