Vocabulary and Grammar

You are going to read a short story. For statements 1-7, choose A, B, C or D to complete each

Statement correctly.

Feel the Beat

‘You definitely need money so don’t even think about saying no.’ Andy had phoned me first thing in the morning, dragging me out of a deep sleep. ‘You do want a job, don’t you?’ I was about to mumble something that may have been agreement, but lacking the courage to make the leap into day, I told him to call me back in fifteen minutes. That gave me enough time to get out of bed, make a seriously strong coffee and kick-start my slow-to wake system.

Still half-asleep in the kitchen, I thought over what he’d said. I’d been out of work far too long and was beginning to doubt I’d ever find suitable work. Since leaving school, I’d suffered a string of dead-end jobs that barely paid the bus fare. I’d been a meat packer, a shelf stacker, a mail sorter and a fish feeder. The meat went off, the shelves fell down, the mail got lost and the fish died. I sat down. The coffee was slowly working and I could feel the day coming into delayed focus. The phone rang again. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘What have you got for me?’ Andy paused before answering, ‘Well I know you’re mad about music so how do you fancy being a DJ for a night?’ I didn’t hesitate. ‘Are you serious? That’s my dream job. I was born to be a DJ.’ Andy gave me some details and just before he rang off I asked where the job was and what time I needed to be there. ‘Saint Owen’s, Dewsbury Street, six o’clock,’ and he put the phone down. It took me until early afternoon to realise that Saint Owen’s was the local school for the deaf. My heart sank.

Arriving in a thin trickle of rain that matched my mood, I had the caretaker open up for me. ‘It’s all in the hall, mate,’ and he vaguely indicated somewhere along the corridor. I found the hall and, switching on the lights, saw the prehistoric deck and speakers that I’d be using. With a heavy sigh, I began to acquaint myself with the stone age tools of my new trade. It wasn’t long before I was joined by a short lady with a bad wig who I immediately identified as the teacher in charge.

She introduced herself as Mrs Biggs and I nodded absent-mindedly as I worked up the courage L 21

to ask something that had been on my mind. ‘Can I ask you something? How…’. But before the question had time to trip off my lips, she caught it. ‘You want to know how we can have a disco for the deaf, eh? Well, young man, they might not be able to hear the music, but they can certainly feel it!’ And she sauntered off. I didn’t have time to work out what she meant because my audience was making a leisurely entrance. They stood around the edges of the hall, taking off drizzle-drenched raincoats, shaking rain-spattered umbrellas and looking my way with cautious expectation. I felt that I had to do something, so I started the music and prayed for the best.

Five tracks later and I was panicking. The flow of pupils and parents into the hall had become a flood and I was the one in danger of drowning. The dance floor, however, remained stubbornly empty and I was almost grateful when I saw Mrs Biggs come bounding across the deserted dance floor with a cry of, ‘No, no, no!’ I could see that my career as a DJ was about to come to a very public end.

‘Do it like this,’ she said, wrenching the volume to maximum. ‘If it’s too low, it’s no good. If it’s loud, the kids can feel the music through the floor. Look.’ The music was bouncing off the walls and the glass in the windows was shaking in sympathy. A pulse of solid sound rippled across the floor. I could feel the pounding beat through the floor, up my legs, in my stomach and, to my immense relief, the kids were actually moving away from the wall to the rhythm of the music.

 

 

1 The writer tells Andy to phone back later because

 

A he had only just woken up.

B he was preparing breakfast.

C he wanted to go back to bed.

D he was annoyed at being woken up.

 

2 In the second paragraph, the writer is concerned about

 

A not having money for public transport.

B not finding work that matched his abilities.

C not knowing what job Andy was offering.

D not having worked since leaving school.

 

3 When the writer heard Andy’s offer, he

 

A believed that Andy was joking.

B thought that he was dreaming.

C was pleasantly surprised.

D had not thought of becoming a DJ.

 

4 The writer thought that the equipment was

 

A old-fashioned. C complicated.

B in need of repair. D impractical.

 

5 The writer uses the term ‘absent-mindedly’ in line 21 to show that

 

A he was trying to remember something.

B he had forgotten what he wanted to ask.

C he had not been listening to the woman.

D he was thinking of something else.

 

6 When the people first entered the hall, they were

 

A not sure what to expect.

B relieved to be out of the rain.

C taking their time to settle down.

D not expecting to be entertained.

 

7 The writer was relieved to see Mrs Biggs because

A she wanted him to stop playing music.

B she was encouraging the young people to dance.

C he thought there were too many people in the hall.

D he was uncomfortable because nobody was dancing.

Vocabulary and Grammar

I. Paraphrase the sentences using the words in bold:

1. Bill earns more money than Ann. as

2. We finished in half the time she took. twice

3. This is the fastest she can run. any

4. He didn’t expect it to cost so much. paid

5. You should drive slowly. The road might be slippery. in case

6. He didn’t comment on her new hairstyle. He was afraid of upsetting her. so as not to

II. Fill in the correct adjective:

impatient inconsiderate bad- tempered unhelpful outgoing reliable bossy

1. They are very _____________ and enjoy socializing with other couples.

2. She is so ______________ in the morning when she hasn’t slept enough.

3. It was __________ of the boy not to offer the old lady his seat on the bus.

4. He is very __________ and always tells his friends what to do.

5. The customer was very __________ and told the cashier that he was too slow.

 

III. Fill in the columns in the table with the suitable nouns: