1.1.2 Reading

Exercise 1

Read the following text and answer the questions.

Good morning, I would like to introduce myself. My name is David Johnson and it is nice to meet you. I come from near Cambridge. I live in a small village that is close to the city of Cambridge. I am 20 years old. I am studying history at university and work in a shop at the weekends. I have one brother and one sister. They are both older than me. My sister is 26 years old and my brother is 22 years old. They have both graduated from university and work in London.

Hi, my name is Lucy Spalding and it is great to meet you all. I am really excited to see so many people. I am 24 years old and am an only child. I come from Newcastle, which is in the North of England and a long way away from here. My mother is a teacher and my father works in an office. I finished a degree in Media Studies last year and am unemployed at the moment. I want to move to London to find work sometime.

Hello, it is nice to see you all. I’m Elaine. I come from Cardiff and it is great to be here to meet you all in Reading. I am 42 years old. I am married to my husband, Richard, and have two children. One son called Andrew who is 18 years old and one daughter who is 16 years old and called Tracy. I work in a supermarket and my husband is a police office. My son wants to study computing at university while my daughter wants to become a singer.

Good morning. It is a pleasure to meet you. Please let me introduce myself to you. I am Hamid and I come from Pakistan. My home town is Islamabad, the capital city. I am 19 years old and have come to the UK to study English. I will stay here for one year. I want to learn a lot. My family is big. I have 3 brothers and 1 sister. I am the oldest and my sister, the youngest, is 11 years old. My father works as a government official and my mother is a housewife. I want to learn English so I can get a good job. I do not work as I spend all my time studying.

1) Where is David Johnson from?

2) What is the name of Tracy’s mother?

3) How many brothers does Lucy Spalding have?

4) How many siblings does Hamid have?

5) Elaine’s children want to do what?

Exercise 2

Read the following self-introductions. Answer the questions and follow the instructions that follow.

1. With which of these characters do you think you have more in common? Why?
Indicate who and then explain giving at least a couple of reasons while introducing yourself.

Ex: I have more in common with Jake the dog because I am also 28 years old, and I also have a little brother. I like playing videogames too. Etc.

2. Now indicate the opposite, which of the characters do you think is the one you have less in common with? Why? Follow the same pattern as before. Be as honest as you’d like. There are no wrong answers, just talk about yourself.