I. Reading comprehension.

Read the text and answer the questions.

In 1608 an Englishman whose name was Thomas Coryate visited Italy. He liked the country and noted down every interesting things he found. But there was one thing which he found more interesting than the others. In his diary Thomas wrote, “When the Italians eat meat, they use small forks. They do not eat with hands because, as they say, people do not always have clean hands.”

Before leaving for England, Thomas Coryate bought a few forks.

At home Thomas gave a dinner party to show the invention to his friends. When the servant brought the steak, he took out a fork and began to eat like they did in Italy.

Everybody looked at him in surprise. When he told his friends what it was, they all wanted to take a good look at the strange thing. All his friends said that the Italians were very strange people because the fork was very inconvenient.

Thomas Coryate tried to prove the opposite. He said it was not nice to eat meat with one’s fingers because they were not always clean.

Everybody got angry at that. Did Mr Coryate think that people in England always had dirty hands? And weren’t the ten fingers they had enough for them?

Thomas Coryate wanted to show that it was very easy to use the fork. But the first piece of meat he took with the fork fell to the floor. His friends began to laugh and he had to take the fork away.

Only fifty years later did people in England begin to use forks.

Why did Thomas Coryate bring forks to England?

He wanted to make his friends surprised.
He believed it was not nice to eat meat with fingers.
Forks were beautiful.
He wanted to make business selling forks.

Why did everybody look at Thomas when he began to eat like the Italians?

They believed it to be bad manners.
Nobody ate meat with hands in England.
Everybody thought it was an amazing invention.
Nobody had seen a fork before.

Coryate’s friends_______________.

Began to eat meat with forks at once
Became ashamed of eating meat with their hands
Didn’t like the forks
Didn’t pay any attention to the forks

Why did the first piece of meat fall to the floor when Thomas took it with the fork?

The fork was very inconvenient to use.
The fork was bad.
Thomas hadn’t eaten with a fork before.
The steak was too tough.

When did people in England begin to use forks?

In 1658
In 1568
In 1856
In 1685

II. Grammar.

Choose the correct item.

Dear Dan,

I’m having a great time in Scotland, (1. despite/while) the bad weather! We arrived safely in Edinburgh, (2. although/in spite of) the train was two hours late. (3. Whereas/In spite of) the fact that I miss America, I’m still enjoying myself. Tomorrow my friend is leaving for home, (4. though/ whereas) I still have three more days here. I’m going to visit Holyrood Palace, (5. despite/ even though) the fact that I’ve been there before. I’m looking forward to going home. I think I’ll miss Scotland a little, (6. in spite of/though).

Love,

Laura

III. USE OF ENGLISH (GRAMMAR/VOCABULARY)

Complete the sentences with the words income, insurance, allowance, welfare, security, benefit.

All donations are used for the ____ of disabled children.
His father gave him an _______ of 1000$ a year.
The company’s _______ officer deals with employees’ personal problems.
Do you have ______ on your household contents?
Does your insurance provide enough ______ against illness?
It’s only reasonable that people on a high _____ should pay more tax.

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