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English
Comprehe
nsion

By

M. Abdel Salam Hassan
Mohamed Abdel Aatty

Revised by

M. M. Enani
Department of English
Faculty of Arts
Cairo University

١١٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I
٢٠٠٥

(١)
Revised edition

Copyrights reserved
٢٠٠٥
Eng. Comp. primer.(I)
Deposit No: ١١٠٦٨
٢٠٠٥

I.S.B.N: ٩٧٧-٤٠٣-٠٢١-
English
Comprehension Primer
Level I
By

M. Abdel Salam Hassan

Mohamed Abdel Aatty

Revised by

M. M. Enani
Department of English
Faculty of Arts
Cairo University

٢٠٠٥
٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Revised edition

Copy rights
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٣

CONTENTS
PREFACE ................................................................................................................. ٥
(١) FICTIONAL STORY-TELLING ...................................................................١٣
(٢) LIBRARIES AND THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION.....................................١٦
(٣) POLLUTION ....................................................................................................١٩
(٤) AN ENGLISH PROFESSOR CONFESSES ..................................................٢٢
(٥) SCIENTISTS DILEMMA ...............................................................................٢٥
(٦) A WORK OF ART ...........................................................................................٢٧
PART II...................................................................................................................٣١
(١) WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ..........................................................................٣٢
(٢) THE HISTORY OF POLLUTION.................................................................٣٦
(٣) CAROL..............................................................................................................٤٠
(٤) GENERAL BEHAVIOUR...............................................................................٤٤
(٥) BREAD AS A SYMBOL..................................................................................٤٧
(٦) VITAMIN MAGIC.........................................................................................٥٠
(٧) WOMEN'S WORK IN HISTORY..................................................................٥٣
(٨) A POSITIVE APPROACH TO YOUR CAREER ........................................٥٦
(٩) THE ARAB UNIVERSITY .............................................................................٦٠
(١٠)THE SCIENTIST’S DUTY ............................................................................٦٤
(١١)THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS...................................................................٦٧
(١٢) WHERE THERE' S A WILL....................................................................٧٠
(١٣) MARRIED BLISS ..........................................................................................٧٤
(١٤) SMALL WORLD ...........................................................................................٧٧
(١٥) MERMAIDS ...................................................................................................٨٠
(١٦) CATS ...............................................................................................................٨٣
(١٧) THE ADVENTURES OF A SHILLING ......................................................٨٥
٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

PART I ....................................................................................................................٨٨
ANSWER KEYS.....................................................................................................٨٨
PART II...................................................................................................................٩٨
ANSWER KEYS.....................................................................................................٩٨
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٥

PREFACE
For you as a student of translation, mastering
reading skills is essential. According to most theories of
translation, getting the main ideas of the source text
(written in English in this case) is the first step towards
good translation, or rather, translation in general.This
book, therefore, is an attempt at helping you as a student
of translation to acquire the main skills of reading any
text regardless of its subject; hence is the variation in the
topics of the reading passages. The questions at the end
of each passage are divided into three parts according to
the different skills they focus on.
The first part aims at enabling you to master the
general reading skills which are:
-Skimming:
Skimming is getting the main idea of the text and
the sub ideas in its divisions (paragraphs, stanzas....etc.).
-Scanning:
Scanning is quick reading to locate specific
information, which again helps the students to focus on
specific parts of the text.
-Inference:
The objective of this skill is to use the schemata of
the students (the information they already know) and to
train them to ad between the lines.
Another important objective of this skill is to alert
the students to the connection of each sentence to the
others and to the referents of different pronouns. In the
adventures of "Shilling", for instance, "and turning the
face" ١٫١٢ "the face" refers to what? Right, it refers to the
face of the shilling. Again, in the third paragraph ١٢ of
٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

"The History of Pollution" you should ask yourself,
"What does 'if in "destroys it" refer to?" Yes, of course, it
refers to dirt.
(٢) The vocabulary item mainly aims at teaching
the students to guess the meaning of vocabulary from the
context without the need to look up every single word in
the dictionary. You are, however, encouraged to look up
some of the words in a good dictionary to see that words
usually have more than one meaning and that the context
is the only factor that determines the meaning aimed at by
the writer. This, in turn, is a very important piece of
information for the student of translation who often
knows only one meaning for each word and who usually
translates accordingly. Learning new vocabulary is again
essential for whoever is interested in translation.
(٣) The objective of the third part, the discussion
part, is to train you to read critically - a skill needed by
all students of all disciplines. You should also be
encouraged to use the same vocabulary you learn from
the passage with the aim of increasing the English
vocabulary you are going to use in your future
translations.
The course is limited to one university term, but, if
adequately mastered, the technique of dealing with
original English texts should help the students to advance
to a more complex (and richer) English texts.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٧

How to Study
١. Read the whole passage with the aim of getting the
main idea, the tone or the attitude of the writer.
٢. Read each division of the passage once more and
try to grasp the main idea of division.
٣. Try to connect each sentence to the one coming
before and the one coming after it. The referent of
each pronoun will help you achieve this.
٤. Keep a separate workbook for this subject in which
you answer the question and write your remarks.
٥. Start, then, answering the questions of part one in the
order you have in your book. The answer of the first
question tests your ability to skim, i.e. get the main
idea of the whole passage or of a whole paragraph.
The other questions test your understanding of certain
details in the passage.
٦. Move to the second part of the questions where your
understanding of vocabulary in context as well as your
ability to guess meanings of words are tested.
٧. Try answering the questions of the third part in a
written form, using the new vocabulary you learnt
from the passage and your general knowledge.
٨. Check your answers with the brief answers in the
appendix.

N.B. All correct answers are accepted, regardless of the
phrasing; the answer given in the answers’ key is just a
clue to the right answer You can use other words to
express the same idea.
٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Ex. For the first question in the first part of "William
Shakespeare" the answer can be:
The biography of William Shakespeare. Or
New information on Shakespeare's life. Or
What we know and do not know about the life of
William Shakespeare.
Needless to say, any of the above answers is a
correct one and deserves the full mark for this question.
In the second part as well, you can have more than
one correct answer, especially if you have only a word
and you are asked to its meaning.
Ex. In "The Adventures of a Shilling" 'refined' can
mean: polished, cleaned, ...etc. 'Merrily' can mean:
happily, cheerfully, joyfully, ..etc.
N.B. The word you choose should be of the same part of
speech (verb, noun, adjective, ...etc., and of the same
tense, if it is a verb.
N.B. There are no answers to part III because answers may
'greatly differ according to each's opinions and general
information.
(٩)Use the video tape for more elaboration on the way to
study and how to answer the questions.
(١٠) In order to assess your effort, calculate the percentage
of the correct answers to all answers, if you get more than
٩٠٪, you are excellent. ٥٠-٧٠٪ is good, but you can do
better. Work harder. If less than ٥٠٪, something has gone
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٩

wrong. Go back to the passage and the questions and try
to find out where the problem is.
(١١) Try to attend the bi-monthly sessions regularly for
more information on the course.
The Study Group Meetings
Bi-monthly meetings with your teachers and colleagues
will be held on Fridays. The sessions are meant to be regular
classes where lessons are explained. The main objectives of the
sessions are:
١. For you to ask about parts of the passage you cannot
understand on your own.
٢. To ask the teacher to check your answers with you,
especially
the ones you are not sure about.
٣. To ask the teacher to help you find the reason for any
problems you face during the course.
٤. To meet some of your colleagues and exchange ideas
with them about your progress, trying to benefit from
their experiences and to offer them yours.
١٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I
English Comprehension Primer Level I

Part I

١١
١٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this book, learners should be able to learn
how to use vocabulary, main ideas, and supporting details
to help increase reading comprehension.
The student will also be able to:
١. Describe vocabulary, main ideas, and supporting
details and their relationship to overall comprehension.
٢. Explain how vocabulary, main ideas and supporting
details can aid in reading comprehension.
٣. Demonstrate reading comprehension skills.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

١٣

(١) Fictional story-telling
Human beings expend great amounts of time and
resources on creating and experiencing art and entertainment
— music, dancing, and static visual arts. Of all of the arts,
however, it is the category of fictional story-telling that
across the globe today is the most intense focus of human
addiction. A recent government study in Britain showed that
if you add together annual attendances in plays and cinema
with hours watching television drama, the average Briton
spends roughly ٦٪ of all waking life watching dramatic
performances. And that figure does not even include books
and magazines: further vast numbers of hours spent reading
short stories, as well as so-called serious fictions, old and
new.
The origins of this obsession with comic and dramatic
fictions are lost in remote prehistory, as lost as the origins of
language itself. But like language, we know the obsession with
fiction is universal: stories told, read, and dramatically or
poetically performed are independently invented in all known
cultures, literate or not, having advanced technologies or not.
Wherever printing arrives, it is used to reproduce fictions.
Whenever television appears in the world, soap operas soon
show up on the schedule. Both the forms that fiction takes and
the ideas, types of characters, and kinds of conflict that make
up its content can be shown to be strikingly similar across
cultures. It has specialist practitioners — novelists, playwrights,
actors — and is governed both informally with stylistic
conventions and sometimes formally — for example, by
censorship laws. A love of fiction is as universal as governance,
marriage and jokes.
١٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

The universal fascination with fictions is a curious thing. If
human beings were attracted only to true narratives, factual
reports that describe the real world, the attraction could be
attributed to utility. Was that the case, there would be no
“problem of fiction,” because there would be no fiction: the only
alternatives to desirable truth would be unintentional mistakes or
intentional lies. Now as it happens, this speculation does not
accord with facts: the human reaction to fictions, at least when
they are properly understood to be fictions, is not aversion, but
runs anywhere from boredom to amusement to intense pleasure.
From “The Pleasures of Fiction”
Philosophy and Literature ٢٨ (٢٠٠٤): ٤٥٣-٦٦.By Denis Dutton
English Comprehension Primer Level I

١٥

Reading Skills:
١.
٢.
٣.
٤.
٥.

What is the main idea in the first paragraph?
What does love of fiction mean to the author?
Why is the obsession with fiction universal?
What would life be like without fiction?
How does fiction affect human life?

Vocabulary:
Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used
in the passage and use them in sentences of your own.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

The visual arts
Annual
Schedule
fiction
Speculation
addiction
alternatives

Discussion:
Do you enjoy reading fictions? Give reasons for your answer.
١٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(٢) Libraries and the digital revolution
I HAVE a golden library memory. I am sitting under a
cherry tree in the tiny central courtyard of the Cambridge
University Library, a book in one hand and an almond slice
in the other. . Behind the walls on every side of the
courtyard, the books stretch away in compact ranks hundred
of yards deep, the shelves extending at the rate of two miles a
year. Perhaps that was the moment I fell in love with
libraries. Or perhaps it was earlier, growing up in Scotland,
when the mobile library would lurch up the road with stocks
of books, to be giggled over when the driver-librarian was
having his cup of tea.
Or perhaps the moment came earlier yet, when my
father took me into the bowels of the Bodleian in Oxford and
I inhaled, for the first time, that intoxicating mixture of
vellum, paper and dust.
I have spent a substantial portion of my life since in
libraries, and I still enter them with a mixture of excitement and
awe. I am not alone in this. Love for libraries is as old as
writing itself, for a library is more to our culture than a
collection of books: it is a temple, a symbol of power, the
hushed core of civilisation, the citadel of memory, with its own
mystique, social and sensual as well as intellectual. Even
people who never enter libraries instinctively understand their
symbolic power.
But now a revolution, widely compared to the invention
of printing itself, is taking place among the stacks, and the
library will never be the same again. This week Google
announced plans to digitise fifteen million books from five
English Comprehension Primer Level I

١٧

great libraries, including the Bodleian. Google’s founders,
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, have declared their intention to
collect all information online, an ambition that puts them up
there with the Ptolomies, founders of the great library at
Alexandria. What was once megalomaniac bibliomania is now
a technological certainty.
Some fear that this total library, vast and invisible, could
finally destroy traditional libraries, which will become mere
warehouses for the physical objects, empty of people and life.
The advantages for researchers of a single scholarly online
catalogue are incalculable, but will we bother to browse the
shelves when we can merely summon up any book in the world
with the push of a button? Are the days of the library as a social
organism over?
From “Paradise is paper, vellum and dust” by Ben Macintyre
١٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills:
١. When and why the author did fall in love with
libraries?
٢. Why love for libraries is as old as writing itself?
٣. What kind of revolution the author is afraid of?
٤. What will be the shape of a future library as the
author sees it?
٥. How far did the library contribute to the social life
of the author?
Vocabulary:
Explain the meaning of the following words as they are
used in the passage and use them in sentences of your
own.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

lurch
giggle
Substantial
Intellect
Intellectual
Digitize
Megalomania

Discussion:
What kind of libraries do you prefer? Give reasons for
your answer.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

١٩

(٣) Pollution
Pollution can be local or widespread. Substances dumped
into a river will often end up in the sea. The biggest pollution
problem is global warming. This happens when greenhouse
gases, such as CO٢ are released into the atmosphere, trapping
heat and causing the planet to warm up. Since species are
adapted to particular climates, when the Earth warms up they
have to move to keep comfortable. This can be difficult if natural
habitats are isolated by human settlements and agriculture.
Chemical pollutants have been responsible for
affecting the reproductive organs of fish, alligators and polar
bears, preventing them from producing babies. Chemical
pollution in the environment also affects humans - ٤٦ US
states have issued warnings against eating local fish because
of dioxin contamination, and in Europe, human breast milk
passes on more dioxin to our babies than is legally allowed
for cow's milk. Despite this, the amount of pesticide sprayed
on our crops around the world has increased ٢٦ times in the
last ٥٠ years.
Species living in water are often most strongly affected
because water spreads pollution easier than land, and because
we often dump our pollution into water. Global warming will
affect every species on Earth to some extent, and although
some species will thrive in warmer climates, many will not.
Coral reefs have already been very hard hit by climate
change, and polar bears have received the double-whammy
of climate change and chemical pollution.
٢٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Most human activities produce some waste products, but
it is important to make sure that we have as little pollution as
possible. Many people are switching to 'clean technology'. That
means having the same benefits from our modern life-style
without the pollution. Electric cars, environmentally sensitive
washing powders and solar-powered energy are examples. Less
pollution is not only good for wildlife and nature - human
health benefits from less pollution as well. That means lower
medical bills, and a better quality of life.
From BBC World Service: Science & Nature
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٢١

Reading Skills:
١.
٢.
٣.
٤.

