TASK 4. (7 points)
You are going to read two texts about commuting. For questions 4.1.-4.7., choose
the answer that best matches the text and circle the appropriate letter (A, B, C or D).
Text 1
A STRANGER
I have always liked the process of commuting; every phase of the little journey is a pleasure to
me. There is a regularity about it that is agreeable and comforting to a person of habit, and in
addition, it serves as a sort of slipway along which I am gently but firmly launched into
the waters of daily business routine.
Ours is a smallish country station and only nineteen or twenty people gather there to
catch the eight-twelve. We are a group that rarely changes, and when occasionally a new face
appears on the platform, it causes a certain disclamatory, protestant ripple, like a new bird in
a cage of canaries. But normally, when I arrive in the morning with my usual four minutes to
spare, there they all are, these solid, steadfast people, standing in their right places with their
right umbrellas and hats and their newspapers under their arms, as unchanged and
unchangeable through the years as the furniture in my living-room. I like that.
However, last Tuesday when I was striding on to the platform with The Times tucked
under my arm, I immediately became aware that something was wrong. 1 I could actually
feel that curious little ripple of protest running along the ranks of my fellow commuters.
I stopped and glanced around. The stranger was standing plumb in the middle of the platform,
feet apart and arms folded, looking for all the world as though he owned the place. He was
a biggish, thickset man. Very definitely, he was not one of us. 2 He carried a cane instead
of an umbrella, his shoes were brown instead of black, the grey hat was cocked at a ridiculous
angle, and there seemed to be an excess of silk and polish about his person. 3 I walked
straight past him with my face to the sky, adding, I sincerely hope, a touch of real frost to an
atmosphere that was already cool.
The train came in. And now, try if you can to imagine my horror when the new man
actually followed me into my own compartment! Nobody had done this to me for fifteen
years. My colleagues always respect my seniority. One of my special little pleasures is to have
the place to myself for two or three stations. 4 I lowered my newspaper and stole a glance
at his face. I suppose he was about the same age as me, about sixty, but he had one of those
unpleasantly handsome, brown, leathery countenances that you see nowadays in
advertisements for men’s shirts. Suddenly he glanced up and our eyes met.
‘D’you mind the pipe?’ he asked, holding it up in his fingers.
That was all he said. But the sound of his voice had a sudden and extraordinary effect
upon me. In fact, I think I jumped. Then I sort of froze up and sat staring at him for at least
a minute before I got a hold of myself and made an answer. That curiously crisp, familiar
voice, clipping its words and spitting them out very hard and small like a little quick-firing
gun shooting out raspberry seeds. Why did every word seem to strike upon some tiny tender
spot far back in my memory? Good heavens, I thought. Pull yourself together. I began to
wonder if I had met him before because I felt a peculiar kind of discomfort that I cannot quite
describe - something to do with violence, perhaps even fear.
adapted from Roald Dahl, Galloping Foxley, OUP 2009
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4.1. Look at the squares marked 1-4 in the text and decide where the following sentence
fits best in the passage.
But here, if you please, was this fellow, this stranger, straddling the seat opposite, blowing
his nose and rustling the Daily Mail.
A. In the space marked 1
B. In the space marked 2
C. In the space marked 3
D. In the space marked 4
4.2. What is TRUE about the narrator?
A. He prides himself on standing out in a crowd of commuters.
B. He is part of a community which is wary of strangers.
C. He is eager to meet strangers with an extravagant flair about them.
D. He feels restless when faced with mundane tasks.
4.3. The narrator perceived the stranger as somebody who
A. made others uncomfortable with his arrogant comments.
B. blended into the crowd of commuters.
C. deserved the unwelcoming attitude of the fellow commuters.
D. fitted in despite his ridiculous attire.
4.4. In the last paragraph, we find out that
A. the stranger’s manner of speech triggered the narrator’s anxiety.
B. the narrator knew where he had met the stranger before.
C. the narrator felt thrilled to meet the stranger.
D. the stranger’s stutter irritated the narrator.
Text 2
LONDON COMMUTERS GET EASY READING
Commuters on the London Tube rarely talk. Much more often they simply bury their heads in
The Times or The Sun. It’s one of those English things. But these days, they have
an alternative in the form of elegantly produced short story mini-books conveniently folded to
make reading easier on the train. All they have to do is slip a handy pound coin into a snazzy
book vending machine and there’s a short story for the ride.
