A Life of Adventure

PART 1. READING                                                                                              (15 points)
A.    COMPREHENSION                                                                                 (7points)
 Read the text carefully and then do the activities.
As a British child in India, I grew up in bright sunshine and with lots of space around me. There was danger and excitement everywhere, and of course, there were a lot rules. My brother and I had to be very careful. The sun was so hot that our mother didn’t let us play outside without our “topees”- or jungle hats. All our clothes were very uncomfortable. We wanted to wear the same clothes as the Indian children but we always had to look British.

Animals were a real problem. Our parents never let us go into the bathroom on our own because snakes used to come in through a hole in the wall. Because of rabies, our parents thought dogs were more dangerous than snakes or scorpions and they didn’t let us have a pet dog or even touch someone else’s dog. Ants were a problem too. There was so many that my mother made us keep all our possessions on shelves. The ants used to eat through everything they found on the ground- books, clothes and furniture!

I have some wonderful memories. In extremely hot weather our parents let us sleep outside on the lawn. We loved it because the nights were so beautiful. There were so many stars we could read by their light. The rain too was wonderful. Sometimes it was so heavy that it came through the roof and we used to go to bed with an umbrella over our heads! One year, my father gave us permission to go with him on a tiger hunt. It was marvelous. We also learned to ride ponies, elephants and camels!

I had so much fun that when I had to go to school in England, at the age of ten, I found English life quite unexciting. I had nothing in common with the other children at school. To me, India was a land of adventure, something I wanted to go back to, something I would never forget.
                                                              
                                                           Extract from Grace Cook’s “A Life of Adventure”

1.      What type of text is the reading passage?  Choose the right answer.
a) descriptive     b) narrative     c) expository

2.      Say whether the following statements are true or false.
a.      Grace was ten when she went to live in India.
b.      The children had to follow rules.
c.       They were dressed like Indian children.
d.     They enjoyed playing with their pet dog.
e.      Grace prefers life in England.
f.        She missed her early childhood.
3.      In which paragraph is it mentioned that she keeps wonderful memories from India?
4.      What do the underlined words in the text refer to?
a)      topees (§1)      b) they (§2)        c) their (§3)            d) something (§4)

5.      Answer the following questions according to the text.
a.      Why were there a lot of rules?
b.      How did Grace feel when she went to England? Why?

B.     TEXT EXPLORATION                                                                           (8points)

1.      a) Find in the text a word closest in meaning to           souvenirs (§3)
b)     Find in the text a word opposite in meaning to           forbade us (§3)
c)      Find in the text a word whose definition follows
                                                             exciting and dangerous situation (§4)

2.      Complete the following chart as shown in the example.

                      Verb                                Noun                             adjective
Example:     to excite                             excitement                     exciting
                  To endanger                       ……………………    …………………….
                   ………………………         ………………………….          joyful

 3.      Combine the following sentences with the connectors provided to you.
a.      Life in India was exciting. Grace would never forget it. ( so……. That)
b.      Grace found life in England unexciting. It was her hometown. (although)

4.      Complete  sentence “b” so that it means the same as sentence “a”.
a.      I strongly advise you to read “A Life of Adventure”.  It’s so thrilling!
b.      You……………………………………………………………………………
a.      You ought to express your feelings.
b.      If I were you,…………………………………………………………………

5.      Match the pairs that rhyme. 
                             
•         Love        •         Mad
•         Assertive •         Enjoy   
•         Sad         •         annoy   
•        aggressive •         Dove
6.      Complete the following dialogue.
A: ………………………………………………………………………
B: No, people who don’t have affinities can’t become friends.
A: ………………………………………………………………………
B: because everyone is attracted to a person that resembles him.
A: ……………………………………………………………………...
B: according to me best friends are those who ……………………

PART 2: WRITTEN EXPRESSION                                                           (5points)
                                     Choose ONE of the following topics.
Either topic 1.
Most people keep fond memories of their childhood. Try to think back on the happy days when you were a child and tell about some vivid recollections.
You can narrate about
-          the house where you were born,
-          your friends
-          your classmates
-          your school
-          your teachers….

Or topic 2.
Do you think youth is the best period in life? Write a paragraph relating real examples from your own experience in life.