What are the causes of climate change?
What is the "greenhouse effect"? Explain.
How does chemical pollution affect human beings?
What is the impact of chemical pollutants on the world
of nature?
٥. Give three examples for 'clean technology'
equipments.
Vocabulary:
Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used
in the passage and use them in sentences of your own.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Glasshouse
Climate
reproduce
Reproduction
Environment
Contaminate
Contamination
A coral reef

Discussion
How far do you consider the issue of pollution serious in
Egypt?
٢٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(٤) An English professor confesses
By THOMAS H. BENTON

I'm an English professor, so of course I enjoy reading.
But looking back on my childhood, I am certain that my
interest in literature was stimulated not so much by reading
books myself as by listening to recordings of other people
reading them.
Neither of my parents had a college education, but
they took me to the library long before I could read. There
was always a stack of children's books in the house, and my
mother must have read hundreds of them to me.
No doubt, the indestructible phonograph I received for
Christmas around age ٥ partly liberated my mother from my
constant requests for her to read. Together we discovered the
local library's collection of records of famous actors reading
poems, plays, and short stories.
I particularly remember Basil Rathbone's readings of
Poe and Hawthorne As I approached ١٠, I discovered the
tragedies of Shakespeare with actors like Paul Scofield and
Claire Bloom. I remember recovering from the flu while
listening again and again to Anthony Quayle reading
Conrad's Heart of Darkness. To this day I cherish an abridged
version of Whitman's Leaves of Grass with each syllable
enunciated and expanded to the limits of possible meaning by
the booming voice of Orson Welles.
Perhaps there is something psychologically reassuring
about listening to someone read a story. Hardly a day has
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٢٣

passed in the last ٣٠ years in which I have not heard a
spoken-word recording of one kind or another. I go to sleep
every night with the soothing sounds of a recorded book.
I got my first cassette tape recorder when I was
about ١٢, and I immediately started making copies of the
records from the library with a tiny microphone propped
up in front of my phonograph's three-inch speaker. I used
to listen to my collection of cassettes over and over again,
until I had abridged versions of many classic works
nearly memorized.
Of course I had no idea how one went about becoming
a professional narrator. I chose my undergraduate college
largely because it was close to home and it offered me a
scholarship. I was too shy to consider acting in the theatre
department's stage performances, and there was no program
in broadcasting.
٢٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills:
١. What are the different stimulants that made the
author interested in literature?
٢. What was the role played by his mother during his
childhood?
٣. Name five men of letters mentioned in the passage?
٤. What does he usually do before going to bed?
٥. Has he planned to become a professor of English?
Vocabulary:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Stimulate
Stimulant
Phonograph
Psychology
A memorize
bridge

Explain the meaning of the underlined words as they are
used in the passage and use them in sentences of your
own.
Discussion
Do you enjoy listening to Arabic literature?
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٢٥

(٥) Scientists Dilemma
Scientists and non-scientists alike are divided over the
question of where an individual scientist’s greatest responsibility
ought to lie. This question arises because of the special
knowledge that scientists possess in this modern age and the
destructive uses to which it may be put. Scientists have recently
been able to place in the hands of the rulers of a few nations the
kinds of weapons that have the capability to destroy the whole of
mankind. Thus, some scientists feel caught in a conflict between
loyalty to their national governments and their humanitarian
feelings.
One view is that scientists have a moral responsibility
to all of mankind not to destroy it. By placing nuclear
weapons in the hands of politicians, all of mankind is
threatened with destruction in a nuclear war. This is not
mention the potential threat of the other areas such as
bacteriological and chemical weaponry. Some of those who
support this view feel that scientists should refuse outright to
work on weapons projects for their governments.
On the other hand, others argue that the scientist’s
responsibility is to his nation. It is his state that gives him his
opportunities for wealth, owner, and all the other benefits of
life. For this he owes the state something in return, namely,
his services in defending it. If a scientist refuses to help his
state develop weapons, then it may be attacked by another a
stronger state, and the lives and freedom of its citizens would
be threatened. Thus, it is clear that the scientist faces a true
dilemma.
٢٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills:
١. Give reasons for a scientist’s obligation towards his
country?
٢. Explain the moral aspect of the e scientist’s
conflict.
٣. Where, do you think the scientist’s loyalty should
lie?
٤. What is the relationship between the scientist and
politicians, as presented in the passage?
٥. Explain the destructive aspects of science?
Vocabulary:
Explain the meaning of the following words as used in
the passage and use them in sentences of your own:
.
• Humanitarian
• Bacteriology
• Weaponry
• Threat
• Dilemma
Discussion:
To what extent is this topic relevant to the current world
political situation?
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٢٧

(٦) A work of art
Art is a wide field containing many types. Some of the
main categories are literature, music and painting. Each of
these categories can be divided into sub-categories. Literature,
for example, consists of prose, poetry and drama. However,
all works of art, no matter which category they belong to,
have something in common. They all have form and content.
Moreover, any artist, no matter what type of art he creates,
must think about both of these concepts when he works to
create his art.
Form means the shape or the outward physical
appearance of something. This shape is made from the
materials the artist uses. He puts these materials together
in some way. For example, in literature, the materials are
words. They can be put together in the form of a poem, a
play, a novel or a short story. In painting, the colours
used by the artist are his materials, which he puts into the
picture in a balanced and pleasing way. In music, the
material to work with is the notes. These can be arranged
to form a symphony which is a long piece for a full-sized
orchestra, or perhaps in a quartet. All in all, form is like a
container; it gives a work of art a recognizable shape or
appearance.
Content is the noun which comes from the verb
“contain”. Content means the thing that is contained or
held in the form. The content is the subject of the work of
٢٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

art, or what the work of art is about. In a novel, the story
itself, with all its characters and events, is the content. In
a picture of a countryside scene, the scene is the content.
In a song, the words and the melody are the content. It
can be seen now that all works of art have something in
common. They all consist of both form and content.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills:
١.
٢.
٣.
٤.
٥.

Mention some of the types of art?
Describe the meaning of form. Give examples.
What is form in painting and music?
What is meant by content? Illustrate.
What are the two basic requirements of a good
work of art?

Vocabulary:
Use the following words in sentences of your own:
•
•
•
•
•

Category
Common
Orchestrate
Container
Character

Discussion
Examine form and content in a good Arabic song, poem
or a short story of your own choice.

٢٩
٣٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I
English Comprehension Primer Level I

Part II

٣١
٣٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(١) WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Most people have heard of Shakespeare and probably
know something of the plays that he wrote. However, not
everybody knows much about the life of this remarkable
man, except perhaps that he was born in the market town of
Stratford-upon-Avon and that he married a woman called
Anne Hathaway. We know nothing of his school life. We do
not know, for example, how long it lasted, but we presume
that he attended the local grammar school, where the
principal subject taught was Latin.
Nothing certain is known of what he did between the
time he left school and his departure for London. According
to a local legend, he was beaten and even put in prison for
stealing rabbits and deer from the estate of a neighbouring
landowner, Sir Thomas Lucy; ft is said that because of this
he was forced to run away from his native place. A different
legend says that he was apprenticed to a Stratford butcher,
but did not like the life and for this reason decided to leave
Stratford.
Whatever caused him to leave the town of his birth, the
world can be grateful that he did so. What is certain is that he
set his fool on the road to fame when he arrived in London. It
is said that at first he was without money or friends there, but
that he earned a little by taking care of the horses of the
gentlemen who attended the plays at the theatre. In time, as
he became a familiar figure to the actors in the theatre, they
stopped and spoke to him. They found his conversation so
brilliant that finally he was invited to join their company.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٣٣

Earlier than ١٥٩٢ there is no mention of Shakespeare
either as actor, or as playwright, and the name of the theatre
he worked in is not known. However, by this date he had
become one of the three leading members of a company of
actors called the Lord Chamberlain's men. This company was
under the protection of the Lord Chamberlain, a powerful
nobleman and an official at the Queen's Court. The company
travelled about the country, giving performances in different
towns, and also performed plays at Court.
From what we know of his later life, it is clear that.
Shakespeare's connection with the theatre made him a wealthy
man, since his plays attracted large audiences and he shared in
the profits. Towards the end of the sixteenth century he bought
a large property in Stratford. It is not certain when he went back
there to live, but it was probably around ١٦٠٣. He is not
recorded as having acted in any play after that date, though he
continued writing. No less than eleven of his plays were
produced during the next ten years. These include the great
tragedies Othello, Macbeth and King Lear. His last work was
The Tempest, but he may have shared in the writing of the
historical play King Henry VIII.
Even after his retirement he frequently visited London.
Since the road between Stratford and London passed through
Oxford, he would rest there at the home of his friend John
Davenant, who had a deep respect and affection for the
playwright.
Shakespeare died in ١٦١٦. Some years earlier he chose
a gravestone, under which he was to be buried. He had a
curse engraved on this stone which threatened to bring
٣٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

misfortune to anyone who might remove his body from his
grave.
It seems strange that he should have had this fear. He
must have known how greatly he was respected, even In his
lifetime, for the genius that he showed in his plays and
poems. It seems impossible that his remains could have been
disturbed after his death.
William Shakespeare
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٣٥

Reading Skills
١. What is the main idea in the first two paragraphs?
٢. What new information about Shakespeare do you
get from this passage?
٣. Why should the world be grateful for Shakespeare's
leaving his birth-place?
٤. How did Shakespeare become a rich man?
٥. Why does the writer think of the curse on
Shakespeare's grave as strange?
Vocabulary
Find words in the passage to complete the following sentences:
١. He is a doctor, I …..
٢. There was no ….of him after his death although he
was very famous during his lifetime.
٣. I liked the … of King Lear by the Royal Company.
٤. The student showed a ….that astonished his teachers.
٥. After his …, my grandfather went back to his birthplace.
Discussion
١. What was the piece of information that astonished you
the most in this passage? Give reasons for your answer.
٢. Do you know of any secrets related to any of the celebrities
of Egypt?
٣٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(٢) THE HISTORY OF POLLUTION
Washington, - Everyone talks about water pollution, but
no one seems to know who started it. The history of modern
water pollution in the United States goes back to February ٢٨,
١٩٣١, when Mrs. Frieda Murphy leaned over her back-yard
fence and said to Mrs. Sophie Holbrook, "You call those shirts
white?" Mrs. Holbrook blushed and said, "They're as white as I
can get them with this ordinary laundry soap."
“What you should use is this Formula Cake Soap which
guarantees against the dull wash-tub grey look that the family
wash always had."
Sceptical but adventurous, Mrs. Holbrook tried the
Formula soap, which happily did take the grey out of her
husband's shirts. But what Mrs. Holbrook didn't know was
that after the water was drained from the tub, it emptied
into the sewer, which emptied into the Blue Sky River,
killing two fish.
Three years later, Mrs. Murphy leaned over the fence
and said to Mrs. Holbrook, "It's none of my business, but are
you still using that Formula Cake Soap?"
. " Yes, I am."
- " No wonder your husband's shirts always look dirty
around the collar."
" I can never get the dirt off the collar," Mrs.
Holbrook cried.
"You can, if you use Klonk Soap Chips. They were
designed especially for collar dirt. Here, you can have my
box."
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٣٧

Mrs. Holbrook used the Klonk and the next time
her husband put on his shirt he remarked, "How on earth
did you get the collar clean?"
" That is my secret," said Mrs. Holbrook, and then
she whispered to no one in particular, " and Mrs. Murphy's.”
But unbeknownst to Mrs. Holbrook, the water from
Klonk Soap Chips prevented any fish downstream from
hatching eggs. Four years later, Mrs. Murphy was hanging up
her shirts and Mrs. Holbrook said, “How did you ever get
your chuffs so white, surely not with Klonk?"
" Not ordinary Kionk," Mrs. Murphy said. " But I
did with Super Fortified Klonk with the XLP additive.
You see, Super Fortified Klonk attacks dirt and destroys
it. Here, try some on your shirts."
Mrs. Holbrook did and discovered her husband's
shirt cuffs turned pure white. What she could not possibly
know was that it turned the river water pure white as
well. The years went by, and poor Mrs. Murphy died. Her
daughter-in-law took over the house. Mrs. Holbrook
noticed how the daughter-in-law used to sing as she hung
up her wash. “Why do you always sing?" asked Mrs.
Holbrook.
“Because of this Dynamite detergent, it literally
dynamites my clothes clean. Here try it, and then let's go
to a movie, since Dynamite detergent takes the drudgery
out of the washing."
٣٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Six months later the Blue Sky River was declared a
health hazard.
Finally last year Mrs. Murphy's daughter-in-law called
over to Mrs. Holbrook, “Have you heard about Zap, the
enzyme giant killer?"
A few days later, as Mr. Holbrook was walking
home from work, he accidentally fell into the Blue Sky
River, swallowed a mouthful of water and died
immediately.
At the funeral service the minister said, "You can
say anything you want about Holbrook, but no one can
deny he had the cleanest shirts in town."
Art Buchwald
International Herald Tribune
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٣٩

Reading Skills
١. What is the tone of the writer of this article (serioushumorous - sarcastic - etc.)?
٢. What do you infer from the text about the attitude
of the writer towards modern scientific inventions?
٣. According to the passage, what is the influence of
advertisements on people?
٤. What is the role played by the community in kilting
Holbrook?
Vocabulary
What are the words used to show that each detergent is an
improvement on its predecessor?
Discussion
Does your country suffer from water- pollution? How and
why?
٤٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(٣) CAROL
By the time Carol was twenty-six she was making a lot of
money for a girl her age, and she had quit her job to write full
time [...] All her friends from high school had married and she
had been -c bridesmaid several times. Her college friends had
married too, but she did not see them anymore because the ones
she liked did not live in New York. She now had her name on
magazine covers occasionally, and she had a certain following
and received fan letters, some of them from men proposing
marriage. She wrote a piece on lonely people who wrote love
letters to strangers. It was the first piece she had written with
heart, and afterwards she had to have her telephone number
unlisted.
Her mother and her mother's friends viewed her rising
career with dismay.Her mother said,"Boys don't want to marry
girls who are too independent".
Because everyone she met at parties talked about their
analysis, Carol treated herself to a year of analysis to find out
why; he had never married. [..] The doctor was just a man to her,
she couldn’t think of him as a doctor or an authority, although
once 'hen she had a sore throat she asked him to look at it since
she as paying him anyway, and he prescribed some pills. She was
aware that he thought she was funny and interesting because he
laughed a lot at the things she said. She also became aware after a
few months that he didn't think she was sick, or at least what he
considered her sickness was that she did not fit into the role he
saw for her as a young woman.
. “You are lonely," he said. " I would like to see you
married. You would be a wonderful mother."
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٤١

“But I really don't feel I'm ready for that. There are so
many things I haven't done yet."
“You’re lucky you can write. You can stay at home with
the children and write."
“Only if they're zombies," she said.
“You could marry a rich man. You could have a nurse
for the children.'
“Then why have they? If I had kids I'd want to enjoy
being with them."
-“Your parents must have made you feel very unwanted."
He said sadly.
-“Unwanted? They never let me out of their sight."
“You must understand you are rejecting being feminine.'
“If being feminine means washing some guy's socks, then
how come every Chinese laundryman down on the corner
doesn't feel his masculinity threatened?”
“You retreat into words," he said.
“That’s how I express myself."“You could express yourself as a woman if you had a man
to take care of you."
-“Then how come I don't fall in love?" Carol asked. [...]
“I’d get married if I could find somebody I really loved."
“There have been cases where love came afterward."“You
mean a marriage of convenience?" She said horrified.
“It has worked."
Not for me, she thought. "Do you think I'm really
neurotic?' she asked.
“The only area in which you function perfectly is your
work. In the human area you need more work here."
٤٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

She could see herself trotting obediently off to the analyst;
twice a week until she got married, and then still more work" at
the analyst until she produced two children, a number the doctor
found ideal for mental health, and then more sessions of "work"
until she was safely living in the suburbs. It could take years!
RonaJaffe: The Other Woman
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٤٣

Reading Skills
١. What is the attitude of the writer towards public opinion?
٢. Why. did Carol's mother and her friends view Carol's
rising career with dismay?
٣. What is meant by Carol's utterance, "If being feminine,
threatened” (lines ٤٨-٥٠)?
٤. Why is the word “work” in the last paragraph, put
between inverted commas?
٥. What is the role played by the psycho-analyst in Carol's
life?
Vocabulary
What is the meaning of the following words in their
context:
•
•
•
•
•

Zombies
Neurotic
Authority
Prescribed
trotting off

Discussion
Which side do you take: Carol's or the society’s? Give
reasons for your answer
٤٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(٤) GENERAL BEHAVIOUR
One's standard of behaviour, in private as well as in
public, should invariably be of a high order. It should have its
foundation in the personal quality of being courteously disposed,
and not merely in the expedient implied in the saying that "good
manners pay".
The saying is nearly always true of course, but on those
rare occasions when it is not, happiness or at least serenity is best
served by the exercise of gentleness and tact.
The following notes, all of them somewhat obvious,
are included here for the sake of completeness –
Any service or courtesy rendered by others at any time
should be acknowledged by a smile and a thank you. It is better
to say ''thank you" too often than too seldom.
Loud conversation and, as far as possible, loud laughter
should be avoided.
A smile is always better than a frown; a pleasant
expression always better than a disagreeable one.
If one is ill or indisposed, the fact should be kept to
oneself, except for purposes of medical attention. The fact of a
recent indisposition may be mentioned briefly to account for, say,
non-acceptance of an invitation; the details of the indisposition
should never be described.
All 'disturbing happenings should be faced calmly, and
one should never lose one's temper. Unwitting discourtesy should
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٤٥

be ignored; deliberate discourtesy should be dealt with by present
silence and future avoidance of the offender - any sharp reaction
or attempt at rebuke would only result in a scene.
Care should be taken never to show resentment or
disgust, or to say or do anything which experience suggests
may cause discomfort to or hurt anyone else, present or
absent.
While as a general Principle one should always
speak the truth, the practice is of little value in social life
if it causes embarrassment or unhappiness. Silence is
usually to be preferred, but where even silence would be
upsetting, then the “white lie " must be spoken.
One's private concerns are never mentioned in general
company.
One does not talk overmuch about oneself; and not at
all but one's achievements unless specifically invited.
Arlton Wallace
The Pocket Book of Etiquette
٤٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills
١. What is meant by the saying, “good manners pay “?
٢. Why is it a rule of good behaviour to keep one's illnesses to
oneself ?
٣. What is the difference between 'unwitting discourtesy'
and 'deliberate discourtesy'?
٤. How can an absent person be hurt by something said
during his absence?
٥. What is a 'white lie’?
Vocabulary:
From the passage, pick out five words which start with a
negative prefix.
Discussion:
Do you believe that ‘a white lie’ can sometimes be better
than silence? Explain?
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٤٧

