NMT English. Test 1

Частина "Читання" Reading

Task 1.

Read the texts below. Match choices (A–H) to (1–5). There are three choices you do not need to use.

Task 2. Read the text. For questions (6-10) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

Choosing Home Education: A Mother’s Journey to Support Her Son

Lots of people thought it was ridiculous to even think of teaching my son at home. In the beginning, I was in two minds about it too, if I am honest. It was such a risk to take for both of us. Then I recalled exactly why the idea of educating Tom at home had come up in the first place and I knew that I could do it because I had to do it. I was certain of that.

The fact is that Tom has always been a very quiet boy. I believe he works better where he can just concentrate on what he's doing without lots of distractions and noise from too many other people being in the same room. Moreover, Tom can learn the material at his own pace. Also, education at home is much wider because we can look at all sorts of areas of interest, pay less attention to not so important subjects and still stick to the courses for his exams. He's naturally quite a reserved person. He's not boisterous and loud like many people his age and tends to prefer solitary activities to group ones. I can't say that he doesn't make friends easily. He doesn't have lots of friends. But he does have a few good close friends that he likes to spend time with. They come round and watch a film and play music, just like other youngsters. He's also in a swimming club, so he socializes there, too. He enjoys swimming because it's an individual sport. He's not interested in team sports at all.

Tom's life at primary school was OK. It only had two hundred pupils and teachers were very supportive and had good relationships with pupils there. As far as most teachers at secondary school were concerned, each child was just a number for them. They didn`t really know what was going on and took few steps to try to find out. So, Tom was bullied there. He refused to tell me anything but I saw great changes in him. It was his sister, Annie, who told me about the problem. When I called the school, they told that knew nothing about that. I decided that I had to remove my son immediately.

Of course, it wasn't easy to take such a step. I had to give up a good job with a high salary, to do quite a lot of research into the current courses in secondary schools and brush up on the subjects I hadn't done since I was at university. We don't have as much spare cash as we used to but it's worth it for Tom's education, I'm sure.

6. How did Maria feel first about teaching her son at home?

Task 2. Read the text. For questions (6-10) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

Choosing Home Education: A Mother’s Journey to Support Her Son

Lots of people thought it was ridiculous to even think of teaching my son at home. In the beginning, I was in two minds about it too, if I am honest. It was such a risk to take for both of us. Then I recalled exactly why the idea of educating Tom at home had come up in the first place and I knew that I could do it because I had to do it. I was certain of that.

The fact is that Tom has always been a very quiet boy. I believe he works better where he can just concentrate on what he's doing without lots of distractions and noise from too many other people being in the same room. Moreover, Tom can learn the material at his own pace. Also, education at home is much wider because we can look at all sorts of areas of interest, pay less attention to not so important subjects and still stick to the courses for his exams. He's naturally quite a reserved person. He's not boisterous and loud like many people his age and tends to prefer solitary activities to group ones. I can't say that he doesn't make friends easily. He doesn't have lots of friends. But he does have a few good close friends that he likes to spend time with. They come round and watch a film and play music, just like other youngsters. He's also in a swimming club, so he socializes there, too. He enjoys swimming because it's an individual sport. He's not interested in team sports at all.

Tom's life at primary school was OK. It only had two hundred pupils and teachers were very supportive and had good relationships with pupils there. As far as most teachers at secondary school were concerned, each child was just a number for them. They didn`t really know what was going on and took few steps to try to find out. So, Tom was bullied there. He refused to tell me anything but I saw great changes in him. It was his sister, Annie, who told me about the problem. When I called the school, they told that knew nothing about that. I decided that I had to remove my son immediately.

Of course, it wasn't easy to take such a step. I had to give up a good job with a high salary, to do quite a lot of research into the current courses in secondary schools and brush up on the subjects I hadn't done since I was at university. We don't have as much spare cash as we used to but it's worth it for Tom's education, I'm sure.

7. All of the following are the reasons for Tom's homeschooling EXCEPT