Reading Comprehension Test. 10 class Semester 2

Read the text about Tommy Hilfiger, and for questions 1–5 circle the correct answer A–D.

FASHION DIARY

I was lucky enough to get an interview with Tommy Hilfiger the other day. He is one of the top American designers so it was rather difficult to catch him, but in the end, I was able to spend half a day with him and his team – quite amazing considering how busy he is. He appeared for our appointment wearing his usual sunglasses, a blue shirt, light trousers and a checked jacket. With his brown hair and bright blue eyes, Tommy looks an energetic mid-sixties – his real age – but can also look older or younger depending on the particular situation.

We talked a little about the history of his company before going on to have a look at some of the new season’s fashion designs. After setting up his collection for men – with particular success with his designer jeans and shoes – Tommy continued with his career and in 1996 he introduced a women’s clothing line, ‘Tommy’, which repeated the success of his menswear collection. His fashion design empire now includes athletic wear, underwear and kid’s wear as well as designer perfumes, cosmetics, brushes and combs for men and women, jewellery, other accessories and home furniture.

As we watched his top models showing his new collection – slim-line jeans, red leather motorcycle jackets, colourful blouses and leather skirts – he was talking all the time, either to me about his various projects or on his mobile phone, making plans for business photo sessions, flying to Florida and a thousand other things that form a day in the life of one of the world’s most successful designers. He also told me that he had plans for future development of his company but those would have to wait until our next interview.

1. Tommy Hilfiger …   [A, B, C, D]

   A often gives interviews.

   B looks younger than he is.

   C is about sixty-five years old.

   D frequently changes his style.

2. ‘Tommy’, the women’s collection was …   [A, B, C, D]

   A the most successful collection.

   B as successful as the men’s collection.

   C less successful than the men’s collection.

   D more successful than the men’s collection.

3. Tommy Hilfiger’s collection should attract …   [A, B, C, D]

   A mainly women.

   B men in particular.

   C teenagers and children.

   D men, women and children.

4. During the fashion show, Tommy was …   [A, B, C, D]

   A talking about his business plans.

   B concentrating fully on the show.

   C commenting on the new designs.

   D making arrangements for further work.

5. The writer of the article is probably …   [A, B, C, D]

   A a model.

   B a journalist.

   C a TV reporter.

   D another designer.

Read the three texts about school uniforms, and for each text 1–3 write the best heading A–E. There are two extra headings.

A. All the same

B. Looking attractive

C. Things don’t change

D. Nobody judges you

E. Being an individual

1 ___   [A, B, C, D, E]

Did you wear a uniform when you were at school? I did, and I hated it. I was interested in fashion and music, and I wanted to look like my favourite pop star. I didn’t want to look like everybody else in my class. My favourite clothes were flared jeans and short skirts, bright shirts and big boots. Now I’m a teacher. I look at the teenagers in my school and they are no different. They say they don’t like their school uniforms, they read music magazines, and they spend their money on slim trousers, tiny, tight-fitting T-shirts and expensive trainers.

2 ___   [A, B, C, D, E]

In terms of style, school uniforms are not very flattering: they are plain and the colours are dull. In our school the uniform is a grey skirt or trousers, a white blouse or shirt, and a black jumper. Girls are not allowed to wear jewellery. Boys wear ties. Everybody wears smart black or brown shoes. You won’t see any trainers here.

3 ___   [A, B, C, D, E]

Despite the rules about uniform, teachers have to talk to some pupils about their clothes every day: one girl comes in a short skirt, another with a big, bright necklace. Last week a boy had to go home because he was wearing an earring. Why do pupils do this when they know they will have problems? The answer is that they want to feel different; they don’t want to be the same as everybody else.

Read the article about a strange accident, and decide if the statements 1–8 are true (T) or false (F).

WHO AM I?

On 3 July 2003, a thirty-five-year-old Englishman called Doug Bruce walked into a police station in Coney Island, New York, and told the police that he did not know his own name. He had woken up a few minutes earlier on an underground train, with a headache and a hurt hand and shoulder. At that moment, he had no idea where he was going, where he had been, or who he was.

Doug went to a police station because he had nowhere else to go. He was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and sandals and he had a backpack with a few things in it: a Spanish textbook, a bunch of keys and a map of New York. The police were puzzled. ‘We’d never had anything like this before,’ says Lieutenant Pete Pena. They sent Doug to Coney Island Hospital. On his name tag, the nurse wrote ‘Unknown white male’.

The doctors were surprised at how strong his memory loss was. Although Doug could form sentences, he remembered nothing about his own past and seemed to know little about the world. One specialist at the hospital, Dr Leonid Voroybyev, admitted that he’d only ever seen such a serious case ‘in the movies and in my textbooks’.

The hospital would not let Doug go until they knew who he was. In the end, hospital staff found a phone number inside the textbook in Doug’s backpack. It belonged to an ex-girlfriend’s mother, but when staff contacted her, she had no idea who he was. However, when Doug spoke to the daughter, Nadine, she recognised his voice at once. ‘Is that you, Doug?’ she asked. ‘I don’t know,’ came the reply. Nadine went to the hospital, told the doctors who Doug was, and took him home.

‘Home’ was a very attractive apartment in downtown Manhattan, which he shared with two dogs and three parrots. Doug discovered that he had previously lived in Paris, where he had made a lot of money working in the banking industry.

Now that Doug knew who he was, he had to deal with other challenges. He was worried about meeting his family and friends because he thought they would seem like strangers to him. However, when he met his sisters, they told him that he had changed. Before the accident, he had been very friendly and sociable, but rarely showed his feelings. According to them, he had become much more relaxed and wasn’t scared to let people know how he was feeling. And indeed, to Doug, it felt like his life had started all over again as he tasted strawberries, saw snow fall and watched fireworks explode for what seemed like the first time.

1. Doug Bruce was a rich American. ___       [True, False]

2. Doug had been learning a foreign language. ___       [True, False]

3. The police found the situation rather confusing. ___       [True, False]

4. The doctors decided to study similar cases in textbooks. ___       [True, False]

5. Doug’s ex-girlfriend gave the hospital his address. ___       [True, False]

6. Doug lived abroad in the past. ___       [True, False]

7. Doug’s family felt like strangers to him. ___       [True, False]

8. Dough was discovering common things once again, after the accident. ___       [True, False]