(٥) BREAD AS A SYMBOL
One reason why bread attracts to itself so much
comment and controversy is simply that it is much more
than a food. Bread is so much a part of everyday living
that it has become a symbol of life. For instance, it is
used as a religious symbol, and as early as pre-Christian
days unleavened bread had considerable religious
significance. The Greeks had a goddess of bread grains
in whose honour they built a magnificent temple: the
Egyptians used bread as a sacrifice and cast it upon the
waters of the Nile to honour their gods. The Jews
attached immense religious and symbolic importance to
bread and this importance grew rather than diminished
with the emergence of Christianity. Today, as al the birth
of the Christian religion, bread is used to symbolize
spiritual food in the most solemn of Christian rituals.
Moslems, toe, revere bread as the staff of life' and indeed
the Arabic word for bread means 'life'.
In addition to its importance in religion, bread is
also an important symbol in everyday living, and many
customs and superstitions have grown up around it.
Today, no Harvest Festival would be complete without a
loaf of bread in the place of honour symbolizing our
dependence on the fruits of the harvest, but in earlier
days bread was honoured not just as a symbol but having
important magical properties. When a field of wheat had
been harvested the last sheaf of wheat was carefully
preserved and used to make a special loaf of bread which
was believed to provide protection against ill-health and
bad fortune to all who ate it. A piece of the same loaf, if
placed on the field from which the wheat had come, was
٤٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

thought to ensure a plentiful harvest in the following
year.
In the Middle Ages bread was thought to have
remarkable medicinal powers. The Jews considered bread
to have such potent properties that they believed that a
loaf of bread and a bottle of water hung up in a house
would protect not only the occupants, but the rest of the
community, from cholera. In Algeria a paste of bread,
pepper and garlic was applied to the face as a cure for
neuralgia and headaches.
In Britain the remedy used
for headaches sounds more attractive even if no more
likely to be effective; it involved eating toasted bread
which had been dipped in cider.
Religion, superstition, taboos and medicine; bread
is so much a part of life that it has intimate connections
with all of these Because of this, people's attitude to
bread is often significant of their general attitude to life.
Allan G.Cameron
Food: Facts and Fallacies
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٤٩

Reading Skills
١. What is bread a symbol of, according to the
passage?
٢. Why do Arabs use the same word for bread and
life?
٣. What are the diseases that are thought to be cured
by bread?
٤. Why do people preserve the last sheaf of wheat in a
harvest?
Vocabulary
Try to figure out the meaning of these words using other
information from the reading or your own experience.
•
•
•
•
•

magnificent
rituals
plentiful
ensure
remedy

Discussion
What are the superstitions connected with bread in your
culture?
٥٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(٦) VITAMIN MAGIC
Today, more than half a century after their
discovery, vitamins are still thought of as being
mysterious or even magical by many people. How many
people have knowingly handled, tasted or seen vitamins?
Most people talk confidently about carbohydrates, fats
and proteins but falter when it comes to vitamins.Why
should this be so? The reason is almost certainly that
carbohydrates, fats and proteins are commonplace and
form the major part of what we eat; moreover we have a
good idea what they are like. We know that sugar is pure
carbohydrate and that cereal foods are mainly
carbohydrates; we know that lard is pure fat and that
margarine and butter are nearly so; we also know that
meat, fish and cheese are good sources of protein, even if
we are not exactly sure what the protein itself is like,
But when it comes to vitamins we only know that food
contains them in minute quantities and we cannot
visualize them.
Although something of an aura of mystery and
magic still surrounds them, vitamins have recently been
the subject of so much publicity - not least in the form of
advertising - that nearly everyone is at least conscious of
their existence. This has been proved by a recent national
survey sponsored by the UK Margarine and Shortening
Manufacturers' Association. The survey, which involved
nearly one thousand adults, was carried out in an attempt
to discover how much people know about the food they
eat and also their attitude to it. The report of the survey,
referred to in what follows as the '١٩٦٩ national survey',
shows that only ١ percent of those questioned had never
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٥١

heard of vitamins. While this result may give pleasure to
both educationalists and advertisers of vitamins, it should
not be allowed to obscure the fact that although almost
everyone has heard of vitamins; not many people know
much about them. As one of the people questioned in the
survey commented, 'You see all these vitamins in babies'
food and you think it must be good. You don't know what
it is of course'.
There was a time-before the discovery of vitaminswhen many thousands of people died each year because
their food lacked the vitamins needed to keep them
healthy. Nowadays-although many people in underdeveloped countries still suffer from diseases caused by a
deficiency of vitamins in their diet-members of our
affluent society are more likely to suffer from a surfeit of
vitamins than from a lack of them. In countries such as
America and Britain, where vast sums are expended in
promoting vitamin preparations, millions of vitamin
tablets and tons of special vitamin foods are consumed
each year by people who not only have no need of them,
but who are more likely to suffer ill-effects from overconsumption than enjoy the benefits promised by the
promoters.
Allan G. Cameron
Food: Facts and Fallacies
٥٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills
١. What is the main idea in the first paragraph?
٢. Why do people believe they know carbohydrates
and proteins?
٣. What is magical about vitamins?
٤. Can abundance be a disadvantage?
Write a sentence from which this idea can be
inferred.
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks with one of the following words: falter
- promoter - affluent - surfeit – nutritional
١. She proved herself to be a good …. Of certain
items: the things she advertised sold a lot.
٢. In … circumstances, they usually travel abroad.
٣. Being unprepared, he …when he received the exam
paper.
٤. Some …facts will certainly help people to lead a
happy, healthy life.
٥. We had a …of food after the party.
Discussion
Do you think that people in developed countries are
healthier than people in underdeveloped ones?
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٥٣

(٧) WOMEN'S WORK IN HISTORY
In ١٨٥٠, ٣٠ per cent of the workforce was female,
but the idea was growing, among men at least, that in a
perfect world, women should not need to earn their bread
at all. Most women's jot those days were very low-grade,
of course. In ١٨٦١, four-fifths women who were working
were employed in domestic service the textile industry.
In ١٨٨٤, Factory Acts, trying to be humanitarian,
excluded women from working night shifts, and limited
their working hoi twelve a day. Those women working in
tedious menial because they came from poor families,
used to sit at their loom; dream that they would entrap
some rich man and never ha١ work again. Few did, of
course.
But at the same time, some of the more middleclass women were realizing that work of the right sort
could actually enhance their lives and give them greater
purpose and challenge. There always been women who
rebelled against the status quo of day, but somehow
nothing very much happened to improve female career
conditions until going quietly mad at home decided
campaign for the right to education and a profession, as
w money of their own
A few of the more far-sighted realized that
marriage, children and a life of choosing dresses and
visiting other ladies in similar materially comfortable
circumstances, need not be all that life could offer. Why,
they asked, could a man become a lawyer, a minister of
religion, go to public school and receive a university
٥٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

education when all these were denied to girls? Surely it
couldn't be that girls were less intelligent than boys?
That had been the assumption, of course. But as
soon as it was put to the test, everybody began to realize
that girls had brains, too. The trouble was that, as soon as
they were allowed to take exams, they disturbed all the
males by coming top. This would never do at all. The
only way to make sure women stayed in their proper,
subordinate place was to exclude them from the
profession, by law.
So this was done. Women were not allowed to
enter medical schools or the universities. They were not
allowed to practise as barristers or solicitors, even if they
passed all their law exams. They were barred from taking
Civil Service exams. But one by one, as pressure from
women built up, and citadels were stormed, these laws
were relaxed. Gradually, by sheer campaigning on their
own behalf, women succeeded in gaining admittance to
universities, obtaining degrees and entering the
professions.
Liz Hodgkinson,
The Working Woman’s Guide
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٥٥

Reading Skills:
١. Why did women wish to stop working in the
eighties of the ١٩th century?
٢. What does the word 'far-sighted' in line ٢٩ show
about the writer's attitude towards women's work?
٣. According to the writer, why were women not
allowed to enter universities?
٤. What does 'citadels were stormed' in line ٤٩-٥٠
refer to?
٥. What is the attitude of the writer towards males in
the fifth paragraph?
Vocabulary:
Put the following words into sentences to reveal their
meaning:
• according to the passage:
• workforce
• humanitarian
• looms
• campaign
• admittance
Discussion
Do you agree with the writer that working women were
far-sighted? Give reasons for your answer.
٥٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(٨) A POSITIVE APPROACH TO YOUR CAREER
The first step on the road to a good career is not to
see any work you do, however humble it may seem, as
'just a job'. This little word 'just' is one that hampers and
handicaps women. How many women do you meet who
inform you that they are 'just' a housewife, or 'just' a
secretary, or 'just' the office dogs body, or that they 'just'
have a part-time job?
At the very outset, you must set yourself goals.
This is or prime importance, other wise you drift on, not
knowing where you are supposed to be going.
Psychologist Tom Crabtree, who writes in Cosmopolitan
magazine, has this valuable advice on goal setting: First
of all, he says, the goals must be realistic. It's no use
saying: I want to be rich and famous. You have to know
how you are going to achieve this and, more importantly,
why you want to be rich and famous.
If setting goals is a new concept for you, here are Tom
Crabtree's tips:
١. First of all, forget the past. Instead of trying to be
somebody else, start being yourself.
٢. Make a fist of the goals you would like to achieve,
and set about achieving them.
٣. Don't make promises to yourself that you don't
intend to keep
٤. Concentrate on your own goal. There will be plenty
of people who try to persuade you to help them
reach their goals. (It's very common for a wife to
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٥٧

help her husband get to the top, be a good hostess
for him, make a nice home and so on, but rare, the
other way round.)
٥. Don't compare goals -- just get there. Let others
climb Everest, and you choose your own hills to
climb.
٦. Start with reachable goals, and then work hard
towards more ambitious ones.
You may, for some reason, have missed out on an
academic school career, and left school at ١٥ or ١٦.
Perhaps you hated school, hated work, or hated your
teachers. It is a fact that girls do less well in subjects
when the teacher is popular. Anyway, for whatever
reason, you have left school without that clutch of ٠ and A- levels that would seem to open up career doors. Is
all lost ? Not a bit of it. You can still set yourself goals
and, one by one, begin to achieve them.
It is true that nobody will give you a good job, just
like that, when you are very young, have no experience
of the working world, and have few paper qualifications
to offer either. But you can still see the eventual job you
do get as an important step along the way. I feel it is far
better to get a job -- any job - than going straight onto
the dole and getting out of bed at noon each day. That
way of life rapidly leads to depression which, in turn, can
lead to anger and frustration. There is no need at all for
anybody to be unemployed. There is always something
you can do, from taking next door's dog for a walk, to
getting on with your novel, to typing out people's theses.
There can never be any excuse at all for sitting around all
day doing nothing.
٥٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

For most school leavers, however, the first hurdle
to overcome is to find that very first job. These days it
can take some doing but, with the right attitude, you can
do it. Whenever you go for a job you are liable to find
yourself in competition with many other young people,
and it can be very easy to lose heart and feel you are
rejected before you even start. You must never - ever give up, though, and, however hopeless it seems,
continue to write letters, apply for jobs and seek out
opportunities.
Liz Hodgkinson
The Working Woman's Guide
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٥٩

Reading Skills
١. What is the main idea in the first paragraph?
٢. Why are the words 'how' in Iine١٨ and 'why' in line
١٩ written in italics?
٣. What do you understand from Crabtree's words,
“Let others climb Everest and you choose your
own hills to climb?”
٤. According to the text, what should the person who
left school at the age of ١٥ or ١٦ do ?
٥. Summarize the ideas in the last paragraph.
Vocabulary
Try to guess the meaning of the following words from
context:
• handicap
• valuable
• popular
• school leavers
• frustration
Discussion
Do you find Crabtree's advice applicable to our society?
Give reasons for your answer.
٦٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(٩) THE ARAB UNIVERSITY
Three important institutions were given by the
Middle Ages to he modern world - hospitals,
observatories and universities, it has been long accepted
in the West that the first two of these came from he
Arabian civilisation of Islam.
Although the Greeks invented a number of
astronomical instruments, the observatory came into
existence under the Islamic empire. The first permanent
observatory was founded by the Caliph Ma'mun (reigned
AD ٨١٣-٨٣٣) in Baghdad about the year ٨٣٠.
The Arabs made many contributions to medicine in
the Middle Ages, but the most important was the
establishment of numerous hospitals. Although they did
not actually invent the hospital, they devoted a great deal
to the organisation, financing and upkeep of hospitals.
Now these are characteristics of hospitals ill over the
world.
There is also evidence to show that the third great
medieval institution, the university, was to a large extent
an invention of Islamic civilisation. Western historians
have, however, been reluctant to recognise the
similarities between Muslim and Christian centuries of
higher education in the Middle Ages. They have been
even more reluctant to accept that these similarities are
due to the influence of Muslim learning on Christian
learning, even when they admitted that many of the
university textbooks used in the Middle Ages were
translated from Arabic.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٦١

Among the authors of scientific, medical and
philosophical textbooks were Muslim scholars such as
Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd). This
suggests that the European universities which used such
textbooks must have had very important links with the
civilisation which produced them. Thus, we must look
for the origins of the medieval university in Islamic
culture.
To begin with, it is accepted that there were
Muslim centres of higher learning well over a century
before the earliest ones in Europe. The mosque-college
of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez (Morocco) was founded in AD
٨٥٩, that of Cordoba in the first half of the tenth century,
the mosque-college of al-Azhar in Cairo in Ad ٩٧٢, and
the 'House of Wisdom' (Dar al-Hikmah) in the same city
in the eleventh century.
In Europe the appearance of the first centres of
higher learning was much later - the universities of
Bologna, Paris and Montpellier were certainly not in
existence earlier than the twelfth century.
When these early universities appeared in Christian
Europe they had many features in common with their
Islamic counterparts. The students were generally
organised in 'nations'-that is, they Were grouped for
purposes of accommodation for students from Morocco,
from Upper Egypt, from Iraq and so on; at the University
of Paris the student body included the 'English nation' ,
the 'Flemish nation١, and others.Traces of this
geographical organisation of Students remains in the
names of some of the Oxford colleges, such as Lincoln,
Worcester, Hertford and so on.
٦٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Another similarity was the distinctive form of
dress, the gown, worn by university teachers for lectures
and other official functions. The wearing of loose gowns
of a very similar style to those used in Europe was a
feature in the great medicine centres of Islamic learning.
There is also an interesting resemblance between
the names of the Christian and Muslim institutions of
higher learning. The European term for a university,
stadium generale, looks very much like a translation of
the Arabic term majlis aamm, which means a 'general
gathering for study'.
Again, the tradition of the wandering scholar was
known in the lands of Islam long before it became a
feature of scholastic life in the Christian world. Muslim
students felt that no one professor had a (command of a
whole field of study, and so moved from one centre of
learning to another throughout their academic career.
R. Y. Ebied and M.J.L. Young
"The Arab University’
(The Times Higher Education Supplement)
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٦٣

Reading Skills
١. What is the attitude of the writers towards Islamic
Civilization?
٢. What are Western historians willing to admit is
taken from Islamic civilization?
٣. What is meant by organizing the students in
'nations'?
٤. What do you know about Avicenna and Averroes
from the passage?
٥. What is a 'wandering Scholar'?
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks with words from the passage:
١. This dress is too …I need to change it with tighter
one.
٢. The …in this hotel is very comfortable.
٣. The …life in Oxford is rich.
٤. The…between Ayman and his father is astonishing.
٥. He seemed … to help, so we had to depend on
ourselves.
Discussion
The role played by Islamic civilization in building
Western civilization is a bit exaggerated in this passage.
٦٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(١٠)THE SCIENTIST’S DUTY
It is impossible in the modern world for a man of
science to say with any honesty, " My business is to
provide knowledge, and what use is made of the
knowledge is not my responsibility." The knowledge that
a man of science provides may fall into the hands of evil
men. Institutions that follow completely unworthy aims
may seize the scientist's findings. I do not suggest that a
man of science, or even a large number of men of
science, can altogether prevent this. They can, however,
make it easy to misuse their discoveries
There is another way in which men of science can
attempt to provide leadership. They can emphasise the
value of those branches of science which have beneficial
uses rather than harmful ones. Imagine what might be
done if the money at present spent on arms and weapons
were spent on increasing the world's food supply and
reducing the pressure of population. In ten or twenty
years poverty and hunger which now afflict more than
half the grid's population could be ended. But at present
almost all the governments of great states consider that it
is better to spend money on killing foreigners than on
keeping their own people alive. Ways of improving
people's living conditions can best be worked out by en
of science; and, since they can do this work better than
others, it is their duty to do it. As the world becomes
more unified by technology, life in an ivory tower
becomes increasingly impossible. The scientist can no
longer cut himself off from the rest of human activity.
Furthermore, the man who resists the powerful
organisations which control most of our lives may find
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٦٥

himself no longer in the ivory tower, with a wide view
over a sunny landscape, but in the dark dungeon upon
which the ivory tower was erected. It demands courage to
risk imprisonment. But it may be necessary to risk
imprisonment, to show courage, in order to prevent
disaster. Everybody knows that the modern world
depends upon scientists. If men of science protest loudly
enough, they must be listened to. We scientists have it in
our power to make a better world; and, therefore, with
whatever difficulty and risk, we must make it.
ERTRAND RUSSEL Portraits from Memory (Allen & Unwin,
١٩٥٦)
٦٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills
١. What is the main idea in the passage?
٢. What is the outcome of the scientist's saying, "
My business is to provide knowledge, and what use
is made of
the Knowledge is not my
responsibility”?
٣. What is meant by 'ivory tower' in this context ?
٤. According to the writer, what is the role scientists
can play to improve world conditions?
Vocabulary
Put the following words into sentences to reveal their
meaning according to the passage:
•
•
•
•
•

leadership
afflict
imprisonment
landscape
pressure

Discussion
Do you agree with the writer that a scientist has a moral
responsibility as well as a scientific one ? Give reasons
for your answer.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٦٧

(١١)THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS
King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal
sport, and one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the
court. The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in
their pride, and 'amongst them sat the Count de Lorge,
with one for whom he sighed:
And truly’t was a gallant thing to see that crowning
show, Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal
beasts below.
Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing
jaws; they bit, they glared, gave blows like beams,
a wind went with their paws; With wallowing
might and stifled roar they rolled on one another.
Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a
thunderous smother; the bloody foam above the
bars came whisking through the air; Said Francis
then, " Faith, gentlemen, we' re better here than
there!"
De Lorge's love o ' erheard the King, a beauteous,
lively dame, with smiling lips, and sharp bright
eyes, which always seemed the same:
She thought, The Count, my lover, is brave as
brave can be; He surely would do wondrous things
to show his love of me! King, ladies, lovers, all
look on; the occasion is divine,
I’ll drop my glove to prove his love; great glory
will be mine!' She dropped her glove to prove his
love: then looked at him and smiled.
٦٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the
lions wild!
The leap was quick: return was quick; he has
regained his place; then threw the glove, but not
with love, right in the lady's face!
By Heaven!' said Francis, 'rightly done!' and he
rose from where he sat
‘No love,’,' quoth he, 'but vanity, sets love a task
like that!'
JAMES HENRY LEIGH HUNT
THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٦٩

Reading Skills
١. In your own words, describe the scene in the first
stanza.
٢. What. does the word 'there' in the last line of the
second stanza refer to ?
٣. What does the poet mean by "which always seemed
the same" in the second line of the third stanza?
٤. Is there any change of attitude on the part of Count
de Lorge in the course of the poem?
If yes,
describe it.
٥. Describe Francis's attitude towards the act of
Count de Lorge's beloved.
Vocabulary
Try to figure out the meaning of the following words
from the context:
• horrid
• wallowing
• smother
• wondrous
• vanity
Discussion
Do you approve of what Count de Lorge did?
reasons to your answer.

Give
٧٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(١٢) WHERE THERE' S A WILL
....there’s a sobbing relation
All the family was gathered
To hear poor Grandad's will,
Fred was watching Alice,
And she was watching Bill,
He was watching Arthur,
Everywhere he went,
But specially at the cupboard,
Where Grandad kept the rent.
Outside on the patio,
The sliding door was closed.
And sitting in a chair
Was nephew John, his face composed.
He said ' Me dear old Grandad,
I shall never see you more'
And his sheets of calculations
Were spread across the floor.
Downstairs in the kitchen,
Sister Alice blew her nose,
Saying 'He always was my favourite,
You knew that I suppose ?
You couldn't have found a nicer man,
I١ ve never come round much more often,
If I' d lived just that bit nearer.'
Cousin Arthur sat alone,
His eyes were wild and rash,
And desperately he tried to think
Where old folks hid their cash.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

He'd thought about the armchair.
And the mattress on the bed,
And he' d left his car at home,
And booked a Pickfords van instead.
Then there were the bedroom floorboards,
He'd studied every crack,
And twice, while dusting the commode,
He'd rolled the carpet b,
But he knew the others watched him,
'You scavengers' he cursed,
And every night he prayed,
'Don't let the others find it first'.
The day that Grandad's will was read,
It came up bright and clear,
The solicitor looked round,
And said 'Now then, are we all here?'
Someone shouted 'Yes'
And someone else unscrewed his pen,
And someone sat upon his coat,
So he could not stand up again.
He carefully unfolded it
And wonderingly said,
"This is the shortest will
I ever will have read".
He rolled a fag and carefully
Laid in a filter tip,
While beads of sweat they gathered
On Cousin Arthur's lip.

٧١
٧٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

It says: 'Me dear relations,
hank you all for being so kind,
And out beside the lily pond
You will surely find,
The half a million pounds
With which I stuffed me garden gnome.
Which i leave, with great affection,
To the Battersea Dogs 'Home'

Pam ayres
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٧٣

Reading Skills
١. What is the significance of the subtitle?
٢. Is Sister Alice sincere in her sadness? Give reasons
for your answer.
٣. Why did Cousin Arthur leave his car and book a
van instead?
٤. Why did beads of sweat gather on Cousin Arthur's
lip in lines ٦٤-٥?
٥. What shows that Grandad knew his family better
than they knew him?
Vocabulary
Find synonyms of the following words according to their
meaning in the passage:
•
•
•
•
•

favourite
desperately
wonderingly
beads
affection

Discussion
Is the scene of the gathered family in the poem a
common one?
Now would the members of the family act if
Grandad were a poor man?
٧٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(١٣) MARRIED BLISS
I had wanted order in my life, and order was what I
was getting. Each morning we got up at seven. While Ira
did fifteen minutes of chin-ups and push-ups and running
in place, while he showered and shaved, I cooked his
breakfast: two fried eggs over easy, two strips of bacon,
and two slices of buttered toast with jam, orange juice,
and coffee. He proudly remarked that he had eaten the
exact same breakfast every morning for fifteen years. At
٧٫٣٠ he was out the door and into his red fire chief's car
on his way to his office on Main Street. Here he spent the
morning selling either Sno Cats or Honda trail bikes,
depending on the season. He also investigated insurance
claims and discussed convertible versus renewable
policies....
As the bell on the steeple of the Community
Church chimed twelve, he walked in the door for his
lunch of Campbell's tomato-rice soup and a bologna and
cheese sandwich on Wonder Bread and coffee. At ١٢٫٥٠
he returned to his office, for more discussions.
While Ira was assisting the males of Stark's Bog
with their financial planning, I ironed his shirts. He liked
them ironed a certain way, folded just so. I patted them
fondly as I folded. I scrubbed his toilet bowl. I waxed his
floors. Ira's ancestral manse was so vast and rambling
that there was no end to the housework. As soon as I had
dusted and polished my way through the antique pine
furniture to the end of the ell, it was time to return to the
formal parlour and start all over again. In short, my
married lot was harsh and tediously predictable. I loved
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٧٥

it. I adored knowing exactly what I would be doing for
the entire upcoming month. I wallowed in the luxurious
knowledge of where Ira was at each moment, whom he
was with, what my assignments were. I had tasted
freedom at the Free Farm. It had killed Eddie, had nearly
killed us all. I preferred my new life in this antique
stone cage.
As the church bell chimed five, Ira would stride in.
We ate dinner at six on the nose-steak or chops or a
roast, potatoes, bread, pie and coffee. After dinner, Ira
would take a cigar from a silver box on the sideboard. He
would pour a short glass of brandy. Witt penknife he
would carefully cut off the round tip of the cigar. Then
he would place the other rounded end in his mouth and
suck and twirl it for a while. Finally, he would dip this
end in the brandy and then fit on a silver cigar holder.
Lighting it, he would draw, deeply and settle back in his
rush-seated armchair. 'Are you happy with me, Ginny?'
he'd ask anxiously each evening. 'Please tell me if you're
not. How will I know if you don't?' 'Ira, I couldn’t be
happier,’ I'd reply. 'I love our life together.' And I did.
'So do I, he’d assure me. 'It' s so wonderful having
you here. I've been so lonely.' At seven thirty Ira left for
his meeting for that evening. (I envied him all his
meetings, begrudged them to him: he would have so
many entries in his obituary, and I would have none.)
(Lisa Alther, Kinflicks)
٧٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills
١. What is the significance of the title, "Married
Bliss"?
٢. What is the speaker's attitude towards life in the
"antique store Cage"?
٣. What does keeping regular hours for all his
activities show about Ira's character ?
٤. What do you think of the kind of life described in
the passage? Give reasons for your answer.
Vocabulary
Put the following words in new contexts to show a
similar meaning to that in the passage:
•
•
•
•
•

Tediously
Predictable
Luxurious
begrudged
Obituary

Discussion
Do you believe that marriage is bliss? Give reasons for
your answer.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٧٧

(١٤) SMALL WORLD
The job of check-in clerk at Heathrow, or any other
airport, is not a glamorous or particularly satisfying one.
The world is mechanical and repetitive: inspect the
ticket, check it against the passenger list on the computer
terminal, tear out the ticket from its folder, check the
baggage weight, tag the baggage, ask Smoking or Nonsmoking, allocate a seat, issue a boarding pass. The only
variation in this routine occurs when things go wrong when fights are delayed or cancelled because of bad
weather or strikes or technical hitches. Then the checker
bears the full brunt of the customers' fury without being
able to do anything to alleviate it. For the most part the
job is a dull and monotonous one, processing people who
are impatient to conclude their brief business with you,
and whom you will probably never see again.
Cheryl Summerbee, a checker for British Airways
in Terminal One at Heathrow, did not, however,
complain of boredom. Though the passengers who passed
through her hands took little notice of her, she took a lot
of notice of them. She injected interest into her job by
making quick assessments of their characters and treating
them accordingly. Those who were rude or arrogant or
otherwise unpleasant she put in uncomfortable or
inconvenient seats, next to the toilets, or beside mothers
with crying babies. Those who made a favourable
impression she rewarded with the best seats, and
whenever possible placed them next to some attractive
member of the opposite sex. In Cheryl Summer bee ' s
hands, seats allocation was a fine art, as delicate and
complex an operation as arranging blind dates between
٧٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

clients of a lonely hearts agency. It gave her a glow of
satisfaction, a pleasant sense of doing good by stealth, to
reflect on how many love affairs , and even marriages ,
she must have instigated between people who imagined
they had met by pure chance.
Cheryl Summerbee was very much in favour of
love. She firmly believed that it made the world go
round, and did her bit to keep the globe spinning on its
axis by her discreet management of the seating on British
Airways Tridents.
(From Small World by David Lodge)
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٧٩

Reading Skills
١. What is the topic of the first paragraph?
٢. Why is it boring to work as a check-in clerk at an
airport?
٣. Is Cheryl Summerbee a romantic person? Give
reasons for your answer.
٤. What is Summerbee’s way of punishing rude and
arrogant passengers?
Vocabulary
Try to guess the meaning of the following phrases from
the context:
•
•
•
•
•

tag the baggage
technical hitches
take a lot of notice
blind dates
lonely hearts agency

Discussion
What do you prefer: dealing with an ordinary check-in
clerk or with somebody who is similar to Cheryl
Summerbee? Give reasons for your answer.
٨٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I

(١٥) MERMAIDS
In folklore mermaids are either found maritime
regions, particularly along the Scottish coasts, or in pools
and rivers in the heart of England. Those from inland
waters are undoubtedly lost gods or goddesses of the
Celtic or earlier religion. Mermaids from the sea were
common on the northern shores of Scotland and stories
about them probably originated with the observation of
seals. They coveted the love of men and seduced them
with offers of treasure from sunken ships. They would
then lull their captive to sleep with sweet singing and
hold him confined in sea caves for ever. Their reason for
wanting to marry a human was that they could' then
discard their tail for legs.
Mermaids in Orkney tradition were really the
lovely daughters of the Fin Folk, who resembled tall dark
men but were clad in close-fitting silver scales. They
lived in a magic realm under the sea but also cultivated
farms on land. As they grew older they aged quickly and
became repulsively ugly. It was to escape this fate that
mermaids wished to become human. Sometimes the
situation was reversed and a human woman married to a
mermaid or selchie.
Among the supernatural powers of mermaids were
those of being able to grant wishes and of uttering
curses. In the late Roman period a mermaid cast up on
the shores of Conway Bay cursed the town of Conway
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٨١

when its inhabitants refused to help her back to the
water. She foretold a fish famine, which happened in the
next century, and declared that the citizens of the town
would always be poor.
A fairly well-known mermaid of the second sort,
the denizen of; inland waters, was that of Child’s Ercali,
in Shropshire. She appeared by a pond at an unspecified
date to the utter astonishment of two farm labourers on
their way to work. In the pond, she told them, was an
immense treasure, and to prove it she brought up a huge
gold nugget. The men were so amazed that one of them
naturally expressed his feelings in an oath, whereupon
the mermaid and the gold sank into the water and were
never seen again.
(Ralph Whitlock In Search of Lost Gods)
٨٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills
١. According to the passage, how can you describe a
mermaid?
٢. Do mermaids have male counterparts? Give
evidence from the passage
٣. Why is it dangerous to come across a mermaid?
٤. What is the positive side of meeting a mermaid?
٥. Why would mermaids like to get married to
humans?
Vocabulary
Put the following words into sentences to reveal their
meaning according to the passage:
•
•
•
•
•

Captive
Ugly
Supernatural
Famine
lull.

