English Base

Test 013

Reading Practice: Learning the Guitar at Forty

Reading Text

The guitar that I bought in my twenties has stood in its case for twenty years. When I turned forty, I finally opened the old case and took the guitar out. My wife had given me a thin notebook of songs for my birthday. She promised that if I practised every day, she would learn one of them with me. That promise was the reason I decided to try.

The first week was worse than I expected. My fingers hurt after three minutes, so I chose a rule of twenty minutes a day. I was watching a video of a teacher who explained that short daily practice is better than one long lesson. "If you play a little every day," he said, "your fingers will get used to the strings in about three weeks." Every evening, while my daughter was doing her homework, I was sitting in the kitchen with the guitar on my knee. Slowly the chords of G, C and D began to work.

After a month I could play those chords without looking at my hand. Singing at the same time turned out to be much harder. The moment I started a song, my fingers forgot where they were. If I had more free time, I would practise twice a day, but two jobs and a small flat leave little room for that.

The first song that I managed to finish was an old tune my mother used to sing. We had a family dinner in May, and I played it at the end, when most of the plates were already taken away. Everyone clapped, and my daughter recorded it on her phone before I could say that it was not ready. The hardest part was never the guitar itself. It was believing that a man of forty can still learn something new in front of the people he loves.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. How long has the guitar stayed in its case?

✗ IncorrectThe text gives a much longer period: the guitar has stood in its case "for twenty years", not two.

✓ CorrectThe first sentence says the guitar "has stood in its case for twenty years", and the narrator opened it at forty.

✗ IncorrectHis daughter appears only as the person doing homework in the evening; the time in the case is measured from his twenties.

✗ IncorrectThe small flat is mentioned later as a reason for having little free time, not as the moment the guitar was put away.

Question 2. Why did the narrator decide to try learning?

✗ IncorrectNo school performance is mentioned anywhere in the text; his daughter only records him at a family dinner.

✗ IncorrectHe watches the video only after he has already started; nobody invites him to a lesson.

✓ CorrectShe "promised that if I practised every day, she would learn one of them with me", and that promise was his reason.

✗ IncorrectThe text never mentions a band; the only musical plan is a song played at a family dinner.

Question 3. What was his main problem in the first week?

✓ CorrectThe second paragraph says plainly that "my fingers hurt after three minutes", which is why he made a rule about short practice.

✗ IncorrectHe found advice easily: he was watching a video of a teacher who explained how to practise.

✗ IncorrectNothing is said about broken strings; the only problem named in that first week was the pain in his fingers.

✗ IncorrectHe practised every evening, so time was not the first-week problem — pain in his fingers was.

Question 4. According to the teacher in the video, what will happen if a beginner plays a little every day?

✗ IncorrectThe teacher says the opposite: "short daily practice is better than one long lesson".

✗ IncorrectThe teacher promises progress, not forgetting: daily playing is meant to help the fingers learn.

✗ IncorrectStrings are mentioned only in connection with fingers getting used to them, not with changing them.

✓ CorrectThe quoted advice is: "your fingers will get used to the strings in about three weeks".

Question 5. What does "began to work" mean in "the chords of G, C and D began to work"?

✓ CorrectHe was practising the three chords every evening, so "work" here means they finally sounded right.

✗ IncorrectA strange noise would be a failure, but this sentence describes slow progress after weeks of practice.

✗ IncorrectDifficult chords would not be progress, and a month later he could already play them without looking.

✗ IncorrectThe text never says he writes songs; his first song is an old tune his mother used to sing.

Question 6. When did he usually practise?

✗ IncorrectThe practice time is described as "every evening", not as early morning.

✗ IncorrectTwo jobs are mentioned only as a reason for little free time; the guitar stayed at home in the kitchen.

✓ Correct"Every evening, while my daughter was doing her homework, I was sitting in the kitchen with the guitar on my knee."

✗ IncorrectHis mother is mentioned only through an old tune she used to sing, not as a place where he practises.

