ESERCIZIO READING AND COMPREHENSION

Mr Merriweather was dozing by the fireside. His newspaper slipped from his grasp, his head fell forward and he started to wander by the banks of a fast-flowing river. Then a coal slipped, the fire crackled and he woke up with a start.

He reached down to retrieve his newspaper and then remembered something that he wanted to ask his wife. But Mrs Merriweather was not there.

He listened for a while. The cottage seemed very quiet. Then he called out "Molly!" several times but received no reply. He shuffled out into the hall and saw that Molly's rainwear was missing from its accustomed hook. And her Wellingtons which always stood with the umbrellas in the umbrella stand had also gone. Whatever would have possessed her to go out on a night such as this?

Questions (passate col mouse sulla striscia gialla per vedere le soluzioni)

1. Which statement tells you that Mr Merriweather was dreaming?

a: he was dozing by the fireside
b: his newspaper slipped from his grasp
c: his head fell forward
d: he started to wander by banks of a river
e: a coal slipped

D "he started to wander by banks of a river

2. Mr Merriweather felt sure that his wife had left the house because:

a: the cottage seemed very quiet when he woke up
b: the door to the hall was open
c: her raincoat was not on its peg
d: her umbrella had disappeared
e: she had taken all her possessions

C "her raincoat was not on its peg

3. The word accustomed in line 11 could most accurately be replaced by:

a: acquainted
b: usual
c: protruding
d: established
e: adapted

B "usual"&nbsp&nbsp

4. The two short sentences in line 8 are effective because they convey Mr Merriweather's sense of:

a: haste
b: alarm
c: concentration
d: sleepiness
e: loneliness

C "concentration"

5. What sort of weather is suggested by the passage?

a: a wet, stormy and windy night
b: a cold frosty night
c: a mild and breezy night
d: a windy but dry night
e: a snowy night

A "stormy and windy night"