Reading Comprehension
Time allowed: 30 min
My grandparents picked me up
at the Sarasota airport; I stooped to
kiss them and they smiled up at me,
always slightly bemused in the
5 presence of their giant American
grandson (at six foot two I’m a giant
next to them). On the way home we
bought pompano at the local fish
market; my grandfather grilled it
1 adding nothing but butter, salt, and
0 fresh lemon. Like every dish he
made, it seemed incredibly easy to
do, took him ten minutes, and
tasted better than
Part A Circle the best answer.
1. How did the writer get to his
grandparents’ town?
A. By plane
B. By train
C. By car
D. By ship
2. Which of the following best replaces the
word ‘stooped’ (line 2)?
A. stopped
B. tiptoed
C. bent down
D. hugged
3. Which of the following statements best
describes the writer’s and his
grandparents’ appearance?
A. The three of them looked alike.
anything I had eaten that year in Los
Angeles. My grandmother doesn’t cook;
she is famous in our family for her
1 refusal to prepare anything more
5 complicated than a bowl of cereal.
After dinner my grandmother lit a
cigarette and my grandfather poured
three glasses of homemade black
currant vodka. We listened to a choir of
2 cicadas and crickets, and slapped away
0 the occasional mosquito. Grandmother
flicked her ash onto the grass.
Adapted from David Benioff, City of Thieves
B. The writer was much taller than his
grandparents.
C. The writer was shorter than his
grandparents.
D. The three of them had similar heights.
4. What is ‘pompano’ (line 7)?
A. A market
B. A local fish market
C. A fish
D. A flavoring
5. What did the writer’s grandfather add to
the dish?
A. nothing
B. butter
C. butter and salt
D. butter, salt and fresh lemon
6. The following descriptions are incorrect
 except
A. The writer thought the food in Los
Angeles was better than his
grandfather’s dishes.
B. The writer enjoyed his grandfather’s
dishes.
C. The writer’s grandfather dishes did
not seem easy to do.
D. The writer had not eaten anything in
Los Angeles that year.
7. Which of the following is a correct
description?
A. The writer’s grandmother liked
cooking.
B. The writer’s grandmother liked to
make things complicated.
C. The writer’s grandmother liked cereal.
D. The writer’s grandmother did not
cook.
8. Which of the following is a correct
description?
A. The writer enjoyed the sounds made
by the cicadas and crickets.
B. The writer found the sounds made by
the cicadas and crickets disturbing.
C. The writer was listening to a choir.
D. The writer and his grandparents were
singing in a choir.

Part B Answer the following questions and give reason(s) for your answer.

9. What season was it?

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10. Was the writer’s grandmother a smoker?

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Answers:

1. A

2. C

3. B

4. C

5. D

6. B

7. D

8. A