The brains behind the pound-for-a-story venture were Alexander Waugh, the grandson of
the novelist Evelyn Waugh, and Ned Guinness, an heir to the Irish Guinness brewing empire.
The idea of handy travel literature can be traced back to the 19th century when Rudyard
Kipling introduced reading sheets to the Indian Railways. The new vending machine just adds
a modern twist to that old concept.
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Officially launched a few months ago, these sleek 5-foot-tall story dispensers have gone
down rather well with commuters and London Underground officials alike. “We are always
delighted to find an innovative idea for vending on the Underground,” said Stephen Wilson of
London Underground Marketing and Sales. “We hope the commuters will be equally keen on
feeding their minds with good literature as their stomachs with candy bars. But it’s too early
to say how the machines are doing.”
“The challenge now is to hitch up the lowly image of the vending machine. We want to
push the vending machine into the mainstream, to make our stories a superior product,
something classy you want to be seen with,” said Guinness.
London’s South Kensington Underground Station has three vending machines offering
passengers a selection of short stories as easy to buy as a candy bar. This week’s menu for
slaking one’s literary thirst includes Goodbye to Cats by P.G. Wodehouse and A Telephone
Call by Dorothy Parker. The series is edited by prominent writers like Beryl Bainbridge and
Martin Amis. The machines change their selections once a week but Guinness says he’s still
testing the shelf life of a title and could change the selection every three days. The series is
designed to be read within 45 minutes, which is an average daily commute, so to be taken into
consideration the stories can’t exceed the 10,000 word limit.
adapted from www.abcnews.go.com
4.5. Which is TRUE about the mini-books sold from vending machines?
A. Expected travel time is one of the factors taken into account when selecting the stories.
B. The idea of selling books from vending machines was inspired by a group of editors.
C. Stories sold from vending machines have proved more popular than candy bars.
D. Each vending machine has a different choice of titles on offer.
4.6. When talking of ‘the lowly image of the vending machine’, the author is suggesting
that the machines
A. should have a more attractive design.
B. will appeal mainly to better-off commuters.
C. are not associated with high-quality goods.
D. will offer stories for people with inferior tastes.
4.7. The author of the text wants to
A. present the latest use of a popular machine.
B. advocate the need for increased readership of books.
C. outline reasons for the popularity of vending machines.
D. discuss the main flaws of a product’s marketing strategy.
TRANSFER YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ANSWER SHEET!
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Reading comprehension, two texts on commuting. Text 1 ('A Stranger', adapted Roald Dahl): 4.1 the missing sentence ('this fellow ... straddling the seat opposite, blowing his nose and rustling the Daily Mail') describes the stranger following the narrator into his compartment, right before 'I lowered my newspaper and stole a glance at his face' -> fits gap 4 = D. 4.2 the narrator belongs to a tight, unchanging group of commuters wary of a new face on the platform -> B 'He is part of a community which is wary of strangers.' 4.3 the narrator's cold, frosty treatment of the flashily-dressed stranger implies he felt the man deserved the group's unwelcoming attitude -> C. 4.4 the stranger's 'curiously crisp, familiar' voice makes the narrator jump, freeze, and feel discomfort 'something to do with violence, perhaps even fear' -> A 'the stranger's manner of speech triggered the narrator's anxiety.' Text 2 (mini-book vending machines): 4.5 stories are limited to 10,000 words because the series 'is designed to be read within 45 minutes, which is an average daily commute' -> A 'Expected travel time is one of the factors taken into account when selecting the stories.' 4.6 'the lowly image of the vending machine' = C 'are not associated with high-quality goods.' 4.7 the article mainly reports on this new use of vending machines -> A 'present the latest use of a popular machine.'
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