LECTURE 1: READING COMPREHENSION

I walked down through the garden to the sea, and as I did so my spirits rose. For
this, of course, was what had been so beautifully described in agent’s leaflet, and
why I had flown so many miles. The description was true, too. Little whitewashed
homes respectfully set apart from one another, the sea washing the rocks below.
There was a beach, from which people doubtless swam in high season, but no
one was on it now, and, even if anyone should appear, t none of them being let
before the summer, the holiday cottages themselves were well to the left, safe,
private. I looked at each in turn, mounting the steps, standing on the balconies.
The clerk must have been telling the truth about none of them being let before
the summer, for all had the shutters closed over their windows. All accept one.
And as soon as I mounted the step and stood on the balcony I knew that this was
the one I wanted to be mine. This was the view I had imagined. The water
beneath me, gently splashing against the rocks, the bay widening into the open
sea, and beyond, the mountain. It was perfect. The cottages to the east of the
hotel, which was out of sight anyway, could be forgotten. One, on a piece of land
sticking out into the sea, stood on its own with a landing-stage below, but this
would only strengthen my picture when I came to paint it. The rest were
fortunately hidden by rising ground. I turned, and looked through the open
window to the bedroom within. Plain whitewashed walls, a stone floor, a
comfortable low bed with colored blankets upon it. A bedside table with a lamp
and telephone. But for these last, it was simplicity itself, and I wished for nothing
more.
I wondered why this cottage, and none of its neighbors, had been opened up,
and stepping inside I heard from the bathroom beyond the sound of running
water. Not further disappointment, and the place booked after all? I put my head
round the open door, and saw that it was a maid washing the bathroom floor.
She jumped as she saw me. Pointing around me, I said “Is this taken?”. She did
not understand, but past me to the entrance, leaving her work unfinished

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 PREGUNTAS DE LA LECTURA 1

1.- Why did the writer feel happy as he walked through the garden?

A) He was delighted that it looked just like the photograph.

B) He was finally on holiday.

C) He had found what he had come for.

D) He was alone at last.

2.- Why didn’t the writer see any other guests?

A) They were having lunch in the hotel.

B) It was too early in the day.

C) The cottages were hidden from each other.

D) It was not a popular time of year.

3.- Why did the writer want the open cottage?

A) It was well furnished.

B) It had a particular view.

C) It was easy to get to.

D) It would make a good picture.

4.- How did the writer feel once inside the cottage?

A) He was afraid it was already occupied.

B) He was annoyed to see there was a telephone.

C) He was disappointed that it was so small.

D) He was irritated by the maid’s presence.

5.- How did the maid react when she saw the writer?

A) She screamed loudly.

B) She pointed to the door.

C) She left without her things

D) She rushed outside.

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 LECTURE 2: READING COMPREHENSION

Research into happiness is always open to question. Do people, when asked, tell
the truth about whether or not they are happy? Isn’t it peculiar to tell a complete
stranger that you are miserable? Possibly. Nevertheless. People who fill in
questionnaires without giving their names Show the same sort of results as those
in open interview. It might also be suggested that people do not know whether
they are happy or not. But, if you believe that most people are aware of their
own emotional state and express it honestly when asked, the research makes
some fascinating discoveries.
It is interesting to note what does not necessarily make you happy. Class, wealth,
social position, intelligence and race are all poor indicators (although poverty is
a good indicator of unhappiness). Women are slightly happier than men, and
older people rather more satisfied though less joyful-than younger people. But
most people are –or claim to be –happy. This is, surprisingly, the same for
everyone. “Whatever situation people are in, whether they are prisoners or
lottery winners, roughly the same levels of happiness on a average can be
found”. Most people score six or seven on a scale of one to ten.
Marriage is a great source of happiness than being single. 35 per cent of married
men and 41.5 per cent of married women claim to be very happy, whereas the
figures for single men and women are 18.5 per cent and 25.5 per cent. However,
having children is not the source of Happiness many believe it to be. Survey after
survey shows that happiness levels being to fall.
After the birth of a child, reaching their lowest point in the teenage years and
only returning to previous levels when the children leave home. This is rather
strange, since people keep on having kids despite the clear evidence that having
children makes you less happy. One possible explanation is that there are things
that people consider more valuable than happiness, like a feeling of being
worthwhile. Or maybe bad marriages stick together because of children.

