English Base

Test 018

Reading Practice: The Lighthouse Museum

Reading Text

The white tower stands on the edge of the cape, where the land ends and the water begins. For one hundred and thirty years it guided ships past a line of hidden rocks. Since 2011 the building has been a museum, and every year thousands of people climb its one hundred and twelve steps to look at the sea from above.

The spiral staircase is narrow, and the stone walls are cool even in summer. Halfway up, a glass case holds the keeper's logbook, which he filled in every day for almost forty years. While he was writing the evening entry, he often noted the wind, the colour of the sky and the names of ships that passed. Some pages are hard to read now, because the ink has faded.

The fog horn stands in a small room below the lamp. It was used on days when the light could not reach far enough, and its deep sound travelled several kilometres across the bay. If the fog comes down quickly, the guide still switches the horn on for a few seconds, and the whole tower seems to shake.

From the top platform visitors can see the harbour, the fishing boats and, on clear days, a second cape far to the south. If the weather were always this good, the keeper wrote in one entry, the job would be easy. The wind, however, decides everything here.

The question that visitors ask most often is simple: how did anyone live here in winter? The answer is in the same logbook. Food and letters were brought by boat once a month, and in stormy weeks the family stayed inside, repaired tools and read. Nobody, the guide says, has ever described those months as boring.

Comprehension Test

Question 1. What is the tower used for today?

✗ IncorrectThe tower no longer guides ships itself: the text says that since 2011 the building has been a museum.

✓ CorrectThe text states directly: "Since 2011 the building has been a museum."

✗ IncorrectThe harbour and the fishing boats are only mentioned as a view from the platform, not as a use for the tower.

✗ IncorrectVisitors climb the tower, but nothing in the text says that people can stay there overnight.

Question 2. Why was this tower so important for ships?

✗ IncorrectThere is no harbour office in the first paragraph; the tower was built because of the rocks, not to mark an office.

✗ IncorrectThe text never connects the tower with a fishing season or with dates for boats.

✗ IncorrectBorders and the museum are not mentioned together; the tower stands on the cape, where the land ends.

✓ CorrectThe first paragraph says it "guided ships past a line of hidden rocks" for one hundred and thirty years.

Question 3. How many steps does the staircase have?

✓ CorrectThe text says that people climb "its one hundred and twelve steps" to reach the sea view.

✗ IncorrectNinety is not used in the text at all; the number of steps is higher.

✗ IncorrectOne hundred and thirty is the number of years the tower guided ships, not the number of steps.

✗ IncorrectTwo hundred is never mentioned; the staircase is described as narrow, but its number of steps is smaller.

Question 4. What does the glass case halfway up the stairs contain?

✗ IncorrectThe lamp is mentioned only in connection with the fog horn room, not as an object in the glass case.

✗ IncorrectNo map is mentioned anywhere in the text; the case holds a written book, not a drawing.

✓ CorrectA glass case "holds the keeper's logbook, which he filled in every day for almost forty years".

✗ IncorrectBoats appear in the text as ships that passed or as a view from the platform, but not as photographs in a case.

Question 5. What did the keeper usually note down in his evening entry?

✗ IncorrectThe text mentions the names of ships that passed, not the names of their owners, and the entry had much more in it.

✓ CorrectWhile he was writing, he "often noted the wind, the colour of the sky and the names of ships that passed".

✗ IncorrectVisitors belong to the museum period, many years later, so the keeper could not have counted them.

✗ IncorrectFood and tools are mentioned later in connection with winter, but prices are never part of the logbook.

Question 6. What does it mean that the ink has faded?

✗ IncorrectThe text speaks of ink, and the problem is its colour after many years, not the tool the keeper used.

✗ IncorrectNothing has been copied: the original pages are difficult to read, which is exactly the problem.

✗ IncorrectTranslation is not mentioned; the difficulty is caused by time and the state of the ink.

✓ CorrectThe text says some pages are hard to read now "because the ink has faded", which means the colour has grown weak.

