English Base

Test 013

Reading Practice: Moving to a New Flat

Reading Text

The boxes stood outside the door of our old flat at eight in the morning. My mother wrote a number on every box because she wanted to know what was inside. The lift was broken, so the men carried everything down the stairs. The staircase was narrow, and they turned the sofa sideways to get it out.

We arrived at the new building after lunch, and those stairs were worse. Our neighbour saw us at the door and came out to help. He held one end of the sofa, and my father held the other. They carried it up slowly, step by step.

In the new flat, boxes were everywhere, so we could not find the plates. After that, we sat on the floor and ate bread and cheese for dinner. Later my mother found a lamp, and the living room suddenly felt like ours. I lay on my bed and listened to the traffic in the street below.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. Why did the mother write a number on every box?

✗ IncorrectThe text never says she counted the boxes. She wrote a number because she wanted to know what was inside each one.

✓ CorrectThe text says she wrote a number on every box "because she wanted to know what was inside".

✗ IncorrectThe men only carried things down to the street. The numbers were about the contents, not about rooms.

✗ IncorrectLabels on doors are not mentioned in the text at all, so this cannot be the reason.

Question 2. Why did the men carry everything down the stairs?

✗ IncorrectThe text gives a different reason: the lift was broken, so the men used the stairs.

✗ IncorrectNobody asked the men to be quiet. The text explains that the lift was broken.

✗ IncorrectWeight is not the reason in the text. The words are: "The lift was broken, so the men carried everything down the stairs."

✓ CorrectThe text says: "The lift was broken, so the men carried everything down the stairs."

Question 3. What made it hard to take the sofa out of the old flat?

✓ CorrectThe text says: "The staircase was narrow, and they turned the sofa sideways to get it out."

✗ IncorrectThe text does not mention a locked door. The problem was the narrow staircase.

✗ IncorrectTwo men did carry it, and the text never says it was too heavy. The stairs were the problem.

✗ IncorrectWeather is not mentioned in the text, so this is not the reason.

Question 4. What did the neighbour do when the family arrived?

✗ IncorrectThe door is not part of this scene. The text says he "came out to help" with the sofa.

✗ IncorrectHe said nothing about danger. He simply saw them at the door and helped them carry the sofa.

✓ CorrectThe text says he "held one end of the sofa, and my father held the other", and they carried it up.

✗ IncorrectNo invitation is mentioned. The family ate on the floor of their own new flat.

Question 5. How did the two men get the sofa upstairs in the new building?

✗ IncorrectThe sofa did go upstairs. The text says they "carried it up slowly, step by step".

✓ CorrectThe text says: "They carried it up slowly, step by step."

✗ IncorrectOnly two people carried the sofa: the neighbour and the father. Nobody else came.

✗ IncorrectThe text does not mention a lift in the new building, and the men walked up the stairs.

Question 6. Why could nobody find the plates?

✗ IncorrectThe text does not say the plates were left behind. The problem was the boxes everywhere in the new flat.

✗ IncorrectThe neighbour only helped with the sofa. He never took any plates.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "boxes were everywhere, so we could not find the plates".

✗ IncorrectThe size of the kitchen is not mentioned; the real reason is the unpacked boxes.

Question 7. What did the family eat for dinner?

✓ CorrectThe text says they "sat on the floor and ate bread and cheese for dinner".

✗ IncorrectSoup is not in the text. The family ate bread and cheese because they had no plates.

✗ IncorrectNobody went to a shop. The family ate what they could find, on the floor.

✗ IncorrectThey did eat dinner. The text clearly names the food: bread and cheese.

Question 8. What made the living room feel like their own place?

✗ IncorrectThe text does not say where the sofa went or that it made the room feel different.

✗ IncorrectThe neighbour helped outside and is not mentioned again. This is not what changed the room.

✗ IncorrectOn the first evening the boxes were still there. Only a small change happened.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "my mother found a lamp, and the living room suddenly felt like ours".

Question 9. What did the narrator do before going to sleep?

✗ IncorrectThere were no plates to wash that evening, and the text does not mention this at all.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "I lay on my bed and listened to the traffic in the street below."

✗ IncorrectOnly one neighbour appears in the text, and the narrator stayed inside in the evening.

✗ IncorrectNo phone call is mentioned. The narrator was already in bed, listening to the traffic.

Question 10. What is the text mainly about?

✓ CorrectThe text follows the move from the boxes in the morning to the first evening, and the neighbour is a key part of it.

✗ IncorrectThe family already has a flat. The text describes one day of moving, not how to choose a home.

✗ IncorrectThe text compares the two staircases, but it never says one building is better than the other.

✗ IncorrectOnly a sofa and a lamp appear, and they are part of the story, not a shopping list.
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