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 PREGUNTAS DE LA LECTURA 2

1.- Why could research into happiness be unreliable?

A) It isn’t possible to identify the people answering the questions.

B) Those filling in questionnaires can copy other people’s answer.

C) People don’t tell the truth when talking to strangers.

D) People may not be sure of their own emotions.

2.- What did the researchers discover about levels of happiness?

A) A sudden change in circumstances can make people less happy.

B) Childhood is the happiest time of life.

C) There is little variation from one person to the next.

D) Successful people are more likely to be happy.

3.- According to the research, which people would be happiest?

A) Single people.

B) The parents of teenagers.

C) Married couples with a new baby.

D) Married couples without children.

4.- According to the passage, it is difficult to explain why people

A) remain married in spite of being unhappy.

B) consider marriage worthwhile.

C) continue to have children.

D) value happiness more than anything else.

5.- In general, the writer thinks the results of the research are

A) incorrect.

B) unbelievable.

C) unexpected.

D) unfair.

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 LECTURE 3: READING COMPREHENSION
WELCOME BLACK!
If you had been a stamp collector at the
beginning of the 1840s, you’d have had no
problem in getting an example of every
different stamp in the world. After all, there
were only two! For 1840 was the year the
postage stamp was invented. The Penny
Black issued in May that year was the
world’s very first adhesive postage stamp
and its introduction completely changed
the way people sent letters. For the first
time it was possible to send a letter cheaply
form one end of the country to the other for
a standard pre-paid charge.
Nowadays stamps are so much a part of our
everyday lives that it’s difficult to imagine
what the postal system was like before they
were invented. In Britain, for example,
letters were charged according to the
number of pages and by the distance they
had to travel, and the postage was paid by
the person who received the letter rather
than the person who received the letter
rather than the person who sent it. The cost
was high and the service slow. Letters were
generally carried by post boy on horseback,
or by mail coaches which took several days
to travel a few hundred miles. By the 1830s,
Britain was already beginning a time of
rapid growth in both trade and population.
Mechanical inventions such as the railways
were about to revolutionize transport, so
an entirely new postal system was clearly
necessary for the future.
Major changes were proposed by a British
businessman, Rowland Hill. One was that
letters should be charged by weight, not
distance. Another was the use of prepaid
letter sheets and envelopes. Almost as an
afterthought he suggested the possible use
of a small label displaying an official stamp
which people could stick on their letters to
show they had paid in advance. That sticky
label was transformed into the Penny Black,
and the postage stamp was born. The
Penny Black proved to be highly successful
from the start. It was so popular, in fact,
that the prepaid letter sheets and
envelopes - which Hill preferred - were
soon withdrawn. Despite its success, the
Penny Black had a very short life. It was
soon found that the postmark did not show
up very well on a black stamp, so it was
replaced by the Penny Red in 1841.
The postage stamp idea was so simple and
clever that other countries soon adopted it.
Brazil was the first to do so in 1843, and
within 10 years stamps were in use in most
countries in the world. The hobby of stamp
collecting started about the same time.
Because it was the world’s first stamp, the
Penny Black is usually imagined to be very
rare or expensive. In fact, it’s neither. Such
was the success of the new system that 68
million penny black were sold in 1840 alone
and today you can buy one for around 150
libras esterlinas.
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 PREGUNTAS DE LA LECTURA 3

1.- What are we told about sending letters before the invention of the postage stamp?

A) There was no charge for delivery over short distances.

B) The letters were paid for on arrival.

C) The cost varied according to the method of travel.

D) There was a limit on the number of pages you could send.

2.- The need for a new postal system arose because

A) existing methods of handling mail were proving too expensive.

B) the population of the country was increasing rapidly.

C) the existing service could not dael with the increased business post.

D) new inventions were going to replace existing methods of transport.

3.- The most successful of the new methods proposed by Rowland Hill was the use of

A) letter sheets paid for according to weight.

B) specially designed prepaid envelopes.

C) a prepaid sticky label showing a special mark.

D) a prepaid sheet which folded into an envelope.

4.- The disadvantage of the Penny Black stamp was that

A) it was difficult to see the postmark on it.

B) the public objected to the fact it was black.

C) its design wasn’t clear enough.

D) people thought it was too small for the size of the envelope.

5.- The writer tells us that today an original Penny Black stamp is

A) more expensive to buy than any other stamp in the world.

B) very rarely seen for sale to the general public

C) owned by several million stamp collectors around the world.

