Focus 2, Reading Comprehension, Semester II

Read the texts. Match the people Christopher (C), Anita (A) and George (G) to the questions below. Choose C, A or G. Some texts have two matching questions.

Optimist, Pessimist or Realist?

Christopher
I'm definitely an optimist. Optimists always see the positive side of a situation, even when things go wrong. For example, last year I went on holiday with my friends. I was so excited and imagined all the fun we'd have. When we finally went, it rained every day, our hotel was very uncomfortable and my friend lost his wallet and mobile phone. While my friends were complaining, I was still cheerful. I was saying things like ‘at least we've got somewhere to sleep’, and ‘it's lucky there wasn’t much money in your wallet’. They got quite annoyed with me. Most people want to be optimistic, but it's not always best. Sometimes my teachers get angry with me because I don't think about how to improve. When I get a bad mark, I don't worry about it and just keep smiling. Perhaps if I thought more like a pessimist, I'd be more hard-working and get better results. But I'm happy with the way I am so I don't think I'll change just yet.

Anita
I think I'm a realist. Realists look at facts and are generally very sensible people. I don't worry too much about the future because I don't imagine that it will be amazing or terrible. I know that everything will be OK and that some days will be better than others, but overall things will be fine, and if not I'll find a way to deal with them. I think I'm quite different to my friends. Last year, Claudia, Jessica and me organised a party. Claudia wanted to buy more and more food because she was expecting the whole school to come. Jessica, on the other hand, was very stressed because she thought nobody was going to come. They kept arguing about it and almost drove me mad! I just sent an email to all our friends asking who was coming, and did the shopping myself. It was a great party in the end. Some people couldn't make it, but I think most of us had fun.

George
I've always been a bit of a pessimist. Pessimists think bad things are going to happen, but that doesn't mean they are miserable all the time. I don't know why people are so negative about pessimists. When you think the worst is going to happen, it's a nice feeling when things don't go wrong. I always think I will fail exams, but when I get results I usually do very well, and this makes me feel really happy. I think pessimists are usually very successful people. We focus on the things that go wrong, and make sure we don't make the same mistakes in the future. I am trying to be more positive though. Sometimes people don't want to work with me because they think I look for problems. They'd rather connect with someone more positive. I don't want people to think I'm too serious.

Question 1

Who took control of a situation?   [C, A, G]

Question 2

Who says things don't always happen the way they expect?   [C, A, G]

Question 3

Who thinks their personality type is the most popular?   [C, A, G]

Question 4

Who is trying to change their habits?   [C, A, G]

Question 5

Who doesn't feel bad when things go wrong?   [C, A, G]

Read the text. For the question below, choose the correct answer.

THE NEW PHONE

What's your shopping style? Do you research products online before carefully making the right decision? Do you rush to the shops and buy the first thing that you see? Perhaps you get your mum to do your shopping for you? I'm usually a mixture of those styles, but recently I did something I've never done before.

I was watching TV one rainy evening and, as usual, there were all those irritating advertisements in the middle of the film. This particular break was so long that I even forgot what I was watching, but perhaps that was because I was very tired after a long week at school. Anyway, I don't know what happened to me. I don't usually take any notice of the adverts, in fact I quite often turn the volume down when they're on. But this time I was surprised.

There was an advert for a smartphone and since I was actually thinking of getting one at the time, I started to pay attention. The phone seemed really great. It looked very stylish and came in a whole range of different colours. They said it was nice and light but the best thing about it was the camera. The photos they showed looked amazing.

I was a little bit nervous, but I decided to go for it and I ordered one. I must say I wasn’t sure about my decision when I woke up the next day but the phone arrived that morning so it was too late to cancel the order. And I was impressed with how fast it arrived which I thought was a good sign. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I'm not at all happy with the phone. I'm sure it’s faulty. For example, I texted a friend yesterday and the message went to the wrong person. That's really bad – it made me feel uncomfortable and my friend was very confused – she didn't know what I was talking about. Another thing is, the battery doesn't last for very long. I charged it last night but it's almost dead again already. I'm sure it should last longer than that, my old one used to last for days. It's very disappointing, I hope they give me my money back.

Why did the writer forget what she was watching?

Read the text. For the question below, choose the correct answer.

THE NEW PHONE

What's your shopping style? Do you research products online before carefully making the right decision? Do you rush to the shops and buy the first thing that you see? Perhaps you get your mum to do your shopping for you? I'm usually a mixture of those styles, but recently I did something I've never done before.

I was watching TV one rainy evening and, as usual, there were all those irritating advertisements in the middle of the film. This particular break was so long that I even forgot what I was watching, but perhaps that was because I was very tired after a long week at school. Anyway, I don't know what happened to me. I don't usually take any notice of the adverts, in fact I quite often turn the volume down when they're on. But this time I was surprised.

There was an advert for a smartphone and since I was actually thinking of getting one at the time, I started to pay attention. The phone seemed really great. It looked very stylish and came in a whole range of different colours. They said it was nice and light but the best thing about it was the camera. The photos they showed looked amazing.

I was a little bit nervous, but I decided to go for it and I ordered one. I must say I wasn’t sure about my decision when I woke up the next day but the phone arrived that morning so it was too late to cancel the order. And I was impressed with how fast it arrived which I thought was a good sign. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I'm not at all happy with the phone. I'm sure it’s faulty. For example, I texted a friend yesterday and the message went to the wrong person. That's really bad – it made me feel uncomfortable and my friend was very confused – she didn't know what I was talking about. Another thing is, the battery doesn't last for very long. I charged it last night but it's almost dead again already. I'm sure it should last longer than that, my old one used to last for days. It's very disappointing, I hope they give me my money back.

Why did the writer pay attention to the advert for the smartphone?