140] READING COMPREHENSION [GCSE PREVIOUS EXAMS-EGYPT 1980]

Reading Comprehension-Egypt GCSE Exams

 

ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT

Ministry of Education.

General Secondary Education Certificate
Examination, 1980

Arts Section

First Foreign Language English

For Third Year and Three Year Candidates

Second Paper                                Time Allowed: 3 Hours

 Comprehension

2. Read the following passage (text), and then choose the right answers:

When I was a student at Cairo University, I used to go back to my home village every summer. I spent most of my time with Hassan, my old school-fellow. Hassan and I very often held with the villagers interesting conversations which mostly turned round their extraordinary experiences. Most of them said that they saw ghosts in one shape or another. I made fun of all their stories and tried to convince them that they were products of their imagination. But Hassan seemed to be on their side. One day, in a firm and clear voice, he asked me, ‘Don't you really believe in ghosts?’ When I assured him that I did not, he amazed me by telling me that he had seen one himself. He said that while he was walking along the Nile bank in a lonely place outside the village, he suddenly saw a figure in the shape of a girl appear out of nowhere. She was all covered in white loose clothes that reached down to her feet. Even her head was covered with a thick white cloth. She held out her hand as if she wanted to shake hands with him. He ran as fast as he could until he arrived home safely. He was so sure the girl was not human that I did not even try to convince him that he could be mistaken. A week later it happened that he and I went together to visit one of his relatives. When the relative's daughter came in with the coffee, she smiled at Hassan and said, ‘Why did you run away when I offered to shake hands with you by the river? Hassan opened his mouth in amazement and, ashamed of himself, he said. ‘It couldn't have been you. You appeared so suddenly and you were so covered up that I thought you were a ghost. The girl laughed and said that she was sitting behind a big stone on the bank when she saw him and that she preferred to dress that way when she went to the river to avoid the effect of the sun and the wind.

1. The writer spent his summer holidays in……………..

A.  Cairo.

B.  The country.

C.  a crowded city.

2.   The writer………………

A.  did not believe in ghosts

B.  believed in ghosts.

C.  convinced the villagers that ghosts existed.

3.   When they were young, the writer and Hassan went together to……..

A.  school

B.  a relative's house.

C.  Cairo University.

4.   In the writer's opinion, the villagers………….

A.  saw ghosts.

B.  imagined they saw ghosts.

C.  had extraordinary experiences with ghosts.

5.   Hassan……………………..

A.  sat beside the villagers.

B.  believed what the writer said.

C.  believed what the villagers said.

6.   The writer………………..

A.  knew that Hassan believed in ghosts.

B.  expected Hassan to believe in ghosts.

C.  was astonished that Hassan believed in ghosts.

7.   The writer…………………..

A.  could convince Hassan that what he saw was not a ghost.

B.  tried to convince Hassan that what he saw was not a ghost.

C.  did not try to convince Hassan that what he saw was not a ghost.

8.   Hassan spoke to the writer in a firm and clear voice because he……

A.  wanted to tell him the story.

B.  wanted to make a strong impression on him.

C.  had the same ideas about ghosts as the writer.

9.   When the girl saw Hassan, she came out from…………..

A.  nowhere

B.  behind a stone.

C.  below the bank.

10.       They went to the relative's house to…….

A.  visit him

B.  see his daughter.

C.  tell him about the ghost.

11.       Hassan ran home because……………..

A.  he was frightened.

B.  he did not know who the girl was.

C.  he did not want to shake hands with the girl.

12.       The ghosts the villagers saw were……………

A.  all dressed in white.

B.  of the same shape.

C.  of different shapes.

13.       At the river bank, Hassan actually saw………………..

A.  his relative's daughter.

B.  a ghost.

C.  she was sitting behind a stone.

14.       The girl offered to shake hands with Hassan because……………..

A.  she appeared suddenly to him.

B.  she wanted to frighten him.

C.  she knew him.

15.       Hassan could not see the girl's face because……………

A.  she was a ghost.

B.  there was a thick cloth on her face.

C.  she was sitting behind a stone.

16.       The relative's daughter laughed because Hassan…………

A.  seemed intelligent

B.  thought she was a ghost.

C.  refused to shake hands with her

17.       Hassan had not seen the girl before she appeared to him because…

A.  all her body was covered.

B.  her face was covered.

C.  she was hidden by a big stone.

18.       Hassan was ashamed of himself when he realized that…….

A.  what the writer said about ghosts was true.

B.  his relative's daughter was a ghost.

C.  the girl was not covered up.

19.       The girl wore a long white dress…………….

A.  to appear as a ghost.

B.  because village girls wore such.

C.  because the wind was strong by the river.

20.       The girl covered her head with a thick white cloth………………

A.  because she sat by the river.

B.  to avoid being seen by men.

C.  to avoid having her face burnt by the sun.