English Base

Test 011

Reading Practice: A Weekend by the Lake

Reading Text

On Friday evening we drove north to the lake. The road was long and narrow, and the car was full of bags, so we stopped only once for water. We arrived after dark and found a flat place near the trees. My brother held the lamp while I put up the tent. After that we looked for wood, but the ground was wet from earlier rain.

Our neighbour, an older man with a small boat, watched us for a while. He had two fishing rods, so he gave us one for the evening. We sat by the water and waited. I caught nothing, but my brother got a small fish and laughed loudly.

At night the rain came back. It hit the tent all night, and nobody slept well. In the morning the sky was clean and the lake was quiet and grey. We watched the sun come up behind the hills.

Before we left, our neighbour waved from his boat and asked about the rain. We made tea, packed slowly, and drove home.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. Why did they stop once on the road to the lake?

✗ IncorrectThe bags were already in the car from home. They stopped for water, not for food.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "we stopped only once for water."

✗ IncorrectNobody looked at a map in this part of the text; the only stop was for water.

✗ IncorrectIt was one short stop for water, and they drove on again the same evening.

Question 2. When did they reach the lake?

✗ IncorrectThey left on Friday evening, so they could not arrive in the morning of the same day.

✗ IncorrectThe afternoon was not the time of arrival; they put up the tent when it was already dark.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "We arrived after dark and found a flat place near the trees."

✗ IncorrectNo hour is given, and they still had time to put up the tent and look for wood, so it was not midnight.

Question 3. What did the writer's brother do while the tent went up?

✓ CorrectThe text says: "My brother held the lamp while I put up the tent."

✗ IncorrectThey both looked for wood later, after the tent was ready, not during the work on it.

✗ IncorrectTea is mentioned only in the morning, when they were getting ready to go home.

✗ IncorrectThe neighbour watched them from a distance and spoke to them later, not during the tent work.

Question 4. Why did they not use wood from the ground that evening?

✗ IncorrectAn axe is never mentioned in the text, so this is not the reason.

✗ IncorrectThe neighbour did not give them advice about wood; he only gave them a fishing rod.

✗ IncorrectThe tent was already up when they went to look for wood, so this cannot be the reason.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "the ground was wet from earlier rain."

Question 5. How did they get a fishing rod?

✗ IncorrectTheir bags were full of other things, and the rod came from the neighbour, not from home.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "He had two fishing rods, so he gave us one for the evening."

✗ IncorrectThey found a flat place near the trees for the tent, but no rod.

✗ IncorrectThere is no shop in the text; the rod was simply given to them for the evening.

Question 6. What happened during the evening fishing?

✗ IncorrectThe writer says "I caught nothing", so only one of them caught a fish.

✗ IncorrectThe brother did catch a small fish, so this is not true.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "I caught nothing, but my brother got a small fish."

✗ IncorrectIt was the other way round: the writer caught nothing and the brother got the fish.

Question 7. What was the night like in the tent?

✗ IncorrectThe rain hit the tent all night, so the night was not quiet at all.

✗ IncorrectThe boat belongs to the neighbour and is mentioned in the evening and in the morning, not at night.

✗ IncorrectThey stayed in the tent, and in fact "nobody slept well" because of the rain.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "It hit the tent all night, and nobody slept well."

Question 8. What was the lake like in the morning?

✓ CorrectThe text says: "the lake was quiet and grey."

✗ IncorrectOnly one boat appears in the story, the neighbour's, and the lake itself is described as quiet.

✗ IncorrectThe sky was clean after the rain, but the lake is called grey, not yellow.

✗ IncorrectThe rain stopped before morning, and the water is described as quiet, not rough.

Question 9. What did they do when the sun came up?

✗ IncorrectSwimming is not mentioned anywhere in the text.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "We watched the sun come up behind the hills."

✗ IncorrectThe boat is the neighbour's, and the two of them never used it.

✗ IncorrectAfter the sunrise they stayed awake and started to get ready for the road.

Question 10. How did the weekend finish?

✗ IncorrectThey packed their things in the morning and drove home, so there was no second night.

✗ IncorrectThey watched the sunrise first, and only after that did they make tea and pack.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "We made tea, packed slowly, and drove home."

✗ IncorrectThey kept the tent; the only thing that changed hands was the fishing rod.
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