Discussion
Do you believe in the existence of mermaids? Give
reasons for your answer.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٨٣

(١٦) CATS
Much of the ill-treatment meted out to cats in past
centuries (and it was severe) was due to the belief that
they were really witches in disguise. Until quite recently
some people were very careful about what they said
when a cat was present, in case the animal turned back
into human shape and repeated what it had heard.
Cats were, and probably still are, credited with
psychic powers. They are said to have foreknowledge of
approaching disasters. When a cat deserts a house where
a person is lying sick, that person will shortly die. When
in the Fen country cats go upstairs to sleep, a flood is
imminent - and there are many instances to confirm the
accuracy of this belief.
Cats are said to be effective killers of adders, and
the prejudice against May kittens (superficially
nonsensical) is probably due to the fear that by the late
summer, when adders are numerous, they would bring
adders into the house. Black cats are, of course,
especially lucky, though a pure white cat also brings
good luck if it is seen by chance. On the other hand,
sailors, they liked to have a black cat on board, would
never mention the word cat, referring to them instead by
some euphemism. The same applied to miners in
Cornwall. Fenland fishermen believed that cats could
hear fish swimming under water and so based their
activities on observation of cats' behaviour. A
widespread superstition is that a cat should not be
allowed near a sleeping child, lest it should suck the
baby's breath, but that may well be an instance of a wise
precaution for the wrong reason , for cats have been
known to suffocate a baby by lying on its face. A cat’s
sneezing is a lucky omen.
٨٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Reading Skills
١. What psychic powers are cats believed to possess?
٢. What evidence do black cats give of the great
difference in superstitious beliefs from one culture
to the other?
٣. Why is it a wise precaution to keep cats away from
babies?
٤. What does "the same" in line ٢٧ refer to?
٥. According to the passage, in what way can cats be
useful?
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks with a word from the passage:
١. The belief in … is a universal phenomenon.
٢. I have to take certain … while setting off a
journey.
٣. The … of a helps in taking precautions against it.
٤. It is a widespread Egyptian superstition that black
cats are an ill …
٥. 'Pass away' is a …for 'die'.
Discussion
What other animals or birds are said to have supernatural
powers?
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٨٥

(١٧) THE ADVENTURES OF A SHILLING
Joseph Addison (١٦٧٢-١٧١٩) was a scholar,
traveller and essayist. He was a close friend of Swift and
Steele, but quarrelled with the latter before his death. In
the following essay, Addison describes how a shilling
was made and was used.
It seemed to me that the shilling that lay upon the
table raised itself upon its edge , and turning the face
towards me , opened its mouth , and in a soft , silver
sound , gave me the following account of his life and
adventures :
“I was born (said he) on the side of a mountain,
near a little village of Peru, and made a voyage to
England with Sir Francis Drake. I was, soon after my
arrival, taken out of my old dress, refined, and put into
the English fashion, with the face of Queen Elizabeth on
one side, and the arms of the country on the other. Being
thus provided, I found in myself a wonderful desire to
wander, and visit all parts of the new world into which I
was brought. The people very much liked me, and moved
me so fast from hand to hand, that before I was five years
old, I had travelled into almost every corner of the
nation.
“But at the beginning of my sixth year, to my
unspeakable sorrow, I fell into the hands of a miserable
old fellow who shut me in an iron chest, where I found
five hundred more of my own sort, who were in the same
prison. The only relief we had was to be taken out and
counted over in the fresh air every morning and evening.
٨٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

After an imprisonment of several years, we heard
somebody knocking at our chest and breaking it open
with a hammer. This we found was the old man's heir,
who, as his father lay dying, was good enough to come to
set us free. He separated us that very day. What was the
fate of my companions I do not know: as for myself, I
was sent to a shop for some wine. The shopkeeper gave
me to a woman, and the woman gave me to a butcher. In
this way ١ passed merrily through the world; for, as I
told you before, we shillings love nothing so much as
travelling. I sometimes fetched in a piece of meat, and
sometimes a book.
In the midst of this pleasant progress which I made
from place to place, I was seized by a foolish old woman,
who shut me up in a dirty purse. She did this because of
a foolish saying that, 'While she kept a Queen Elizabeth's
shilling about her, she would never be without money." I
continued there a close prisoner for many months, till at
last I was exchanged for forty-eight farthings.
“thus wandered from pocket to pocket till the beginning
of the civil wars, when, to my shame be it spoken , I was
employed in raising soldiers against the king.'
(Joseph Addison, A Book of English Essays)
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٨٧

Reading Skills
١. How can a shilling travel?
٢. What are the two instances of imprisonment
mentioned by the shilling in the passage? .
٣. Why is the old man described as ‘miserable’?
٤. Why is the old man’s heir thought to be 'good' by
the shilling?
٥. Why is the old woman in the fourth paragraph
described as 'foolish'?
Vocabulary
Write the meaning of the following words as they occur
in their context:
•
•
•
•
•

refined
merrily
fetched
exchanged
raising soldiers

Discussion
Make up a similar story from the point of view of an
Egyptian pound.
٨٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Part I
Answer Keys
Fictional story-telling
The visual arts: are the arts of painting and sculpture,
rather than literature and music.
I think that schools often put too little emphasis on
learning about the visual and performing arts.
Annual
{adjective}
happening once every year, or relating to a period of one
year
an annual event/festival/convention/show/visit/holiday
annual income/salary/profit/interest/rainfall/subscription
attend to be at or go to (an event, place, etc.)
A large number of people attended the funeral/the
meeting/the court.
Schedule
noun [C]
a list of planned activities or things to be done showing
the times or dates when they are intended to happen or be
done
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٨٩

fiction noun
the type of book or story which is written about
imaginary characters and events and not based on real
people and facts, or a false report or statement which you
pretend is true
The author insists that the book is a work of fiction and
not intended as a historical account. [U]
Speculation
noun
The rumours that they are about to marry have been
dismissed as pure speculation. [U]
After he was dropped from the team, speculation about
his future plans was rife. [U]
addiction
noun
Her previous novel dealt with her recovery from drug
addiction. [U]
For years she was dependent on drugs and drink and it
was only in her fifties that she finally managed to
overcome these addictions. [C]
He is trying to cure himself of his addiction to alcohol.[U]
Alternatives
(something that is) different from something else, esp.
from what is usual, and offering the possibility of choice
There must be an alternative to people sleeping on the
streets.[C]
٩٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I

We are not going to rule out every other alternative. [C]
I'm afraid I have no alternative but to ask you to leave (=
that is what I have.
Libraries and the digital revolution
lurch
verb [I]
to move in an irregular way, esp. making sudden
movements backwards or forwards or from side to side
A crowd of drunken football supporters lurched down the
street, singing and shouting.
giggle
verb [I]
to laugh repeatedly in an uncontrolled and childish way,
often at something silly or something that you know you
should not be laughing at
Once one child starts giggling it starts the whole class
off.
Substantial
(LARGE) adjective
large in size, value or importance
The findings show a substantial difference between the
opinions of men and women.
She inherited a substantial fortune from her grandmother.
Intellect
noun [U]
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٩١

the ability to think intelligently and understand, or the
ability to do these things to a high level
An intellect is also a highly educated person whose
interests are studying and other activities that involve
careful thinking.
Intellectual
noun [C]
An intellectual is a highly educated person whose
interests are studying and other activities that involve
careful thinking and mental effort.
She was too much of an intellectual to find teaching
young children rewarding.
He had no time for intellectualism and would never
analyse a film or book that he had read.
Digitize
UK usually -ise verb [T]
When information is digitized, it is put into the form of a
series of the numbers zero and one, usually so that it can
be processed by a computer.
Megalomania
noun [U]
the belief that you are very much more important and
powerful than you really are
She has a bad case of megalomania, and always wants to
take charge of everything she gets involved in.
Pollution
٩٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Glasshouse
(plural-houses) usually greenhouse (plural greenhouses)
noun [C]
a building with glass sides and roof for growing plants
in; a large greenhouse
He's a commercial tomato grower with ten glasshouses.
Climate
noun
the general weather conditions usually found in a
particular place
In some parts of the world there is an extreme climate,
and it is very hot in summer and very cold in winter.
reproduce
(of living things) to produce young
If this generation of young women don't start
reproducing soon there will be a fall in the population.
Reproduction
noun [U]
The group is researching reproduction in elephants/the
reproduction of elephants.
Teaching about human reproduction was widespread in
schools but only half of all ١٦-year-olds had discussed
'personal relationships' in the classroom.
The reproduction rate is the rate at which a population
produces new members by birth.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٩٣

Environment
(NATURE) noun [U]
the environment (the quality of) the air, water and land in
or on which people, animals and plants live
Certain chemicals have been banned because of their
damaging effect on the environment.
We're not doing enough to protect the environment from
pollution.
Related words
Contaminate
verb [T]
to spoil the purity of (something) or make it poisonous
Much of the coast has been contaminated by nuclear
waste.
The food which had been contaminated was destroyed.
Contamination
noun [U]
The water supply is being tested for contamination (= the
presence of unwanted or dangerous substances).
Related words
A coral reef
is a bank of coral, the top of which can sometimes be
seen just above the sea.
٩٤

English Comprehension Primer Level I

An English professor confesses
Stimulate
verb [T]
to encourage (something) to grow, develop or become
active
The government plans to cut taxes in order to stimulate
the economy.
The book was an attempt to stimulate discussion of the
problem of global warming.
Stimulant
noun [C]
Tourism has acted as a stimulant to the country's
economy (= It has made the economy grow).
Phonograph
noun [C]
US old use for record player, see at record
Psychology
noun [U]
the scientific study of the way the human mind works
and how it influences behaviour, or the influence of a
particular person's character on their behaviour
She studied psychology at Harvard.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٩٥

Abridge
verb [T]
to make (a book, speech, article, etc.) shorter
I've only read the abridged edition/version of her novel.
Related words
memorize,
verb [T]
to learn (something) so that you will remember it exactly
She has memorized all her friends' phone numbers.
When I was at school, we were required to memorize a
poem every week.

Scientists Dilemma
Humanitarian
adjective, noun
(a person who is) involved in or connected with
improving people's lives and reducing suffering
Bacteriology
noun [U]
the scientific study of bacteria and other very small
living things, esp. those which cause disease
Related words
٩٦

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Weaponry
noun [U]
nuclear/conventional weaponry (= weapons in general)
Threat
noun [C]
a suggestion that something unpleasant will happen, esp.
if a particular action or order is not followed
She left the country under threat of arrest if she returned.
Dilemma
noun [C]
a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made
between two possibilities, both of which are often
unpleasant
The poor girl is caught in/facing the dilemma of obeying
her father or marrying the man she loves.
A work of art
Category
(in a system for dividing things according to appearance,
quality, etc.) a type, or a group of things having some
features that are the same
There are three categories of accommodation - standard,
executive and de luxe.
Some social scientists try to divide a population into
categories according to how much money people earn.
Related words.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٩٧

Common
belonging to or shared by two or more people
We've got a lot of interests in common/common interests
(= We've have many of the same interests).
Orchestrate
If a piece of music is orchestrated, it is arranged or
written to be played by an orchestra.
Container
A container is a hollow object, such as a box or a bottle,
which can be used for holding something esp. for the
purposes of carrying or storing.
an unbreakable container
a plastic drinks container
She kept the buttons in an old ice-cream container.
To containerize is to put goods in a large standard-sized
metal box for transport, or to make a port, ship, etc.
suitable for this method of transport.
The goods must be containerized for export.
Character
a person, esp. when you are describing a particular
quality that they have
She's a curious/interesting character - I don't really know
what to think of her.
٩٨

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Part II
Answer Keys
(١) William Shakespeare
Reading Skills:
١. The biography of William Shakespeare. Or New
information on Shakespeare’s life.
٢. Shakespeare was imprisoned for theft. He also
worked as an apprentice butcher.
٣. Because it was in London he started his career as a
playwright.
٤. His plays attracted large audiences and he shared
in the profits.
٥. Because it shows that Shakespeare felt insecure
and uncertain about his place as a great man whose
remains cannot be disturbed.
Vocabulary:
•
•
•
•
•

mention (١٫٣٥)
genius (١٫٧٢)
presume (١٫١١)
performance (١٫٤٢)
retirement
(١٫٥٨)
English Comprehension Primer Level I

٩٩

(٢) The History of Pollution
Reading Skills:
١. Humorous and sarcastic.
٢. He does not approve of them.
٣. They encourage people to buy the advertised
goods.
٤. They polluted the river in which he drowned.
Vocabulary:
• Super
• Fortified
• giant.

(٣) Carol
Reading Skills:
١. She thinks it forces people to do things they do not
want to do.
٢. Because it lessens her chances of marriage.
٣. It means that there is no relation between
femininity
and
washing
some man's socks.
٤. Because the writer does not believe that it is really
work.
٥. He makes her consent to the image of a good
woman
according
to her society.
١٠٠

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Vocabulary:
•
•
•
•

somebody who is unresponsive
psychopathic
a knowledgeable person or an expert
advised her to take a certain medicine - run to.
(٤) General Behaviour

Reading Skills
١. Good manners are useful and profitable.
٢. Talking about one's illness can be boring and
disturbing to others.
٣. "Unwitting discourtesy" is an act of impoliteness
that is not done on purpose while "deliberate
discourtesy' is an act of impoliteness that is meant
to annoy others.
٤. He can know about ft from other people who have
been present at the time this thing has been said.
٥. It is an untruth that causes no harm to anybody.
Vocabulary:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Disagreeable
Indisposed
non-acceptance
unwitting
discourtesy
discomfort
unhappiness.
English Comprehension Primer Level I

١٠١

(٥) Bread as a Symbol
Reading Skills:
١. It is a symbol of life and of some religious
concepts.
٢. Because, for them, bread is the basic kind of food
used by all people and food is essential for any
form of living.
٣. Cholera neuralgia and headaches.
٤. To ensure a plentiful harvest in the following year.
Vocabulary:
• Wonderful
• religious rites (certain forms of celebrating a
religious- occasion
• abundant
• make sure that
• cure.

(٦) Vitamin Magic
Reading Skills:
١. The reasons for thinking of vitamins as mysterious.
٢. Because they are commonplace and people have a
good idea what they are like.
٣. They are mysterious and people think they can cure
all diseases.
٤. Yes, it can. See the last sentence.
١٠٢