D) less difficult to add to your collection than you might expect.

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 LECTURE 4: READING COMPRENHENSION

Five days a week, for thirty years, I have travelled the 08:12 train to the city of London.
It is never particularly crowded, and it takes me right into Cannon Street Station, only
an eleven and a half minute walk from the door of my office.
I have always liked the process of travelling to work; every phase of the little journey
is a pleasure to me. There is a regularity about it that is agreeable and comforting to a
person of habit, and in addition, it serves as a sort of pathway along which I am gently
but firmly pushed into the start of my daily business routine.
Ours is a smallish station and only nineteen or twenty people gather there to catch the
08:12. We are a group that rarely changes, and when occasionally a new face appears
on the platform it causes a certain mild protest, like a newcomer in a cage of birds.
But normally, when I arrive in the morning with my usual four minutes to spare, there
they all are, these good, solid, reliable people, standing in their right umbrellas and
hats and ties and faces and their newspapers under their arms, as unchanged and
unchangeable through the years as the furniture in my own living room. I like that.
I like also my corner seat by the window and reading The Times to the noise and motion
of the train. This part of it lasts thirty-two minutes and seems to calm both my brain
and my old body. Believe me, there’s nothing like routine and regularity for preserving
one’s peace of mind. I have now made this morning journey nearly ten thousand times
in all, and I enjoy it more and more every day. Also, I have become a sort of clock. I can
tell at once if we are running two , three, or four minutes late, and I never have to look
up to know which station we are stopped at.
The walk at the other end from Cannon Street Station to my office is neither too long
nor too short-a healthy stroll along streets crowded with other people all proceeding
to their places of work in the same orderly fashion as myself. It gives me a sense of
assurance to be moving among these dependable people who stick to their jobs and
don’t go wandering about all over the world. Their lives, like my own, are regulated
nicely by the minute hand of an accurate watch, and very often our paths cross at the
same times and places on the street each day.
At least half the faces I pass on this little walk are now familiar to me. And good faces
they are too, my kind of faces, my kind of people.

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 PREGUNTAS DE LA LECTURA 4

1.- Why does the writer like travelling to work by train?

A) He has time to plan the day ahead

B) The train is very comfortable.

C) The journey follows a similar pattern each day

D) He can get a lot of work done on the train

2.- What do the travelers have in common?

A) They do the same kind of work.

B) They dislike an unfamiliar face among their number.

C) They read the same newspaper.

D) They arrive at the station four minutes before the train leaves.

3.- The writer can tell which station the train has stopped at because

A) he checks his watch for the time.

B) he knows the people who get on.

C) he can sense exactly where he is.

D) he has learnt the train timetable by heart.

4.- How would you describe the writer’s character?

A) ambitious

B) unsure

C) conservative

D) sociable

5.- At least half the faces I pass on this little walk

A) are not familiar to me.

B) are very strangers to me.

C) are now familiar to me.

D) are very familiar to me. Held in captivity in zoos in the Philippines and

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 LECTURE 5: READING COMPRENHENSION

It is lonely and frustrating being a wild Spix’s Macaw. The solitary bird has lost its
last two friends in the past year, and is now flying around the forests or central
Brazil looking for a mate. What the macaw presumably doesn’t know is that it is
the last wild one of its type in the world.
There were about 200 three decades ago. Now there are only about a dozen of
the birds held in captivity in zoos in the Philippines and in Brazil where they are
being paired in breeding programmers to provide stock for the wild.
Schemes to save the macaw, and hundreds of other birds, mammals, plants and
insects from extinction are being drawn up at a meeting of conservationists in
Australia.
About 250 members of the Species Survival Commission (SSC), a world-wide
network of volunteer scientists, began a one-week conference yesterday which
will examine the situation of threatened species, from crocodiles and whales to
orchids and butterflies.
The problem for the Spix’s Macaw, named after a 19th century naturalist, is that,
with its bright blue feathers, it looks good in a cage. It is worth 25,000 Libras
esterlinas to collectors, and is therefore the scientists’ classic example of
exploited wildlife.
“There are about 27 of the macaws known to be in the hands of collectors”, said
Mr. Stuart Strahl, a director of Wildlife Conservation International. “It is difficult
to get people to part with them. It is like asking people to part with a rare stamp
from their collection”.
The sex of the last wild macaw, guarded by volunteers with the help of the
Brazilian government, is not known because it has not been examined closely. It
is also impossible to put an age on the bird once it has reached maturity at two
years as all obvious signs of age disappear.
At present the problem for the scientists is whether to provide immediate and
welcome relief for the lone macaw by releasing captives directly into the wild or
to give the breeding programmers more time before releasing other birds.

