Reading comprehension (Test 8)

Multiple-choice quiz; Answer the following questions according to the text.

(Note: The text below will disappear once you start answering the questions; so, understand the text fully before answering. Also, the technique in reading comprehension tests is to read the questions first before reading the text.)

On the day of my first piano recital, I became more and more nervous. To help me calm down, my piano teacher told me to place several cabbages in the room where I practiced. I was so eager to get over my nerves that I was willing to try anything. For the next few hours, I played to an audience of cabbages. When the time of the recital finally arrived, I was still terribly nervous. My hands felt like ice. When I finally walked across the stage, I looked out into the dark audience. I could not see anyone! All those people out there could just as easily have been cabbages. As I sat down to play, my hands relaxed. Before I knew it, I had played all my pieces without a mistake. For the first time, the cabbage heads applauded.

On the day of the recital the music teacher _____.
1. advised the writer to put cabbages in the room where he practiced and play for them.
2. warned the writer not to look at the audience.
3. had no patience with the writer because he was nervous too.
4. felt nearly as nervous about the recital as the writer did.
5. couldn’t think of a way of helping the writer to stay calm.
The writer stopped feeling nervous _____.
1. because he had practiced a great deal
2. when the audience began to applaud
3. before he walked onto the stage
4. as soon as the concert was over
5. when he found he couldn’t see the audience.
In the passage it is explained that _____.
1. the writer was always nervous on the day of a concert
2. the writer played to some cabbages because there was no real audience
3. the writer finally began to relax just before he began his recital
4. the room was so cold the writer’s hands felt like ice
5. the writer always practiced in a room where there were cabbages

Exercises created by Atty. Gerry T. Galacio based on copyrighted materials available on the Internet. You can use these exercises only on a personal, educational, and non-commercial basis; you must not upload these exercises and resources to an intranet, to a website, or to the cloud. For comments, questions, or corrections, email gtgalacio@yahoo.com

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