English Comprehension Primer Level I

Vocabulary:
•
•
•
•
•

Promoter
Affluent
Faltered
Nutritional
surfeit
(٧) Women's Work in History

Reading Skills
١. Because, in those days, most women's jobs were
very low-grade.
٢. It shows that she approves of women's work.
٣. Because they were thought to be less intelligent
than men.
٤. It refers to rebelling against the old traditions that
prevented them from work.
٥. She is prejudiced against them.
Vocabulary:
All sentences that are grammatical and reveal the
meaning of the word are acceptable.
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  • 1. English Comprehe nsion By M. Abdel Salam Hassan Mohamed Abdel Aatty Revised by M. M. Enani Department of English Faculty of Arts Cairo University ١١٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I ٢٠٠٥ (١)
  • 3. Eng. Comp. primer.(I) Deposit No: ١١٠٦٨ ٢٠٠٥ I.S.B.N: ٩٧٧-٤٠٣-٠٢١-
  • 4. English Comprehension Primer Level I By M. Abdel Salam Hassan Mohamed Abdel Aatty Revised by M. M. Enani Department of English Faculty of Arts Cairo University ٢٠٠٥
  • 5. ٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I Revised edition Copy rights
  • 6. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٣ CONTENTS PREFACE ................................................................................................................. ٥ (١) FICTIONAL STORY-TELLING ...................................................................١٣ (٢) LIBRARIES AND THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION.....................................١٦ (٣) POLLUTION ....................................................................................................١٩ (٤) AN ENGLISH PROFESSOR CONFESSES ..................................................٢٢ (٥) SCIENTISTS DILEMMA ...............................................................................٢٥ (٦) A WORK OF ART ...........................................................................................٢٧ PART II...................................................................................................................٣١ (١) WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ..........................................................................٣٢ (٢) THE HISTORY OF POLLUTION.................................................................٣٦ (٣) CAROL..............................................................................................................٤٠ (٤) GENERAL BEHAVIOUR...............................................................................٤٤ (٥) BREAD AS A SYMBOL..................................................................................٤٧ (٦) VITAMIN MAGIC.........................................................................................٥٠ (٧) WOMEN'S WORK IN HISTORY..................................................................٥٣ (٨) A POSITIVE APPROACH TO YOUR CAREER ........................................٥٦ (٩) THE ARAB UNIVERSITY .............................................................................٦٠ (١٠)THE SCIENTIST’S DUTY ............................................................................٦٤ (١١)THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS...................................................................٦٧ (١٢) WHERE THERE' S A WILL....................................................................٧٠ (١٣) MARRIED BLISS ..........................................................................................٧٤ (١٤) SMALL WORLD ...........................................................................................٧٧ (١٥) MERMAIDS ...................................................................................................٨٠ (١٦) CATS ...............................................................................................................٨٣ (١٧) THE ADVENTURES OF A SHILLING ......................................................٨٥
  • 7. ٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I PART I ....................................................................................................................٨٨ ANSWER KEYS.....................................................................................................٨٨ PART II...................................................................................................................٩٨ ANSWER KEYS.....................................................................................................٩٨
  • 8. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٥ PREFACE For you as a student of translation, mastering reading skills is essential. According to most theories of translation, getting the main ideas of the source text (written in English in this case) is the first step towards good translation, or rather, translation in general.This book, therefore, is an attempt at helping you as a student of translation to acquire the main skills of reading any text regardless of its subject; hence is the variation in the topics of the reading passages. The questions at the end of each passage are divided into three parts according to the different skills they focus on. The first part aims at enabling you to master the general reading skills which are: -Skimming: Skimming is getting the main idea of the text and the sub ideas in its divisions (paragraphs, stanzas....etc.). -Scanning: Scanning is quick reading to locate specific information, which again helps the students to focus on specific parts of the text. -Inference: The objective of this skill is to use the schemata of the students (the information they already know) and to train them to ad between the lines. Another important objective of this skill is to alert the students to the connection of each sentence to the others and to the referents of different pronouns. In the adventures of "Shilling", for instance, "and turning the face" ١٫١٢ "the face" refers to what? Right, it refers to the face of the shilling. Again, in the third paragraph ١٢ of
  • 9. ٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I "The History of Pollution" you should ask yourself, "What does 'if in "destroys it" refer to?" Yes, of course, it refers to dirt. (٢) The vocabulary item mainly aims at teaching the students to guess the meaning of vocabulary from the context without the need to look up every single word in the dictionary. You are, however, encouraged to look up some of the words in a good dictionary to see that words usually have more than one meaning and that the context is the only factor that determines the meaning aimed at by the writer. This, in turn, is a very important piece of information for the student of translation who often knows only one meaning for each word and who usually translates accordingly. Learning new vocabulary is again essential for whoever is interested in translation. (٣) The objective of the third part, the discussion part, is to train you to read critically - a skill needed by all students of all disciplines. You should also be encouraged to use the same vocabulary you learn from the passage with the aim of increasing the English vocabulary you are going to use in your future translations. The course is limited to one university term, but, if adequately mastered, the technique of dealing with original English texts should help the students to advance to a more complex (and richer) English texts.
  • 10. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٧ How to Study ١. Read the whole passage with the aim of getting the main idea, the tone or the attitude of the writer. ٢. Read each division of the passage once more and try to grasp the main idea of division. ٣. Try to connect each sentence to the one coming before and the one coming after it. The referent of each pronoun will help you achieve this. ٤. Keep a separate workbook for this subject in which you answer the question and write your remarks. ٥. Start, then, answering the questions of part one in the order you have in your book. The answer of the first question tests your ability to skim, i.e. get the main idea of the whole passage or of a whole paragraph. The other questions test your understanding of certain details in the passage. ٦. Move to the second part of the questions where your understanding of vocabulary in context as well as your ability to guess meanings of words are tested. ٧. Try answering the questions of the third part in a written form, using the new vocabulary you learnt from the passage and your general knowledge. ٨. Check your answers with the brief answers in the appendix. N.B. All correct answers are accepted, regardless of the phrasing; the answer given in the answers’ key is just a clue to the right answer You can use other words to express the same idea.
  • 11. ٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I Ex. For the first question in the first part of "William Shakespeare" the answer can be: The biography of William Shakespeare. Or New information on Shakespeare's life. Or What we know and do not know about the life of William Shakespeare. Needless to say, any of the above answers is a correct one and deserves the full mark for this question. In the second part as well, you can have more than one correct answer, especially if you have only a word and you are asked to its meaning. Ex. In "The Adventures of a Shilling" 'refined' can mean: polished, cleaned, ...etc. 'Merrily' can mean: happily, cheerfully, joyfully, ..etc. N.B. The word you choose should be of the same part of speech (verb, noun, adjective, ...etc., and of the same tense, if it is a verb. N.B. There are no answers to part III because answers may 'greatly differ according to each's opinions and general information. (٩)Use the video tape for more elaboration on the way to study and how to answer the questions. (١٠) In order to assess your effort, calculate the percentage of the correct answers to all answers, if you get more than ٩٠٪, you are excellent. ٥٠-٧٠٪ is good, but you can do better. Work harder. If less than ٥٠٪, something has gone
  • 12. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٩ wrong. Go back to the passage and the questions and try to find out where the problem is. (١١) Try to attend the bi-monthly sessions regularly for more information on the course. The Study Group Meetings Bi-monthly meetings with your teachers and colleagues will be held on Fridays. The sessions are meant to be regular classes where lessons are explained. The main objectives of the sessions are: ١. For you to ask about parts of the passage you cannot understand on your own. ٢. To ask the teacher to check your answers with you, especially the ones you are not sure about. ٣. To ask the teacher to help you find the reason for any problems you face during the course. ٤. To meet some of your colleagues and exchange ideas with them about your progress, trying to benefit from their experiences and to offer them yours.
  • 14. English Comprehension Primer Level I Part I ١١
  • 15. ١٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I OBJECTIVES: By the end of this book, learners should be able to learn how to use vocabulary, main ideas, and supporting details to help increase reading comprehension. The student will also be able to: ١. Describe vocabulary, main ideas, and supporting details and their relationship to overall comprehension. ٢. Explain how vocabulary, main ideas and supporting details can aid in reading comprehension. ٣. Demonstrate reading comprehension skills.
  • 16. English Comprehension Primer Level I ١٣ (١) Fictional story-telling Human beings expend great amounts of time and resources on creating and experiencing art and entertainment — music, dancing, and static visual arts. Of all of the arts, however, it is the category of fictional story-telling that across the globe today is the most intense focus of human addiction. A recent government study in Britain showed that if you add together annual attendances in plays and cinema with hours watching television drama, the average Briton spends roughly ٦٪ of all waking life watching dramatic performances. And that figure does not even include books and magazines: further vast numbers of hours spent reading short stories, as well as so-called serious fictions, old and new. The origins of this obsession with comic and dramatic fictions are lost in remote prehistory, as lost as the origins of language itself. But like language, we know the obsession with fiction is universal: stories told, read, and dramatically or poetically performed are independently invented in all known cultures, literate or not, having advanced technologies or not. Wherever printing arrives, it is used to reproduce fictions. Whenever television appears in the world, soap operas soon show up on the schedule. Both the forms that fiction takes and the ideas, types of characters, and kinds of conflict that make up its content can be shown to be strikingly similar across cultures. It has specialist practitioners — novelists, playwrights, actors — and is governed both informally with stylistic conventions and sometimes formally — for example, by censorship laws. A love of fiction is as universal as governance, marriage and jokes.
  • 17. ١٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I The universal fascination with fictions is a curious thing. If human beings were attracted only to true narratives, factual reports that describe the real world, the attraction could be attributed to utility. Was that the case, there would be no “problem of fiction,” because there would be no fiction: the only alternatives to desirable truth would be unintentional mistakes or intentional lies. Now as it happens, this speculation does not accord with facts: the human reaction to fictions, at least when they are properly understood to be fictions, is not aversion, but runs anywhere from boredom to amusement to intense pleasure. From “The Pleasures of Fiction” Philosophy and Literature ٢٨ (٢٠٠٤): ٤٥٣-٦٦.By Denis Dutton
  • 18. English Comprehension Primer Level I ١٥ Reading Skills: ١. ٢. ٣. ٤. ٥. What is the main idea in the first paragraph? What does love of fiction mean to the author? Why is the obsession with fiction universal? What would life be like without fiction? How does fiction affect human life? Vocabulary: Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used in the passage and use them in sentences of your own. • • • • • • • The visual arts Annual Schedule fiction Speculation addiction alternatives Discussion: Do you enjoy reading fictions? Give reasons for your answer.
  • 19. ١٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I (٢) Libraries and the digital revolution I HAVE a golden library memory. I am sitting under a cherry tree in the tiny central courtyard of the Cambridge University Library, a book in one hand and an almond slice in the other. . Behind the walls on every side of the courtyard, the books stretch away in compact ranks hundred of yards deep, the shelves extending at the rate of two miles a year. Perhaps that was the moment I fell in love with libraries. Or perhaps it was earlier, growing up in Scotland, when the mobile library would lurch up the road with stocks of books, to be giggled over when the driver-librarian was having his cup of tea. Or perhaps the moment came earlier yet, when my father took me into the bowels of the Bodleian in Oxford and I inhaled, for the first time, that intoxicating mixture of vellum, paper and dust. I have spent a substantial portion of my life since in libraries, and I still enter them with a mixture of excitement and awe. I am not alone in this. Love for libraries is as old as writing itself, for a library is more to our culture than a collection of books: it is a temple, a symbol of power, the hushed core of civilisation, the citadel of memory, with its own mystique, social and sensual as well as intellectual. Even people who never enter libraries instinctively understand their symbolic power. But now a revolution, widely compared to the invention of printing itself, is taking place among the stacks, and the library will never be the same again. This week Google announced plans to digitise fifteen million books from five
  • 20. English Comprehension Primer Level I ١٧ great libraries, including the Bodleian. Google’s founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, have declared their intention to collect all information online, an ambition that puts them up there with the Ptolomies, founders of the great library at Alexandria. What was once megalomaniac bibliomania is now a technological certainty. Some fear that this total library, vast and invisible, could finally destroy traditional libraries, which will become mere warehouses for the physical objects, empty of people and life. The advantages for researchers of a single scholarly online catalogue are incalculable, but will we bother to browse the shelves when we can merely summon up any book in the world with the push of a button? Are the days of the library as a social organism over? From “Paradise is paper, vellum and dust” by Ben Macintyre
  • 21. ١٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills: ١. When and why the author did fall in love with libraries? ٢. Why love for libraries is as old as writing itself? ٣. What kind of revolution the author is afraid of? ٤. What will be the shape of a future library as the author sees it? ٥. How far did the library contribute to the social life of the author? Vocabulary: Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used in the passage and use them in sentences of your own. • • • • • • • lurch giggle Substantial Intellect Intellectual Digitize Megalomania Discussion: What kind of libraries do you prefer? Give reasons for your answer.
  • 22. English Comprehension Primer Level I ١٩ (٣) Pollution Pollution can be local or widespread. Substances dumped into a river will often end up in the sea. The biggest pollution problem is global warming. This happens when greenhouse gases, such as CO٢ are released into the atmosphere, trapping heat and causing the planet to warm up. Since species are adapted to particular climates, when the Earth warms up they have to move to keep comfortable. This can be difficult if natural habitats are isolated by human settlements and agriculture. Chemical pollutants have been responsible for affecting the reproductive organs of fish, alligators and polar bears, preventing them from producing babies. Chemical pollution in the environment also affects humans - ٤٦ US states have issued warnings against eating local fish because of dioxin contamination, and in Europe, human breast milk passes on more dioxin to our babies than is legally allowed for cow's milk. Despite this, the amount of pesticide sprayed on our crops around the world has increased ٢٦ times in the last ٥٠ years. Species living in water are often most strongly affected because water spreads pollution easier than land, and because we often dump our pollution into water. Global warming will affect every species on Earth to some extent, and although some species will thrive in warmer climates, many will not. Coral reefs have already been very hard hit by climate change, and polar bears have received the double-whammy of climate change and chemical pollution.
  • 23. ٢٠ English Comprehension Primer Level I Most human activities produce some waste products, but it is important to make sure that we have as little pollution as possible. Many people are switching to 'clean technology'. That means having the same benefits from our modern life-style without the pollution. Electric cars, environmentally sensitive washing powders and solar-powered energy are examples. Less pollution is not only good for wildlife and nature - human health benefits from less pollution as well. That means lower medical bills, and a better quality of life. From BBC World Service: Science & Nature
  • 24. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٢١ Reading Skills: ١. ٢. ٣. ٤. What are the causes of climate change? What is the "greenhouse effect"? Explain. How does chemical pollution affect human beings? What is the impact of chemical pollutants on the world of nature? ٥. Give three examples for 'clean technology' equipments. Vocabulary: Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used in the passage and use them in sentences of your own. • • • • • • • • Glasshouse Climate reproduce Reproduction Environment Contaminate Contamination A coral reef Discussion How far do you consider the issue of pollution serious in Egypt?
  • 25. ٢٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I (٤) An English professor confesses By THOMAS H. BENTON I'm an English professor, so of course I enjoy reading. But looking back on my childhood, I am certain that my interest in literature was stimulated not so much by reading books myself as by listening to recordings of other people reading them. Neither of my parents had a college education, but they took me to the library long before I could read. There was always a stack of children's books in the house, and my mother must have read hundreds of them to me. No doubt, the indestructible phonograph I received for Christmas around age ٥ partly liberated my mother from my constant requests for her to read. Together we discovered the local library's collection of records of famous actors reading poems, plays, and short stories. I particularly remember Basil Rathbone's readings of Poe and Hawthorne As I approached ١٠, I discovered the tragedies of Shakespeare with actors like Paul Scofield and Claire Bloom. I remember recovering from the flu while listening again and again to Anthony Quayle reading Conrad's Heart of Darkness. To this day I cherish an abridged version of Whitman's Leaves of Grass with each syllable enunciated and expanded to the limits of possible meaning by the booming voice of Orson Welles. Perhaps there is something psychologically reassuring about listening to someone read a story. Hardly a day has
  • 26. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٢٣ passed in the last ٣٠ years in which I have not heard a spoken-word recording of one kind or another. I go to sleep every night with the soothing sounds of a recorded book. I got my first cassette tape recorder when I was about ١٢, and I immediately started making copies of the records from the library with a tiny microphone propped up in front of my phonograph's three-inch speaker. I used to listen to my collection of cassettes over and over again, until I had abridged versions of many classic works nearly memorized. Of course I had no idea how one went about becoming a professional narrator. I chose my undergraduate college largely because it was close to home and it offered me a scholarship. I was too shy to consider acting in the theatre department's stage performances, and there was no program in broadcasting.
  • 27. ٢٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills: ١. What are the different stimulants that made the author interested in literature? ٢. What was the role played by his mother during his childhood? ٣. Name five men of letters mentioned in the passage? ٤. What does he usually do before going to bed? ٥. Has he planned to become a professor of English? Vocabulary: • • • • • • Stimulate Stimulant Phonograph Psychology A memorize bridge Explain the meaning of the underlined words as they are used in the passage and use them in sentences of your own. Discussion Do you enjoy listening to Arabic literature?
