You are going to read the beginning

You are going to read the beginning of a short story. For questions 8-14, choose the answer (A,B,C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

I lived with mother in a large white house surrounded by tall trees. it was a long walk to the nearest buildings as we were beyond the outskirts of town. it seem to me nor that I would ask myself whether we needed to live as we did, she in this lonely white house leading her life, me elsewhere in that same large house, being me. Her child. I suppose in all those years I may have asked myself that, yet I suspect, in reality, I scarcely gave it any thought.

One day, soon after my thirtieth birthday, Mother told me that she had sold the house. She had found somewhere else, she aid. She didn’t mention where. I didn’t ask.

Shortly after, two very willing removal men arrived with an orange van which they promptly began loading up with furniture and boxes. Mother directed them from the house. I stood outside underneath our tall trees and watched, fascinated by the process. Many of the things which these strangers were steadily lifting up and taking away and never been moved before in all my lifetime. Indeed, until that moment, I don’t think it ever occurred to me that these things could actually be moved. The house and everything in it had seemed so completely fixed. When I saw that the van was nearly full I went indoors to find mother.

“Keep anything you like,” she said to me. “I’ve taken all I want’

“Thank you,” I said

“The new people should be here tomorrow.” She climbed into the van alongside the two men, the engine started and they drove away.

Next day, as mother said they would, a couple came. They were obviously a bit annoyed to find me there. I packed some necessities into a small brown leather suitcase that I didn’t know was still in the house until I found it. I felt them watch me as I walked away down the path and along the road that eventually led to the railway station.

It had been a long quiet walk so I was surprised when I found the station busy with activity. I had expected to sit for a while and calmly decide my next course of action but a quick glance round the station told me that queuing for a ticket was the first thing for all newcomers to do – buying a cup of tea and trying to find a seat on the platform the next. The queue was long and appeared to move forward only slowly. All well and good, I thought, taking my place behind a woman who was engaged in a fierce argument with her husband while trying to keep several children in order.

“Everyone!” he repeated sarcastically. The husband looked angrily around and as I stood up he caught my eye. I was now the part of the argument against him.

“Yes, everyone – so you might just as well make up your mind to enjoy yourself, Harold.”

“I certainly will!” Harold spat back. “And it won’t be with you either!” he told his wife. it was all very public and rather shocking.

“Where to?” the family had reached the front of the queue.

“Two and three halves, returns to Southpool,” the woman declared. Harold was called upon to pay. This he did by counting out the money as slowly as it is possible to count out money. The queue heaved impatiently.

“Where to?”

“Southpool,” I said without a moment’s hesitation.

“One way, or are you coming back?’ he asked.

“One way,” I said. I was almost surprised when he handed me the ticket. When I had paid, i had half an hour to wait and enough money for a cup of tea. During that half hour, I reckoned it like this: All this people going to the seaside would be eating teas in little cafes along the sea front. Other people would be employed to serve those teas.

The train was packed. I was lucky and managed to squeeze myself on to a seat. I didn’t see Harold and his family again.

8. When the author was a child, how did she feel about her mother’s coldness?

A. She wished her mother were different

B. She didn’t let it bother her.

C. She tried to change their lives.

D. She wondered if she was really her mother.

9. What does “it” in the following sentence refer to? “I suppose in all those years I may have asked myself that, yet I suspect, in reality, I scarcely gave it any thought.”

A. the way she treated her mother

B. the town

C. the way they lived

D. the house

10. How did the author feel when she watched their things going into the van?

A. surprised at how easily their home was taken apart

B. worried about what was going to happen

C. glad her mother was going

D. concerned that the men should do their job properly

11. The author was still in the house when the new people came because she

A. didn’t want to go with her mother

B. hadn’t arranged to leave until the day after her mother

C. hadn’t made any plans

D. didn’t want to leave the house

12. Why did she buy a ticket as soon as she got to the station?

A. because there was nowhere to sit down

B. because she was in a hurry to catch her train

C. because that was what everyone else was doing

D. because she wanted to get away from the crowd

13. Why did she disapprove of the family?

A. because they didn’t have much money

B. because the children were hardly behaved

C. because they didn’t speak to her

D. because they were arguing in front of other people

14. Why did she feel she had chosen the right place to go?

A. because she hadn’t been to Southpool before

B. because she thought she could get a job in Southpool

C. because she was looking forward to having tea by the sea

D. because she could not afford to go further