Question 7. Where is the fog horn kept?

✓ CorrectThe third paragraph opens with the words "The fog horn stands in a small room below the lamp."

✗ IncorrectThe top platform is where visitors stand to look at the sea, and the text places the horn lower down.

✗ IncorrectThe horn is part of the tower and stayed there; boats only appear as traffic in the bay.

✗ IncorrectNo entrance or ticket desk is described in the text, and the horn belongs to the working part of the tower.

Question 8. Why was the fog horn used on some days?

✗ IncorrectIt was a warning signal for safety, not a greeting; the text never describes it as a welcome.

✗ IncorrectThe horn was used long before the museum opened, so it could not announce closing time.

✓ CorrectIt was used "on days when the light could not reach far enough", so sound did the work of light.

✗ IncorrectNo test is described; the horn was a normal part of the work in foggy conditions.

Question 9. What happens today if the fog comes down quickly?

✗ IncorrectClosing is not mentioned; the fog leads to a short demonstration, not to a change in opening hours.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "If the fog comes down quickly, the guide still switches the horn on for a few seconds."

✗ IncorrectThe platform is described as a place for the view; there is no rule about leaving it in fog.

✗ IncorrectElectricity and saving are not discussed; the passage focuses on the sound, not on the lamp being switched off.

Question 10. What can visitors see from the top platform?

✗ IncorrectNo garden appears in the text; the family stayed inside in stormy weeks and did not work outside.

✗ IncorrectThe view is much wider: the text lists the harbour, the fishing boats and a distant cape.

✗ IncorrectThe road is not part of the description; visitors arrive, but the text never mentions what road they use.

✓ CorrectFrom the platform visitors see "the harbour, the fishing boats and, on clear days, a second cape far to the south".

Question 11. What did the keeper mean by "the job would be easy"?

✓ CorrectHe wrote that if the weather were always good the job would be easy, and then added that the wind "decides everything here".

✗ IncorrectHis sentence depends on a condition about the weather, so he did not say the work was easy in reality.

✗ IncorrectHe stayed in the tower for almost forty years, and the entry says nothing about looking for another job.

✗ IncorrectThe words come from the keeper's own time, long before the museum existed, and they are about his work.

Question 12. Which question do visitors ask most often?

✗ IncorrectCosts are never mentioned in the text, and this is not the question named as the most common one.

✗ IncorrectThe text gives no dates for repairs, so this cannot be the question visitors ask most often.

✓ CorrectThe last paragraph begins: "The question that visitors ask most often is simple: how did anyone live here in winter?"

✗ IncorrectOwners of boats are not discussed anywhere, and the guide answers a different question.

Question 13. How did the family get food in winter?

✗ IncorrectNo shop is mentioned; the text explains how supplies reached the tower, and it was not on foot.

✗ IncorrectDeliveries were not weekly: food and letters arrived by boat once a month, which made the family plan carefully.

✓ CorrectThe text says: "Food and letters were brought by boat once a month."

✗ IncorrectNothing grew inside the tower; in stormy weeks the family stayed in and repaired tools or read.

Question 14. What did the family do during stormy weeks?

✗ IncorrectIn stormy weeks the family stayed inside, so walking to the harbour contradicts the text.

✗ IncorrectThe platform is described as a place for the view in good weather; the text says the family stayed inside.

✗ IncorrectPainting is not mentioned; the text lists three quiet activities, and repairs to the building are not among them.

✓ CorrectThe text says that in stormy weeks "the family stayed inside, repaired tools and read".

Question 15. What does the guide say about those winter months?

✓ CorrectThe last sentence says: "Nobody, the guide says, has ever described those months as boring."

✗ IncorrectThe text says nothing about the family wanting to leave, and the keeper himself stayed for almost forty years.

✗ IncorrectThat is a reasonable guess, but the text does not say it; the guide's point is that the months were not dull.

✗ IncorrectNo film is mentioned; the story of those months is kept in the logbook, not on a screen.
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