Writing Comprehension Test for 11th Form Students.

(From “The Moon and Sixpence” by Somerset Maugham)

I have an idea that some men are born out of their due place. Accidents have cast them amid certain surroundings, but they have always nostalgia for home they know not. They are strangers in their birthplace, and the leafy lanes they have known from childhood or the populous streets in which they have played, remain but a place of passage. They may spend their whole lives aliens among their kindred and remain aloof among the only scenes they have ever known. Perhaps it is this sense of strangeness that sends men far and wide in the search for something permanent, to which they may attach themselves. Perhaps some deep – rooted atavism urges the wanderer back to lands which his ancestors left in the dim beginnings of history. Sometimes a man hits upon a place to which he mysteriously feels that he belongs. Here is the home he sought, and he will settle amid scenes that he has never seen before, among men he has never known, as though they were familiar to him from his birth. Here at last he finds the rest.

You should write a composition about the due place to live. The following questions will help you decide what to write about; they will help to guide your thought.

• We know a saying “Home is where the heart is”. Why do people leave their homes for some other places?

• What feeling dominates when living in a new place?

• How long can a person feel himself at home in a new place?

• What does it depend on?

 

 

Writing Comprehension Test for 10th Form Students.

Run Your Home From Your Mobile Phone.

Forgot to turn off the heating when you left the house this morning? No need to worry – just use the latest mobile phone to switch it off. The Japanese are preparing to launch a new generation of mobiles which will give their owners remote control over virtually every household garget, reports the Observer. If you are heading home to a cold house, you could use the phone to turn on the heating. If you are going to miss your favorite TV show, use it to programme the video. The phone will also warn you if you have left the freezer door open, and will sound an alarm if an intruder breaks in. Panasonic is launching this revolutionary technology, known as Echonet, which comprises a book – sized control system costing & 500. Fitted to the kitchen wall, the unit communicates with tiny transponders attached to household appliances. Householders can control appliances from both their mobiles and this central unit.

You should write a composition about the computers and machines in our life. The following questions can help you decide what to write about; they will help to guide your thought.

• Do you believe that computers and machines have already revolutionized everything about our lives?

• Do you feel that they will continue to transform the world in the future?

• How is your life personally affected by machines and computers?

• What examples do you see in the world around you? Is all this technological advancement good or bad? Why?

• Where is it taking us and what can we expect in the future?

 

Writing Comprehension Test for 9th Form Students

Star of the screen Robbie Caltrane ( of Harry Porter, James Bond and Cracker fame) tells us what he loves about the Scottish city of Glasgow.

Don’t ask me to be objective about Glasgow because I can’t – I’m a Glaswegian. They have managed to save all the best Victorian buildings which is fantastic. Former poet laureate the late Sir John Betjerman always said that Glasgow was the best Victorian city in Britain.

There are a lot of things to do. If you are interested in going round art galleries we have the Burrell Collection, which is visited by more people than anywhere else in Europe. Then there is the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, which has the finest collection of Dutch masters and armour in Europe. It reopens after a massive refurbishment project early next year.

Glasgow was always known as the Dear Green Place because it has more grass per citizen than anywhere else, including London, which has Hyde Park and St. James’s Park. It is a beautiful city and a beautiful place to live. It has a very European feel about it. Twenty years ago you would be offered a cheese roll, a cheese and onion roll or a cheese and tomato roll and if you asked for mustard, you would be amused to be some sort of weirdo.

The trouble with being brought up in Glasgow is that you start taking it for granted. It’s a bit like being brought up in Prague and you spend your whole time staring up at all these buildings and the local Prague people say “ Oh yeah, it’s been here for years”. I think Glaswegian need up to be more vociferous about how beautiful Glasgow is because it is an astonishingly beautiful city and you can stand and stare at it all day along.

In today’s world people are very mobile. They can travel to and live in many different places. Some people choose small towns and villages and others only want to live in a big city.

You should write about the best place to live. The following questions will help guide your thoughts.

- What are the advantages and disadvantages of each location?

- In your opinion, where is the best place to live and why?

- Do you think people can live happily in a village if they grew up in a city and vice versa? Why or why not?