READING-COMPREHENSION TEST MR. HOLLAND’S DREAM

When Mr. Holland was a young man, he played a lot of football and he always was thin and very strong. But then he worked in an office for many years, and he drove to work in a car, so when he was forty, he was fat and very soft, and he didn’t wish to get fatter and softer every year.

One day one of his friends said to him: “Would you like to be thinner, Fred?” “Of course, I would”, Mr. Holland answered. “Well”, his friend said, “stop going to your office by car and get a bicycle”.

Mr. Holland had not ridden a bicycle for many years. “It’s very hard to learn to ride a bicycle again at your age”, his wife said.

But it was not too hard for Mr. Holland to do. He usually sat in his living room and read a newspaper in the evening, but he bought bicycle for his birthday and practiced riding it every evening instead. He hoped that it would help him to get thinner, and he got a lot of pleasure from it.

He found little roads which were not very narrow, but were too narrow for cars, and there he got away from the nasty noises of the city, which were becoming too much for him. They were not really very loud, but they were too loud for Mr. Holland.

Then he began to go to his office by bicycle. Sometimes all the cars stopped at a red light, and he went past them to the front, because his bicycle was narrow. Then he was very happy.

Yesterday he stopped at a red light, and a man came up behind him on another bicycle. He stopped too and said to Mr. Holland, “Have a police taken your driving licence away too?”

TASKS

1. Выберите правильный вариант.

1. Was Mr. Holland fat or thin when he was young?

1. He was fat. b) He was thin. c) He was thick.

1. Who told him to get a bicycle?

1. His son did. b) His wife did. c) A friend did.

1. Was it hard for him to learn to ride a bicycle again?

1. Sometimes it was very hard. b) It was very easy. c) It was very hard.

1. When did he practice?

1. In the evening. b) On his birthday. c) At weekends.

1. Did he enjoy riding his bicycle?

1. Fifty-fifty. b) Yes, he did. c) Sometimes he did.

1. Why did he like narrow roads?

1. Because they were crowded. b) Because they were very clean. c)Because they were less noisy.

7) Why could he go past cars at red lights?

a) Because his bicycle was narrower than the cars. b) Because he was very ambitious.

c) Because he didn’t know traffic rules.

8) Had the police taken Mr. Holland’s driving licence away?

a) No, they hadn’t b) Just checked it c) He left it at home

2. Расставьте предложения по содержанию текста.

1. Then he began to go to his office by bicycle.
2. He usually sat in his living room and read a newspaper.
3. It was not too hard for Mr. Holland to ride a bicycle.
4. When Mr. Holland was a young man, he played a lot of football.
5. He found little roads which were not really very narrow.
6. When he was forty he was fat and very soft.
7. Mr. Holland hadn’t ridden a bicycle for many years.
8. He didn’t wish to get fatter and softer every year.
9. When all the cars stopped at a red light Mr. Holland went past them.
10. Another man stopped too and said to Mr. Holland “Have the police taken your driving licence away too?”

3. Ответьте на вопросы.

1. What was Mr. Holland dream?
2. When did he play a lot of football?
3. Why had he always been thin and very strong?
4. Why did he become fat and very soft?
5. What was the advice of one of his friends?
6. What would help him to get thinner?
7. Where did Mr. Holland practice?
8. Did he stop at red light?