English Base

Test 017

Reading Practice: The Night Train

Reading Text

At the station the loudspeaker announced that the night train to Kaluga was twenty minutes late. I stood on the cold platform with a small bag and a cup of tea. My sister lived in that city, so I was going to stay for the weekend.

When the train arrived, I found my place in a sleeping carriage. A woman was already asleep on the bed below me, so I climbed up quietly. I put my bag near the window. The bed was narrow, but the blanket was warm.

After that I went into the corridor, because I could not sleep. A man in a grey jacket sat with a glass of tea and told me about his work. Then I watched the dark fields go past.

In the morning the sun rose behind a line of trees, and everything outside turned pink. The train stopped at eight, and I saw my sister on the platform. She held a bunch of flowers and smiled, because our mother told her about my ticket.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. What did the loudspeaker at the station announce?

✗ IncorrectThe train was late, not cancelled. The text says the train was "twenty minutes late".

✓ CorrectThe text says: "the loudspeaker announced that the night train to Kaluga was twenty minutes late".

✗ IncorrectNobody spoke about another platform. The announcement was only about the time of the train.

✗ IncorrectThe narrator had his own cup of tea, and the announcement said nothing about tea.

Question 2. What did the narrator have with him on the platform?

✓ CorrectThe text says: "I stood on the cold platform with a small bag and a cup of tea."

✗ IncorrectThe text mentions a small bag, not a suitcase, and it never mentions a newspaper.

✗ IncorrectThe blanket was on the bed inside the train, not in his hands on the platform.

✗ IncorrectThe flowers appear at the end of the story, and his sister held them, not the narrator.

Question 3. Why did the narrator travel to that city?

✗ IncorrectWork is mentioned only in the corridor, where another man spoke about his job. The narrator travelled for a different reason.

✗ IncorrectNo one asked him for tea. He drank tea on the platform and in the corridor, but that was not the reason for the trip.

✓ CorrectThe text says his sister lived in that city, "so I was going to stay for the weekend".

✗ IncorrectThe text gives no meeting. In the morning he met his sister on the platform, and that was the whole plan.

Question 4. Where was the narrator's place in the carriage?

✗ IncorrectHe only walked into the corridor later. His place was a bed in a sleeping carriage.

✗ IncorrectThe lower bed belonged to the woman. The narrator climbed up to the bed above her.

✗ IncorrectHe put his bag near the window of his own place, so the bag and the bed were together.

✓ CorrectHe found his place in a sleeping carriage, and "a woman was already asleep on the bed below me".

Question 5. Why did the narrator climb up quietly?

✗ IncorrectThe text does not link the movement of the train to his steps. It gives a different reason for being quiet.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "A woman was already asleep on the bed below me, so I climbed up quietly."

✗ IncorrectThe warm blanket is a detail about the bed, but it did not make him quiet.

✗ IncorrectThe text mentions only one woman in the carriage, so a crowd is not the reason.

Question 6. The text says the bed was narrow. What does "narrow" mean here?

✓ Correct"The bed was narrow, but the blanket was warm" describes a bed with very little width.

✗ IncorrectLength is not the idea here. "Narrow" is about width, and the text says nothing about cold feet.

✗ IncorrectThe word tells us about the size of the bed, not about how hard it was.

✗ Incorrect"Narrow" says nothing about age. The blanket was warm, so the bed was fine in that way.

Question 7. Why did the narrator go into the corridor?

✗ IncorrectA man in the corridor already had tea, but the narrator did not go there to buy a drink.

✗ IncorrectThe woman was asleep the whole time, so she could not ask him to do anything.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "After that I went into the corridor, because I could not sleep."

✗ IncorrectWindows are not mentioned as a problem. The text gives one clear reason: he could not sleep.

Question 8. What did the man in the grey jacket talk about?

✗ IncorrectThe text mentions dark fields, not villages, and the narrator watched them himself. The man spoke about something else.

✓ CorrectThe text says the man "told me about his work".

✗ IncorrectThe sister's city is not part of their talk in the corridor.

✗ IncorrectThe train was already moving at that hour, and the text does not report such a talk.

Question 9. What did the narrator see in the morning?

✗ IncorrectThe text describes trees and pink light, not a crowded station building.

✗ IncorrectThat was at night, on the way, and he could not sleep at all. In the morning everything looked different.

✗ IncorrectHe saw his sister on the platform after the train stopped, not through the window in the fields.

✓ CorrectThe text says the sun rose behind a line of trees, "and everything outside turned pink".

Question 10. What do we understand about the sister at the station?

✗ IncorrectThe text says their mother told her about his ticket, so the visit was not a secret.

✗ IncorrectThe text does not say that she was cold or in a hurry. She came with flowers and smiled.

✓ CorrectShe stood on the platform with a bunch of flowers and smiled, so she was glad to see him.

✗ IncorrectNothing in the text shows anger. She smiled and brought flowers for her brother.
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