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 PREGUNTAS DE LA LECTURA 5

1.- What problem does the last wild Spix’s Macaw face?

A) It has few friends in Brazil.

B) It is being hunted by collectors.

C) It can’t find a partner in its present situation.

D) The forests where it lives are being cut down.

2.- The main reason collectors want to own Spix’s Macaw is because

A) they want to save them.

B) they look attractive as pets.

C) they can make money from them.

D) they want to study them.

3.- What do we learn about the age of the last wild bird?

A) It has reached adulthood.

B) It is under two years old.

C) It is too old to produce young.

D) Its age is being kept secret.

4.- What do scientists plan to do about the problem of the Spix’s Macaw?

A) Start as many new mating programmers as possible.

B) Persuade collectors to give up their birds.

C) Raise birds and then set them free.

D) Catch the last wild bird and give it a partner.

5.- The main aim of the writer is to

A) inform people about a number of threatened species.

B) report on a conference in Australia.

C) describe the situation of the wild Spix’s Macaw.

D) argue for the importance of conservation.

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 LECTURE 6: READING COMPREHENSION

The village of Kirkpinar is in Anatolia, in the west of Turkey. Each year. Early summer.
Healing snakes appear in the waters of a small mountain lake high above the village.
The water snakes- averaging 60 centimeters in length and of various kinds, are not
poisonous. Locals think them capable of healing a range of illnesses, including
headaches, muscle aches, scars and eczema.
First, you catch your snake; then you place it on the diseased part of your body. Then
you wait. So does the snake. A snake that is not moving is said to be taking in the pain.
As it slithers off, it is said to give off magical and healing substances. If the snake
escapes too quickly, then a new snake must be found. Five minutes is thought to be a
suitable minimum. For serious illnesses, a three year course, featuring many hundreds
of snakes, is believed to be effective. The tradition is strictly local. Fifty miles away,
such behavior is uncommon.
The origin of the process is unknown, but it is thought likely to come from Armenian
culture, rather than the Turkish civilization which followed it. Certainly snakes have
long enjoyed an association with healing powers; stories of their skills in curing people
have existed alongside less generous images of snakes as the enemies of natural order-
associated with disturbance and death. The healing snake tradition goes back at least
as far as Ancient Egypt: songs praised the goddess Mertseger who changed herself into
a snake to heal an injured workman; it was from a snake that Asklepios, the Geek god
of healing, learned of a magical herb that restored life; and in another story, King
Nabonidus gave Gula, the goddess of healing, presents of brass snakes. The Bible
describes how Moses, the leader of Israelites, constructed a brass snake and attached
it to a stick which, when seen, had impressive healing properties. The combination of
stick and snake was associated with Hippocrates, the founder of modern medical
ethics, and survives today in the symbol of the British Medical Association.
No scientific studies have been done to test the healing value of snakes in Krkpinar and
so many different varieties of snake are used in the process that it is difficult to
generalize about their possible properties. All that is known for certain about the
Kirkpinar snakes is that they are not aggressive, that they pretend to be dead when
caught and that they have a tendency to give off a bad smell.

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 PREGUNTAS DE LA LECTURA 6

1.- To make use a Kirkpinar healing snake you must

A) press the snake onto your body and hold it there.

B) make sure it is not poisonous.

C) wait patiently until the snake has finished its work.

D) find the right kind of ssnake for your illness.

2.- Kirkpinar healing snakes are used

A) in mountainous areas of Turkey.

B) in villages throughout western Turkey.

C) by people who live around a particular village.

D) by sick people who travel to a particular area.

3.- According to the text, since ancient times snakes have been associated

A) mainly with positive things.

B) mainly with negative things.

C) with both positive and negative things.

D) with the preservation of natural order.

4.- According to ancient stories, a live snake once

A) changed herself into a goddess.

B) passed healing knowledge to a god.

C) gave presents to a goddess.

D) gave healing powers to Moses.

5.- Scientific studies of the Kirkpinar healing snakes have

A) shown they have definite powers.

B) tested their levels of aggression.

C) not been able to prove anything.

D) not yet been carried out.

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