English Base

Test 018

Reading Practice: The Neighbour's Bicycle

Reading Text

Leo found a bicycle behind the fence on Saturday morning. Its back wheel was flat, and the tyre felt soft. Then his neighbour Mrs. Petrova came out with a small bag of tools.

"That is my old bicycle," she said with a smile. "I left it here last week and forgot about it." Leo wanted to help, but he did not know how to repair a wheel. She showed him the rubber tube inside the tyre. Then she put the tube in water, and small bubbles appeared.

"Look," she said. "The air goes out here." She cleaned the hole and put a small patch on it. Leo held the pump, and after that he pushed air into the tube. Soon the wheel became hard and round again.

Then she said, "Take the bicycle and ride with me to the park." They rode slowly along the quiet street together. In the park, they sat near the lake and ate apples. Leo felt happy because he repaired something with his own hands.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. Where did Leo find the bicycle?

✗ IncorrectThe park appears only at the end of the story, when Leo and Mrs. Petrova ride there. The bicycle was not in the park.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "Leo found a bicycle behind the fence on Saturday morning."

✗ IncorrectMrs. Petrova came out of her house, but the bicycle was outside, behind the fence, where she left it.

✗ IncorrectThere is no bus stop in the text. The bicycle stood behind the fence near Leo's home.

Question 2. What was wrong with the bicycle?

✓ CorrectThe text says: "Its back wheel was flat, and the tyre felt soft."

✗ IncorrectThe seat is never mentioned. The only problem in the text was the flat back wheel.

✗ IncorrectThe chain is not mentioned at all. Mrs. Petrova repaired the tube, not the chain.

✗ IncorrectNothing was missing from the bicycle. The wheel was still there, but the tyre had no air.

Question 3. What did Mrs. Petrova bring when she came out?

✗ IncorrectApples appear much later, when the two neighbours sit near the lake in the park.

✗ IncorrectShe brought tools to repair her old bicycle. The text never speaks about a new one.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "his neighbour Mrs. Petrova came out with a small bag of tools."

✗ IncorrectWater is used later, when she puts the tube in water to find the hole; she came out carrying only the bag of tools.

Question 4. When did Mrs. Petrova leave the bicycle behind the fence?

✗ IncorrectSaturday morning is when Leo found the bicycle, not when she left it there.

✓ CorrectShe explains: "I left it here last week and forgot about it."

✗ IncorrectShe says "last week", so the bicycle stood there longer than one day.

✗ IncorrectThe text gives only "last week". There is no word about a month.

Question 5. Why did Mrs. Petrova put the tube in the water?

✗ IncorrectShe did not wash it. While the tube was in the water, "small bubbles appeared", which showed a hole.

✗ IncorrectNothing in the text is about soft rubber. The water helped her find the hole in the tube.

✗ IncorrectThe tools stay in the bag. She used the water for the tube only.

✓ CorrectAfter the bubbles appeared she said: "The air goes out here." So the water showed her the hole.

Question 6. What did Leo do with the pump?

✓ CorrectThe text says: "Leo held the pump, and after that he pushed air into the tube."

✗ IncorrectWater was used for the tube, not for the pump. Leo used the pump to fill the tube with air.

✗ IncorrectThe patch went on the tube, and Mrs. Petrova put it there, not Leo.

✗ IncorrectNo other neighbour appears in the story. Leo kept the pump in his hands and worked with it.

Question 7. How was the wheel after the repair?

✗ IncorrectThat was the wheel before the repair: "the tyre felt soft". After the air went in it changed.

✗ IncorrectThe wheel did not become smaller. With air inside, it became "hard and round".

✓ CorrectThe text says: "Soon the wheel became hard and round again."

✗ IncorrectThe text says nothing about heat or weight. It only describes the wheel as hard and round.

Question 8. In the text, the word "quiet" in "the quiet street" means...

✗ IncorrectA busy street with many shops is the opposite of quiet. The two of them rode "slowly" there.

✗ IncorrectThe word describes sound, not length or difficulty. Nobody had problems on the way to the park.

✗ IncorrectLoud noise is what "quiet" excludes. The street was calm enough for a slow ride together.

✓ CorrectThey could ride "slowly" along it and talk, so "quiet" here means calm and free of noise.

Question 9. Why did Leo feel happy at the end?

✗ IncorrectShe only said "Take the bicycle and ride with me". The bicycle stayed hers, and this is not the reason for his feelings.

✓ CorrectThe last sentence explains it: "Leo felt happy because he repaired something with his own hands."

✗ IncorrectThe apples and the lake are in the text, but the stated reason for his happiness is the repair he did himself.

✗ IncorrectThey did not ride fast: "They rode slowly along the quiet street together."

Question 10. What do we learn about Mrs. Petrova?

✓ CorrectShe showed him the tube, explained "The air goes out here", and then invited him to ride to the park.

✗ IncorrectShe smiled when she spoke to him and later asked him to ride with her. There is no anger in the story.

✗ IncorrectIt was her idea: "Take the bicycle and ride with me to the park." So she wanted to go.

✗ IncorrectThe text says she forgot her bicycle behind the fence, not her tools. The tools are not mentioned again.
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