Question 7. What could he do after a month?

✗ IncorrectThe text says the opposite: "Singing at the same time turned out to be much harder."

✓ Correct"After a month I could play those chords without looking at my hand."

✗ IncorrectNotes are never mentioned; he works from a notebook of songs and three simple chords.

✗ IncorrectTuning is not discussed at all, so this ability cannot be taken from the text.

Question 8. What does "turned out to be much harder" tell us about singing while playing?

✗ IncorrectThe phrase says the opposite: doing both together was "much harder" than playing alone.

✗ Incorrect"Turned out" describes what he discovered while trying, not an old belief about his voice.

✗ IncorrectHe keeps trying and even plays the song at the family dinner, so he does not give up singing.

✓ Correct"Turned out" marks a discovery, and the next sentence explains it: when he sang, his fingers forgot where they were.

Question 9. What happened when he started to sing a song?

✗ IncorrectThe text mentions fingers, not words: "my fingers forgot where they were".

✓ Correct"The moment I started a song, my fingers forgot where they were" — his hand lost the shape of the chords.

✗ IncorrectTuning is not mentioned; the problem is that his hand no longer found the chords automatically.

✗ IncorrectHis daughter is doing homework at that time, and at the dinner everyone claps rather than laughs.

Question 10. Why can't he practise twice a day?

✓ CorrectHe says: "If I had more free time, I would practise twice a day, but two jobs and a small flat leave little room for that."

✗ IncorrectHis wife's working hours are never described; the limits he names are his jobs and the size of the flat.

✗ IncorrectThe teacher prefers short daily practice, but the narrator gives lack of time as the reason, not the advice itself.

✗ IncorrectNeighbours are not mentioned at all; the flat matters only because it is small.

Question 11. Which song did he learn first?

✗ IncorrectThe radio is never mentioned; the first finished song is an old tune from his family.

✗ IncorrectHis daughter only records the performance on her phone; she does not choose the song.

✗ IncorrectThe video gives advice about practice and strings, not a song to learn.

✓ Correct"The first song that I managed to finish was an old tune my mother used to sing."

Question 12. What happened at the family dinner in May?

✓ CorrectHe "played it at the end, when most of the plates were already taken away", and "everyone clapped".

✗ IncorrectThe order is the opposite: the plates were already being taken away, so the music came after the food.

✗ IncorrectLearning a song together was only a promise at the start; at the dinner he plays alone.

✗ IncorrectHe does play; his daughter records him before he can even say that it was not ready.

Question 13. What does the narrator say was the hardest part?

✗ IncorrectOnly three chords are named, and the narrator explicitly says the hardest part "was never the guitar itself".

✗ IncorrectThere is no teacher present at all — he learns from a video and plays for his family.

✓ CorrectHe ends with "It was believing that a man of forty can still learn something new in front of the people he loves."

✗ IncorrectThe guitar was bought years earlier and simply waited in its case, so buying was never the difficulty.

Question 14. What does "before I could say that it was not ready" suggest about him?

✗ IncorrectIf he thought it was perfect, he would not have wanted to say that it was not ready.

✓ CorrectHe wanted to warn the family that the song was not ready, which shows he judged his own playing modestly.

✗ IncorrectThe phone is only the means of recording; his worry is about the quality of the song, not the phone.

✗ IncorrectForgetting chords was a problem with singing earlier, but at the dinner he finishes the tune and is clapped.

Question 15. What is the main idea of the last two sentences?

✗ IncorrectThe guitar works well enough for a whole song, and the narrator says the difficulty "was never the guitar itself".

✗ IncorrectHe performs for his family and remembers the applause warmly, so the text does not warn against it.

✓ CorrectHe separates the instrument from the real difficulty: "It was believing that a man of forty can still learn something new."

✗ IncorrectTwenty minutes is only his own rule for starting, and the last sentences do not generalise about instruments.
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