English Base

Test 014

Reading Practice: A Visit to the Science Museum

Reading Text

Our class met at the school bus at eight o'clock on Friday morning. We were going to the science museum in the city, and our teacher, Mr. Owen, counted us twice before the doors closed. The ride took forty minutes, so we sang songs and watched the wet streets.

Inside the museum, our first stop was the planetarium. The room was dark and cool, and the ceiling suddenly filled with stars. A soft voice told us about the Moon and the planets. I liked it because the stars looked close enough to touch.

After that, we went to the electricity room. There was a big metal ball, and a guide asked us to put our hands on it. My hair stood up, and everybody laughed. Then we tried a machine that made small blue sparks.

The mirrors were popular, so we waited in a long queue for twenty minutes. In the mirror room, our bodies looked short, tall, and wide.

Before the bus left, I bought a postcard for my grandmother. It showed the planetarium at night.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. What did the teacher do before the bus doors closed?

✗ IncorrectThe singing happened later, during the ride: "we sang songs". At the bus the teacher did something else.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "our teacher, Mr. Owen, counted us twice before the doors closed."

✗ IncorrectNo tickets are mentioned in the text. The class simply got on the bus and left.

✗ IncorrectThe guide appears later, inside the museum, near the metal ball, not at the school bus.

Question 2. Why did the children sing songs on the bus?

✓ Correct"The ride took forty minutes, so we sang songs" — the long ride was the reason.

✗ IncorrectThe text never describes the bus as warm. It only says the streets outside were wet.

✗ IncorrectThe children sang and watched the streets; the text says nothing about sleeping.

✗ IncorrectA radio is not mentioned. The reason given in the text is the length of the ride.

Question 3. What did the class visit first inside the museum?

✗ IncorrectThe class went there later: "After that, we went to the electricity room."

✗ IncorrectThe mirrors came near the end of the visit, after the electricity room.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "our first stop was the planetarium."

✗ IncorrectThe shop comes at the end, when the narrator buys a postcard before the bus leaves.

Question 4. Why did the narrator enjoy the planetarium?

✗ IncorrectThe text describes the room as "dark and cool", so this is the opposite of what is said.

✓ CorrectThe narrator says: "I liked it because the stars looked close enough to touch."

✗ IncorrectThe voice is called "soft", not loud. It was the stars that made the room special.

✗ IncorrectChairs are not mentioned at all. The text gives only one reason for liking the room.

Question 5. What happened when the students put their hands on the metal ball?

✗ IncorrectThe text does not say that the ball moved. It only describes what happened to the students' hair.

✗ IncorrectNobody turned off the lights in this part of the story; the room was already lit.

✗ IncorrectThe blue sparks came later, from a different machine: "Then we tried a machine that made small blue sparks."

✓ CorrectThe text says: "My hair stood up, and everybody laughed."

Question 6. What did the second machine in the electricity room make?

✓ CorrectThe text says: "we tried a machine that made small blue sparks."

✗ IncorrectNo music is mentioned anywhere in the electricity room.

✗ IncorrectThe text says nothing about a smell; it describes what the students could see.

✗ IncorrectThe Moon belonged to the planetarium show, not to this machine.

Question 7. Why did the class have to wait in a long queue?

✗ IncorrectThe museum was not closing; the class still had time to visit the shop afterwards.

✗ IncorrectThe guide was with the class and was not late. The reason for the queue is different.

✓ Correct"The mirrors were popular, so we waited in a long queue" — this is the reason given.

✗ IncorrectThe postcard was bought much later, just before the bus left.

Question 8. How long did the class wait for the mirror room?

✗ IncorrectTen minutes is not the time in the text; the queue took twice as long.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "we waited in a long queue for twenty minutes."

✗ IncorrectForty minutes was the bus ride to the museum, not the waiting time in the queue.

✗ IncorrectThe text gives twenty minutes, which is much shorter than an hour.

Question 9. What did the narrator buy before the bus left?

✓ CorrectThe text says: "I bought a postcard for my grandmother."

✗ IncorrectThe narrator bought a postcard, not a book. No book shop appears in the text.

✗ IncorrectThe big metal ball was an exhibit in the electricity room, not something for sale.

✗ IncorrectThe mirrors were part of an exhibition room, and the text does not say anyone bought one.

Question 10. What was on the postcard?

✗ IncorrectThe shop is where the card was bought, but the picture on it was different.

✗ IncorrectThe bus is not on the card. The last sentence names a different picture.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "It showed the planetarium at night."

✗ IncorrectThe sparks belonged to the electricity exhibit, not to the postcard.
Previous Test 013 Next Test 015