  • 28. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٢٥ (٥) Scientists Dilemma Scientists and non-scientists alike are divided over the question of where an individual scientist’s greatest responsibility ought to lie. This question arises because of the special knowledge that scientists possess in this modern age and the destructive uses to which it may be put. Scientists have recently been able to place in the hands of the rulers of a few nations the kinds of weapons that have the capability to destroy the whole of mankind. Thus, some scientists feel caught in a conflict between loyalty to their national governments and their humanitarian feelings. One view is that scientists have a moral responsibility to all of mankind not to destroy it. By placing nuclear weapons in the hands of politicians, all of mankind is threatened with destruction in a nuclear war. This is not mention the potential threat of the other areas such as bacteriological and chemical weaponry. Some of those who support this view feel that scientists should refuse outright to work on weapons projects for their governments. On the other hand, others argue that the scientist’s responsibility is to his nation. It is his state that gives him his opportunities for wealth, owner, and all the other benefits of life. For this he owes the state something in return, namely, his services in defending it. If a scientist refuses to help his state develop weapons, then it may be attacked by another a stronger state, and the lives and freedom of its citizens would be threatened. Thus, it is clear that the scientist faces a true dilemma.
  • 29. ٢٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills: ١. Give reasons for a scientist’s obligation towards his country? ٢. Explain the moral aspect of the e scientist’s conflict. ٣. Where, do you think the scientist’s loyalty should lie? ٤. What is the relationship between the scientist and politicians, as presented in the passage? ٥. Explain the destructive aspects of science? Vocabulary: Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage and use them in sentences of your own: . • Humanitarian • Bacteriology • Weaponry • Threat • Dilemma Discussion: To what extent is this topic relevant to the current world political situation?
  • 30. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٢٧ (٦) A work of art Art is a wide field containing many types. Some of the main categories are literature, music and painting. Each of these categories can be divided into sub-categories. Literature, for example, consists of prose, poetry and drama. However, all works of art, no matter which category they belong to, have something in common. They all have form and content. Moreover, any artist, no matter what type of art he creates, must think about both of these concepts when he works to create his art. Form means the shape or the outward physical appearance of something. This shape is made from the materials the artist uses. He puts these materials together in some way. For example, in literature, the materials are words. They can be put together in the form of a poem, a play, a novel or a short story. In painting, the colours used by the artist are his materials, which he puts into the picture in a balanced and pleasing way. In music, the material to work with is the notes. These can be arranged to form a symphony which is a long piece for a full-sized orchestra, or perhaps in a quartet. All in all, form is like a container; it gives a work of art a recognizable shape or appearance. Content is the noun which comes from the verb “contain”. Content means the thing that is contained or held in the form. The content is the subject of the work of
  • 31. ٢٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I art, or what the work of art is about. In a novel, the story itself, with all its characters and events, is the content. In a picture of a countryside scene, the scene is the content. In a song, the words and the melody are the content. It can be seen now that all works of art have something in common. They all consist of both form and content.
  • 32. English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills: ١. ٢. ٣. ٤. ٥. Mention some of the types of art? Describe the meaning of form. Give examples. What is form in painting and music? What is meant by content? Illustrate. What are the two basic requirements of a good work of art? Vocabulary: Use the following words in sentences of your own: • • • • • Category Common Orchestrate Container Character Discussion Examine form and content in a good Arabic song, poem or a short story of your own choice. ٢٩
  • 34. English Comprehension Primer Level I Part II ٣١
  • 35. ٣٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I (١) WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Most people have heard of Shakespeare and probably know something of the plays that he wrote. However, not everybody knows much about the life of this remarkable man, except perhaps that he was born in the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon and that he married a woman called Anne Hathaway. We know nothing of his school life. We do not know, for example, how long it lasted, but we presume that he attended the local grammar school, where the principal subject taught was Latin. Nothing certain is known of what he did between the time he left school and his departure for London. According to a local legend, he was beaten and even put in prison for stealing rabbits and deer from the estate of a neighbouring landowner, Sir Thomas Lucy; ft is said that because of this he was forced to run away from his native place. A different legend says that he was apprenticed to a Stratford butcher, but did not like the life and for this reason decided to leave Stratford. Whatever caused him to leave the town of his birth, the world can be grateful that he did so. What is certain is that he set his fool on the road to fame when he arrived in London. It is said that at first he was without money or friends there, but that he earned a little by taking care of the horses of the gentlemen who attended the plays at the theatre. In time, as he became a familiar figure to the actors in the theatre, they stopped and spoke to him. They found his conversation so brilliant that finally he was invited to join their company.
  • 36. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٣٣ Earlier than ١٥٩٢ there is no mention of Shakespeare either as actor, or as playwright, and the name of the theatre he worked in is not known. However, by this date he had become one of the three leading members of a company of actors called the Lord Chamberlain's men. This company was under the protection of the Lord Chamberlain, a powerful nobleman and an official at the Queen's Court. The company travelled about the country, giving performances in different towns, and also performed plays at Court. From what we know of his later life, it is clear that. Shakespeare's connection with the theatre made him a wealthy man, since his plays attracted large audiences and he shared in the profits. Towards the end of the sixteenth century he bought a large property in Stratford. It is not certain when he went back there to live, but it was probably around ١٦٠٣. He is not recorded as having acted in any play after that date, though he continued writing. No less than eleven of his plays were produced during the next ten years. These include the great tragedies Othello, Macbeth and King Lear. His last work was The Tempest, but he may have shared in the writing of the historical play King Henry VIII. Even after his retirement he frequently visited London. Since the road between Stratford and London passed through Oxford, he would rest there at the home of his friend John Davenant, who had a deep respect and affection for the playwright. Shakespeare died in ١٦١٦. Some years earlier he chose a gravestone, under which he was to be buried. He had a curse engraved on this stone which threatened to bring
  • 37. ٣٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I misfortune to anyone who might remove his body from his grave. It seems strange that he should have had this fear. He must have known how greatly he was respected, even In his lifetime, for the genius that he showed in his plays and poems. It seems impossible that his remains could have been disturbed after his death. William Shakespeare
  • 38. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٣٥ Reading Skills ١. What is the main idea in the first two paragraphs? ٢. What new information about Shakespeare do you get from this passage? ٣. Why should the world be grateful for Shakespeare's leaving his birth-place? ٤. How did Shakespeare become a rich man? ٥. Why does the writer think of the curse on Shakespeare's grave as strange? Vocabulary Find words in the passage to complete the following sentences: ١. He is a doctor, I ….. ٢. There was no ….of him after his death although he was very famous during his lifetime. ٣. I liked the … of King Lear by the Royal Company. ٤. The student showed a ….that astonished his teachers. ٥. After his …, my grandfather went back to his birthplace. Discussion ١. What was the piece of information that astonished you the most in this passage? Give reasons for your answer. ٢. Do you know of any secrets related to any of the celebrities of Egypt?
  • 39. ٣٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I (٢) THE HISTORY OF POLLUTION Washington, - Everyone talks about water pollution, but no one seems to know who started it. The history of modern water pollution in the United States goes back to February ٢٨, ١٩٣١, when Mrs. Frieda Murphy leaned over her back-yard fence and said to Mrs. Sophie Holbrook, "You call those shirts white?" Mrs. Holbrook blushed and said, "They're as white as I can get them with this ordinary laundry soap." “What you should use is this Formula Cake Soap which guarantees against the dull wash-tub grey look that the family wash always had." Sceptical but adventurous, Mrs. Holbrook tried the Formula soap, which happily did take the grey out of her husband's shirts. But what Mrs. Holbrook didn't know was that after the water was drained from the tub, it emptied into the sewer, which emptied into the Blue Sky River, killing two fish. Three years later, Mrs. Murphy leaned over the fence and said to Mrs. Holbrook, "It's none of my business, but are you still using that Formula Cake Soap?" . " Yes, I am." - " No wonder your husband's shirts always look dirty around the collar." " I can never get the dirt off the collar," Mrs. Holbrook cried. "You can, if you use Klonk Soap Chips. They were designed especially for collar dirt. Here, you can have my box."
  • 40. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٣٧ Mrs. Holbrook used the Klonk and the next time her husband put on his shirt he remarked, "How on earth did you get the collar clean?" " That is my secret," said Mrs. Holbrook, and then she whispered to no one in particular, " and Mrs. Murphy's.” But unbeknownst to Mrs. Holbrook, the water from Klonk Soap Chips prevented any fish downstream from hatching eggs. Four years later, Mrs. Murphy was hanging up her shirts and Mrs. Holbrook said, “How did you ever get your chuffs so white, surely not with Klonk?" " Not ordinary Kionk," Mrs. Murphy said. " But I did with Super Fortified Klonk with the XLP additive. You see, Super Fortified Klonk attacks dirt and destroys it. Here, try some on your shirts." Mrs. Holbrook did and discovered her husband's shirt cuffs turned pure white. What she could not possibly know was that it turned the river water pure white as well. The years went by, and poor Mrs. Murphy died. Her daughter-in-law took over the house. Mrs. Holbrook noticed how the daughter-in-law used to sing as she hung up her wash. “Why do you always sing?" asked Mrs. Holbrook. “Because of this Dynamite detergent, it literally dynamites my clothes clean. Here try it, and then let's go to a movie, since Dynamite detergent takes the drudgery out of the washing."
  • 41. ٣٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I Six months later the Blue Sky River was declared a health hazard. Finally last year Mrs. Murphy's daughter-in-law called over to Mrs. Holbrook, “Have you heard about Zap, the enzyme giant killer?" A few days later, as Mr. Holbrook was walking home from work, he accidentally fell into the Blue Sky River, swallowed a mouthful of water and died immediately. At the funeral service the minister said, "You can say anything you want about Holbrook, but no one can deny he had the cleanest shirts in town." Art Buchwald International Herald Tribune
  • 42. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٣٩ Reading Skills ١. What is the tone of the writer of this article (serioushumorous - sarcastic - etc.)? ٢. What do you infer from the text about the attitude of the writer towards modern scientific inventions? ٣. According to the passage, what is the influence of advertisements on people? ٤. What is the role played by the community in kilting Holbrook? Vocabulary What are the words used to show that each detergent is an improvement on its predecessor? Discussion Does your country suffer from water- pollution? How and why?
  • 43. ٤٠ English Comprehension Primer Level I (٣) CAROL By the time Carol was twenty-six she was making a lot of money for a girl her age, and she had quit her job to write full time [...] All her friends from high school had married and she had been -c bridesmaid several times. Her college friends had married too, but she did not see them anymore because the ones she liked did not live in New York. She now had her name on magazine covers occasionally, and she had a certain following and received fan letters, some of them from men proposing marriage. She wrote a piece on lonely people who wrote love letters to strangers. It was the first piece she had written with heart, and afterwards she had to have her telephone number unlisted. Her mother and her mother's friends viewed her rising career with dismay.Her mother said,"Boys don't want to marry girls who are too independent". Because everyone she met at parties talked about their analysis, Carol treated herself to a year of analysis to find out why; he had never married. [..] The doctor was just a man to her, she couldn’t think of him as a doctor or an authority, although once 'hen she had a sore throat she asked him to look at it since she as paying him anyway, and he prescribed some pills. She was aware that he thought she was funny and interesting because he laughed a lot at the things she said. She also became aware after a few months that he didn't think she was sick, or at least what he considered her sickness was that she did not fit into the role he saw for her as a young woman. . “You are lonely," he said. " I would like to see you married. You would be a wonderful mother."
  • 44. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٤١ “But I really don't feel I'm ready for that. There are so many things I haven't done yet." “You’re lucky you can write. You can stay at home with the children and write." “Only if they're zombies," she said. “You could marry a rich man. You could have a nurse for the children.' “Then why have they? If I had kids I'd want to enjoy being with them." -“Your parents must have made you feel very unwanted." He said sadly. -“Unwanted? They never let me out of their sight." “You must understand you are rejecting being feminine.' “If being feminine means washing some guy's socks, then how come every Chinese laundryman down on the corner doesn't feel his masculinity threatened?” “You retreat into words," he said. “That’s how I express myself."“You could express yourself as a woman if you had a man to take care of you." -“Then how come I don't fall in love?" Carol asked. [...] “I’d get married if I could find somebody I really loved." “There have been cases where love came afterward."“You mean a marriage of convenience?" She said horrified. “It has worked." Not for me, she thought. "Do you think I'm really neurotic?' she asked. “The only area in which you function perfectly is your work. In the human area you need more work here."
  • 45. ٤٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I She could see herself trotting obediently off to the analyst; twice a week until she got married, and then still more work" at the analyst until she produced two children, a number the doctor found ideal for mental health, and then more sessions of "work" until she was safely living in the suburbs. It could take years! RonaJaffe: The Other Woman
  • 46. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٤٣ Reading Skills ١. What is the attitude of the writer towards public opinion? ٢. Why. did Carol's mother and her friends view Carol's rising career with dismay? ٣. What is meant by Carol's utterance, "If being feminine, threatened” (lines ٤٨-٥٠)? ٤. Why is the word “work” in the last paragraph, put between inverted commas? ٥. What is the role played by the psycho-analyst in Carol's life? Vocabulary What is the meaning of the following words in their context: • • • • • Zombies Neurotic Authority Prescribed trotting off Discussion Which side do you take: Carol's or the society’s? Give reasons for your answer
  • 47. ٤٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I (٤) GENERAL BEHAVIOUR One's standard of behaviour, in private as well as in public, should invariably be of a high order. It should have its foundation in the personal quality of being courteously disposed, and not merely in the expedient implied in the saying that "good manners pay". The saying is nearly always true of course, but on those rare occasions when it is not, happiness or at least serenity is best served by the exercise of gentleness and tact. The following notes, all of them somewhat obvious, are included here for the sake of completeness – Any service or courtesy rendered by others at any time should be acknowledged by a smile and a thank you. It is better to say ''thank you" too often than too seldom. Loud conversation and, as far as possible, loud laughter should be avoided. A smile is always better than a frown; a pleasant expression always better than a disagreeable one. If one is ill or indisposed, the fact should be kept to oneself, except for purposes of medical attention. The fact of a recent indisposition may be mentioned briefly to account for, say, non-acceptance of an invitation; the details of the indisposition should never be described. All 'disturbing happenings should be faced calmly, and one should never lose one's temper. Unwitting discourtesy should
  • 48. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٤٥ be ignored; deliberate discourtesy should be dealt with by present silence and future avoidance of the offender - any sharp reaction or attempt at rebuke would only result in a scene. Care should be taken never to show resentment or disgust, or to say or do anything which experience suggests may cause discomfort to or hurt anyone else, present or absent. While as a general Principle one should always speak the truth, the practice is of little value in social life if it causes embarrassment or unhappiness. Silence is usually to be preferred, but where even silence would be upsetting, then the “white lie " must be spoken. One's private concerns are never mentioned in general company. One does not talk overmuch about oneself; and not at all but one's achievements unless specifically invited. Arlton Wallace The Pocket Book of Etiquette
  • 49. ٤٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills ١. What is meant by the saying, “good manners pay “? ٢. Why is it a rule of good behaviour to keep one's illnesses to oneself ? ٣. What is the difference between 'unwitting discourtesy' and 'deliberate discourtesy'? ٤. How can an absent person be hurt by something said during his absence? ٥. What is a 'white lie’? Vocabulary: From the passage, pick out five words which start with a negative prefix. Discussion: Do you believe that ‘a white lie’ can sometimes be better than silence? Explain?
  • 50. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٤٧ (٥) BREAD AS A SYMBOL One reason why bread attracts to itself so much comment and controversy is simply that it is much more than a food. Bread is so much a part of everyday living that it has become a symbol of life. For instance, it is used as a religious symbol, and as early as pre-Christian days unleavened bread had considerable religious significance. The Greeks had a goddess of bread grains in whose honour they built a magnificent temple: the Egyptians used bread as a sacrifice and cast it upon the waters of the Nile to honour their gods. The Jews attached immense religious and symbolic importance to bread and this importance grew rather than diminished with the emergence of Christianity. Today, as al the birth of the Christian religion, bread is used to symbolize spiritual food in the most solemn of Christian rituals. Moslems, toe, revere bread as the staff of life' and indeed the Arabic word for bread means 'life'. In addition to its importance in religion, bread is also an important symbol in everyday living, and many customs and superstitions have grown up around it. Today, no Harvest Festival would be complete without a loaf of bread in the place of honour symbolizing our dependence on the fruits of the harvest, but in earlier days bread was honoured not just as a symbol but having important magical properties. When a field of wheat had been harvested the last sheaf of wheat was carefully preserved and used to make a special loaf of bread which was believed to provide protection against ill-health and bad fortune to all who ate it. A piece of the same loaf, if placed on the field from which the wheat had come, was
  • 51. ٤٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I thought to ensure a plentiful harvest in the following year. In the Middle Ages bread was thought to have remarkable medicinal powers. The Jews considered bread to have such potent properties that they believed that a loaf of bread and a bottle of water hung up in a house would protect not only the occupants, but the rest of the community, from cholera. In Algeria a paste of bread, pepper and garlic was applied to the face as a cure for neuralgia and headaches. In Britain the remedy used for headaches sounds more attractive even if no more likely to be effective; it involved eating toasted bread which had been dipped in cider. Religion, superstition, taboos and medicine; bread is so much a part of life that it has intimate connections with all of these Because of this, people's attitude to bread is often significant of their general attitude to life. Allan G.Cameron Food: Facts and Fallacies
  • 52. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٤٩ Reading Skills ١. What is bread a symbol of, according to the passage? ٢. Why do Arabs use the same word for bread and life? ٣. What are the diseases that are thought to be cured by bread? ٤. Why do people preserve the last sheaf of wheat in a harvest? Vocabulary Try to figure out the meaning of these words using other information from the reading or your own experience. • • • • • magnificent rituals plentiful ensure remedy Discussion What are the superstitions connected with bread in your culture?
