English Language Entrance Examination

Critical Reading

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions (1-7) that follow. You will be given 15 minutes to read the passage to understanding in this first question. For questions 2-7, only 3 minutes will be given and the same passage provided alongside for reference purpose. Ensure you choose the answer that best reflects what is stated or implied in the passage.

READING PASSAGE

As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.

“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.

My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.

“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”

At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.

QUESTION

The comparison that the narrator makes between the streets and his mother’s eyes in the first paragraph suggests that he finds the streets on that day to be _________.

• Passive

• Comforting

• Exciting

• Indifferent

• Dark

READING PASSAGE

As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.

“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.

My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.

“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”

At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there

QUESTION

As used in the second paragraph, “doggedly” means __________.

• persistently

• loudly

• tiredly

• fearfully

• dreamily

READING PASSAGE

As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.

“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.

My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.

“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”

At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.

QUESTION

The narrator decides not to tell his mother his plans to run away because she would

• be very angry with him

• ignore them

• ruin them

• tell Sue

• make him do gardening

READING PASSAGE

As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.

“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.

My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.

“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”

At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.

QUESTION

The description of Sue’s “black eyes snapping over the fights” in the books that their mother would read to them implies that Sue is _______.

• afraid

• mean

• sad

• unintelligent

• feisty

READING PASSAGE

As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.

“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.

My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.

“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”

At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.

QUESTION

The narrator compares himself to Sue in order to highlight his __________.

• sensitive nature

• youth

• indifference

• easygoing disposition

• sneakiness

READING PASSAGE

As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.

“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.

My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.

“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”

At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.

QUESTION

The narrator’s feelings about the “gory pirates” can best be described as ________.

• angry but hopeful

• scared but intrigued

• thoughtful but careless

• wary but disinterested

• all of the above

READING PASSAGE

As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.

“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.

My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.

“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”

At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.

QUESTION

The passage suggests that the narrator’s father’s occupation is connected in some way with the ________.

• church

• police

• sea

• government

• education system

Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.

Franca’s mother prepares very (palatable) dishes.

• Expensive

• Rich

• Tasty

• Colourful

• Interesting

Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.

Sindi was (brought up) by a very strict woman.

• saved

• reared

• born

• taught

• beaten

Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.

Janet promised to (attend to) her mother-in-law who was ill.

• look after

• look at

• look into

• look for

• look on