English Reading Exercises for A1 – Family

Name: Reading Exercises: 65+ Comprehension Practice
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2 exercises

Practice A1 (Beginner) English reading with "English Reading Exercises for A1 – Family". 2 comprehension exercises testing main ideas, details & inference. Free, no signup.

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1. Exercise 1

HIS FAMILY Secret
His name is famous around the world and every day millions of people use the products he made – our phones, computers, laptops, tablets and MP3 players. We all think we know his story from magazines, newspapers and the Internet, but how much do we really know about him?
Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955. His real parents were university students. They decided not to keep their son and Steve was adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs.
The Jobs family lived in Mountain View in California. This is now in Silicon Valley, where there are a lot of big technology companies. Steve’s hobby as a child was electronics. He made simple computers with his father at the family home. At high school he met Steve Wozniak. They both loved electronics and became good friends. In 1976, they started Apple Computers in Steve’s parents’ garage. They worked hard and four years later, the company was worth $1.2 billion.
Two years after that, Steve found out about his sister for the first time. After he was adopted, his real parents had another child, Mona, who became a famous writer. This amazing brother and sister were close friends until he died in 2011. People will continue to remember Steve when they see or use an Apple product.
A. Read His family secret. What is the secret? Choose one.
1)
His grandfather married four times.
2)
He had a secret sister.
3)
His father was a famous actor.
4)
He never met his brother.
B. Put the events from Steve Jobs’ life in the correct order.
a)
Steve started a new hobby: electronics.
b)
His sister Mona was born.
c)
Steve became friends with Steve Wozniak.
d)
Steve’s real parents couldn’t keep him.
e)
Steve met his sister.
f)
Clara and Paul Jobs became Steve’s parents.
g)
The two Steves became very rich.
h)
Apple Computers began.

2. Exercise 2

1)
My family lived on a farm. It was my grandfather’s farm. He and my dad worked together, and when Mum and Dad got married, Mum came to live there too. Soon they had three children – me and my brothers. It was a good place for children to grow up.
2)
Mum’s mother said it was a mistake to live with Dad’s parents. She said that Mum and Dad needed a house of their own. But Mum liked it on the farm and she and my grandmother became good friends.
3)
So my grandparents weren’t a problem. Mum was happy, and my brothers and I were happy. The problem was my dad. He said that everything was OK, but we all knew that something was wrong.
4)
One day, my dad’s cousin came to visit. He was an engineer, and he told us all about his interesting job. When he went, my dad looked even unhappier. That night, my mum asked him again what was wrong, and he told her. He hated the farm. He wanted to change his job, but he knew how important the farm was to his father. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ he said.
5)
Then my mum thought of a plan. ‘I love the farm,’ she said. ‘I can be the farmer in the family! You can get a different job, and your parents can keep the farm.’ So that’s what they did. My mum became a farmer, my grandmother looked after us, and my dad went to college and became a teacher. After that, everyone was happy!
A. Read the text. Complete each sentence with the correct paragraph number.
1)
Paragraph 5) talks about the good idea Nina’s mum had.
2)
Paragraph says that her grandmother was worried about possible problems.
3)
Paragraph talks about a visit from her dad’s cousin.
4)
Paragraph says that they knew her dad wasn’t happy.
5)
Paragraph describes where Nina lived when she was a child.
B. Read the text again and tick (✓) the best endings for the sentences.
1)
Nina’s mum went to live on the farm
a)
after Nina was born.
b)
after she got married to Nina’s dad. ✓
c)
when she was a child.
2)
Nina’s mum
a)
liked her husband’s mother.
b)
wanted a different house.
c)
didn’t like her husband’s mother.
3)
Nina knew that her dad
a)
was happy.
b)
wanted a different job.
c)
wasn’t happy.
4)
Nina’s dad was unhappy when his cousin came because
a)
he didn’t like his cousin.
b)
he felt ill.
c)
he didn’t like being a farmer.
5)
Nina’s mum
a)
wanted to work on the farm.
b)
wanted to become a teacher.
c)
didn’t want to work on the farm.
6)
In the end, Nina’s dad was happy because
a)
his cousin went away.
b)
his children liked the farm.
c)
he changed his job.
C. Write about two people in your family who are older than you: your parents, your grandparents or someone else.
• Describe their lives when you were a small child.
• Did they live near you? In the same house? Far away from you?
• What were their jobs? Did they like them? Did they change jobs?

How to Practice

1Read each question carefully
2Write your answer or select the correct option
3Click 'Show Answer' to check your work
4Review any mistakes and try similar exercises
5Move to the next exercise when ready

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