  • 53. ٥٠ English Comprehension Primer Level I (٦) VITAMIN MAGIC Today, more than half a century after their discovery, vitamins are still thought of as being mysterious or even magical by many people. How many people have knowingly handled, tasted or seen vitamins? Most people talk confidently about carbohydrates, fats and proteins but falter when it comes to vitamins.Why should this be so? The reason is almost certainly that carbohydrates, fats and proteins are commonplace and form the major part of what we eat; moreover we have a good idea what they are like. We know that sugar is pure carbohydrate and that cereal foods are mainly carbohydrates; we know that lard is pure fat and that margarine and butter are nearly so; we also know that meat, fish and cheese are good sources of protein, even if we are not exactly sure what the protein itself is like, But when it comes to vitamins we only know that food contains them in minute quantities and we cannot visualize them. Although something of an aura of mystery and magic still surrounds them, vitamins have recently been the subject of so much publicity - not least in the form of advertising - that nearly everyone is at least conscious of their existence. This has been proved by a recent national survey sponsored by the UK Margarine and Shortening Manufacturers' Association. The survey, which involved nearly one thousand adults, was carried out in an attempt to discover how much people know about the food they eat and also their attitude to it. The report of the survey, referred to in what follows as the '١٩٦٩ national survey', shows that only ١ percent of those questioned had never
  • 54. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٥١ heard of vitamins. While this result may give pleasure to both educationalists and advertisers of vitamins, it should not be allowed to obscure the fact that although almost everyone has heard of vitamins; not many people know much about them. As one of the people questioned in the survey commented, 'You see all these vitamins in babies' food and you think it must be good. You don't know what it is of course'. There was a time-before the discovery of vitaminswhen many thousands of people died each year because their food lacked the vitamins needed to keep them healthy. Nowadays-although many people in underdeveloped countries still suffer from diseases caused by a deficiency of vitamins in their diet-members of our affluent society are more likely to suffer from a surfeit of vitamins than from a lack of them. In countries such as America and Britain, where vast sums are expended in promoting vitamin preparations, millions of vitamin tablets and tons of special vitamin foods are consumed each year by people who not only have no need of them, but who are more likely to suffer ill-effects from overconsumption than enjoy the benefits promised by the promoters. Allan G. Cameron Food: Facts and Fallacies
  • 55. ٥٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills ١. What is the main idea in the first paragraph? ٢. Why do people believe they know carbohydrates and proteins? ٣. What is magical about vitamins? ٤. Can abundance be a disadvantage? Write a sentence from which this idea can be inferred. Vocabulary Fill in the blanks with one of the following words: falter - promoter - affluent - surfeit – nutritional ١. She proved herself to be a good …. Of certain items: the things she advertised sold a lot. ٢. In … circumstances, they usually travel abroad. ٣. Being unprepared, he …when he received the exam paper. ٤. Some …facts will certainly help people to lead a happy, healthy life. ٥. We had a …of food after the party. Discussion Do you think that people in developed countries are healthier than people in underdeveloped ones?
  • 56. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٥٣ (٧) WOMEN'S WORK IN HISTORY In ١٨٥٠, ٣٠ per cent of the workforce was female, but the idea was growing, among men at least, that in a perfect world, women should not need to earn their bread at all. Most women's jot those days were very low-grade, of course. In ١٨٦١, four-fifths women who were working were employed in domestic service the textile industry. In ١٨٨٤, Factory Acts, trying to be humanitarian, excluded women from working night shifts, and limited their working hoi twelve a day. Those women working in tedious menial because they came from poor families, used to sit at their loom; dream that they would entrap some rich man and never ha١ work again. Few did, of course. But at the same time, some of the more middleclass women were realizing that work of the right sort could actually enhance their lives and give them greater purpose and challenge. There always been women who rebelled against the status quo of day, but somehow nothing very much happened to improve female career conditions until going quietly mad at home decided campaign for the right to education and a profession, as w money of their own A few of the more far-sighted realized that marriage, children and a life of choosing dresses and visiting other ladies in similar materially comfortable circumstances, need not be all that life could offer. Why, they asked, could a man become a lawyer, a minister of religion, go to public school and receive a university
  • 57. ٥٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I education when all these were denied to girls? Surely it couldn't be that girls were less intelligent than boys? That had been the assumption, of course. But as soon as it was put to the test, everybody began to realize that girls had brains, too. The trouble was that, as soon as they were allowed to take exams, they disturbed all the males by coming top. This would never do at all. The only way to make sure women stayed in their proper, subordinate place was to exclude them from the profession, by law. So this was done. Women were not allowed to enter medical schools or the universities. They were not allowed to practise as barristers or solicitors, even if they passed all their law exams. They were barred from taking Civil Service exams. But one by one, as pressure from women built up, and citadels were stormed, these laws were relaxed. Gradually, by sheer campaigning on their own behalf, women succeeded in gaining admittance to universities, obtaining degrees and entering the professions. Liz Hodgkinson, The Working Woman’s Guide
  • 58. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٥٥ Reading Skills: ١. Why did women wish to stop working in the eighties of the ١٩th century? ٢. What does the word 'far-sighted' in line ٢٩ show about the writer's attitude towards women's work? ٣. According to the writer, why were women not allowed to enter universities? ٤. What does 'citadels were stormed' in line ٤٩-٥٠ refer to? ٥. What is the attitude of the writer towards males in the fifth paragraph? Vocabulary: Put the following words into sentences to reveal their meaning: • according to the passage: • workforce • humanitarian • looms • campaign • admittance Discussion Do you agree with the writer that working women were far-sighted? Give reasons for your answer.
  • 59. ٥٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I (٨) A POSITIVE APPROACH TO YOUR CAREER The first step on the road to a good career is not to see any work you do, however humble it may seem, as 'just a job'. This little word 'just' is one that hampers and handicaps women. How many women do you meet who inform you that they are 'just' a housewife, or 'just' a secretary, or 'just' the office dogs body, or that they 'just' have a part-time job? At the very outset, you must set yourself goals. This is or prime importance, other wise you drift on, not knowing where you are supposed to be going. Psychologist Tom Crabtree, who writes in Cosmopolitan magazine, has this valuable advice on goal setting: First of all, he says, the goals must be realistic. It's no use saying: I want to be rich and famous. You have to know how you are going to achieve this and, more importantly, why you want to be rich and famous. If setting goals is a new concept for you, here are Tom Crabtree's tips: ١. First of all, forget the past. Instead of trying to be somebody else, start being yourself. ٢. Make a fist of the goals you would like to achieve, and set about achieving them. ٣. Don't make promises to yourself that you don't intend to keep ٤. Concentrate on your own goal. There will be plenty of people who try to persuade you to help them reach their goals. (It's very common for a wife to
  • 60. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٥٧ help her husband get to the top, be a good hostess for him, make a nice home and so on, but rare, the other way round.) ٥. Don't compare goals -- just get there. Let others climb Everest, and you choose your own hills to climb. ٦. Start with reachable goals, and then work hard towards more ambitious ones. You may, for some reason, have missed out on an academic school career, and left school at ١٥ or ١٦. Perhaps you hated school, hated work, or hated your teachers. It is a fact that girls do less well in subjects when the teacher is popular. Anyway, for whatever reason, you have left school without that clutch of ٠ and A- levels that would seem to open up career doors. Is all lost ? Not a bit of it. You can still set yourself goals and, one by one, begin to achieve them. It is true that nobody will give you a good job, just like that, when you are very young, have no experience of the working world, and have few paper qualifications to offer either. But you can still see the eventual job you do get as an important step along the way. I feel it is far better to get a job -- any job - than going straight onto the dole and getting out of bed at noon each day. That way of life rapidly leads to depression which, in turn, can lead to anger and frustration. There is no need at all for anybody to be unemployed. There is always something you can do, from taking next door's dog for a walk, to getting on with your novel, to typing out people's theses. There can never be any excuse at all for sitting around all day doing nothing.
  • 61. ٥٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I For most school leavers, however, the first hurdle to overcome is to find that very first job. These days it can take some doing but, with the right attitude, you can do it. Whenever you go for a job you are liable to find yourself in competition with many other young people, and it can be very easy to lose heart and feel you are rejected before you even start. You must never - ever give up, though, and, however hopeless it seems, continue to write letters, apply for jobs and seek out opportunities. Liz Hodgkinson The Working Woman's Guide
  • 62. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٥٩ Reading Skills ١. What is the main idea in the first paragraph? ٢. Why are the words 'how' in Iine١٨ and 'why' in line ١٩ written in italics? ٣. What do you understand from Crabtree's words, “Let others climb Everest and you choose your own hills to climb?” ٤. According to the text, what should the person who left school at the age of ١٥ or ١٦ do ? ٥. Summarize the ideas in the last paragraph. Vocabulary Try to guess the meaning of the following words from context: • handicap • valuable • popular • school leavers • frustration Discussion Do you find Crabtree's advice applicable to our society? Give reasons for your answer.
  • 63. ٦٠ English Comprehension Primer Level I (٩) THE ARAB UNIVERSITY Three important institutions were given by the Middle Ages to he modern world - hospitals, observatories and universities, it has been long accepted in the West that the first two of these came from he Arabian civilisation of Islam. Although the Greeks invented a number of astronomical instruments, the observatory came into existence under the Islamic empire. The first permanent observatory was founded by the Caliph Ma'mun (reigned AD ٨١٣-٨٣٣) in Baghdad about the year ٨٣٠. The Arabs made many contributions to medicine in the Middle Ages, but the most important was the establishment of numerous hospitals. Although they did not actually invent the hospital, they devoted a great deal to the organisation, financing and upkeep of hospitals. Now these are characteristics of hospitals ill over the world. There is also evidence to show that the third great medieval institution, the university, was to a large extent an invention of Islamic civilisation. Western historians have, however, been reluctant to recognise the similarities between Muslim and Christian centuries of higher education in the Middle Ages. They have been even more reluctant to accept that these similarities are due to the influence of Muslim learning on Christian learning, even when they admitted that many of the university textbooks used in the Middle Ages were translated from Arabic.
  • 64. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٦١ Among the authors of scientific, medical and philosophical textbooks were Muslim scholars such as Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd). This suggests that the European universities which used such textbooks must have had very important links with the civilisation which produced them. Thus, we must look for the origins of the medieval university in Islamic culture. To begin with, it is accepted that there were Muslim centres of higher learning well over a century before the earliest ones in Europe. The mosque-college of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez (Morocco) was founded in AD ٨٥٩, that of Cordoba in the first half of the tenth century, the mosque-college of al-Azhar in Cairo in Ad ٩٧٢, and the 'House of Wisdom' (Dar al-Hikmah) in the same city in the eleventh century. In Europe the appearance of the first centres of higher learning was much later - the universities of Bologna, Paris and Montpellier were certainly not in existence earlier than the twelfth century. When these early universities appeared in Christian Europe they had many features in common with their Islamic counterparts. The students were generally organised in 'nations'-that is, they Were grouped for purposes of accommodation for students from Morocco, from Upper Egypt, from Iraq and so on; at the University of Paris the student body included the 'English nation' , the 'Flemish nation١, and others.Traces of this geographical organisation of Students remains in the names of some of the Oxford colleges, such as Lincoln, Worcester, Hertford and so on.
  • 65. ٦٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I Another similarity was the distinctive form of dress, the gown, worn by university teachers for lectures and other official functions. The wearing of loose gowns of a very similar style to those used in Europe was a feature in the great medicine centres of Islamic learning. There is also an interesting resemblance between the names of the Christian and Muslim institutions of higher learning. The European term for a university, stadium generale, looks very much like a translation of the Arabic term majlis aamm, which means a 'general gathering for study'. Again, the tradition of the wandering scholar was known in the lands of Islam long before it became a feature of scholastic life in the Christian world. Muslim students felt that no one professor had a (command of a whole field of study, and so moved from one centre of learning to another throughout their academic career. R. Y. Ebied and M.J.L. Young "The Arab University’ (The Times Higher Education Supplement)
  • 66. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٦٣ Reading Skills ١. What is the attitude of the writers towards Islamic Civilization? ٢. What are Western historians willing to admit is taken from Islamic civilization? ٣. What is meant by organizing the students in 'nations'? ٤. What do you know about Avicenna and Averroes from the passage? ٥. What is a 'wandering Scholar'? Vocabulary Fill in the blanks with words from the passage: ١. This dress is too …I need to change it with tighter one. ٢. The …in this hotel is very comfortable. ٣. The …life in Oxford is rich. ٤. The…between Ayman and his father is astonishing. ٥. He seemed … to help, so we had to depend on ourselves. Discussion The role played by Islamic civilization in building Western civilization is a bit exaggerated in this passage.
  • 67. ٦٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I (١٠)THE SCIENTIST’S DUTY It is impossible in the modern world for a man of science to say with any honesty, " My business is to provide knowledge, and what use is made of the knowledge is not my responsibility." The knowledge that a man of science provides may fall into the hands of evil men. Institutions that follow completely unworthy aims may seize the scientist's findings. I do not suggest that a man of science, or even a large number of men of science, can altogether prevent this. They can, however, make it easy to misuse their discoveries There is another way in which men of science can attempt to provide leadership. They can emphasise the value of those branches of science which have beneficial uses rather than harmful ones. Imagine what might be done if the money at present spent on arms and weapons were spent on increasing the world's food supply and reducing the pressure of population. In ten or twenty years poverty and hunger which now afflict more than half the grid's population could be ended. But at present almost all the governments of great states consider that it is better to spend money on killing foreigners than on keeping their own people alive. Ways of improving people's living conditions can best be worked out by en of science; and, since they can do this work better than others, it is their duty to do it. As the world becomes more unified by technology, life in an ivory tower becomes increasingly impossible. The scientist can no longer cut himself off from the rest of human activity. Furthermore, the man who resists the powerful organisations which control most of our lives may find
  • 68. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٦٥ himself no longer in the ivory tower, with a wide view over a sunny landscape, but in the dark dungeon upon which the ivory tower was erected. It demands courage to risk imprisonment. But it may be necessary to risk imprisonment, to show courage, in order to prevent disaster. Everybody knows that the modern world depends upon scientists. If men of science protest loudly enough, they must be listened to. We scientists have it in our power to make a better world; and, therefore, with whatever difficulty and risk, we must make it. ERTRAND RUSSEL Portraits from Memory (Allen & Unwin, ١٩٥٦)
  • 69. ٦٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills ١. What is the main idea in the passage? ٢. What is the outcome of the scientist's saying, " My business is to provide knowledge, and what use is made of the Knowledge is not my responsibility”? ٣. What is meant by 'ivory tower' in this context ? ٤. According to the writer, what is the role scientists can play to improve world conditions? Vocabulary Put the following words into sentences to reveal their meaning according to the passage: • • • • • leadership afflict imprisonment landscape pressure Discussion Do you agree with the writer that a scientist has a moral responsibility as well as a scientific one ? Give reasons for your answer.
  • 70. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٦٧ (١١)THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport, and one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the court. The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride, and 'amongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed: And truly’t was a gallant thing to see that crowning show, Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below. Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws; they bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws; With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another. Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a thunderous smother; the bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air; Said Francis then, " Faith, gentlemen, we' re better here than there!" De Lorge's love o ' erheard the King, a beauteous, lively dame, with smiling lips, and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same: She thought, The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be; He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me! King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine, I’ll drop my glove to prove his love; great glory will be mine!' She dropped her glove to prove his love: then looked at him and smiled.
  • 71. ٦٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild! The leap was quick: return was quick; he has regained his place; then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face! By Heaven!' said Francis, 'rightly done!' and he rose from where he sat ‘No love,’,' quoth he, 'but vanity, sets love a task like that!' JAMES HENRY LEIGH HUNT THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS
  • 72. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٦٩ Reading Skills ١. In your own words, describe the scene in the first stanza. ٢. What. does the word 'there' in the last line of the second stanza refer to ? ٣. What does the poet mean by "which always seemed the same" in the second line of the third stanza? ٤. Is there any change of attitude on the part of Count de Lorge in the course of the poem? If yes, describe it. ٥. Describe Francis's attitude towards the act of Count de Lorge's beloved. Vocabulary Try to figure out the meaning of the following words from the context: • horrid • wallowing • smother • wondrous • vanity Discussion Do you approve of what Count de Lorge did? reasons to your answer. Give
  • 73. ٧٠ English Comprehension Primer Level I (١٢) WHERE THERE' S A WILL ....there’s a sobbing relation All the family was gathered To hear poor Grandad's will, Fred was watching Alice, And she was watching Bill, He was watching Arthur, Everywhere he went, But specially at the cupboard, Where Grandad kept the rent. Outside on the patio, The sliding door was closed. And sitting in a chair Was nephew John, his face composed. He said ' Me dear old Grandad, I shall never see you more' And his sheets of calculations Were spread across the floor. Downstairs in the kitchen, Sister Alice blew her nose, Saying 'He always was my favourite, You knew that I suppose ? You couldn't have found a nicer man, I١ ve never come round much more often, If I' d lived just that bit nearer.' Cousin Arthur sat alone, His eyes were wild and rash, And desperately he tried to think Where old folks hid their cash.
  • 74. English Comprehension Primer Level I He'd thought about the armchair. And the mattress on the bed, And he' d left his car at home, And booked a Pickfords van instead. Then there were the bedroom floorboards, He'd studied every crack, And twice, while dusting the commode, He'd rolled the carpet b, But he knew the others watched him, 'You scavengers' he cursed, And every night he prayed, 'Don't let the others find it first'. The day that Grandad's will was read, It came up bright and clear, The solicitor looked round, And said 'Now then, are we all here?' Someone shouted 'Yes' And someone else unscrewed his pen, And someone sat upon his coat, So he could not stand up again. He carefully unfolded it And wonderingly said, "This is the shortest will I ever will have read". He rolled a fag and carefully Laid in a filter tip, While beads of sweat they gathered On Cousin Arthur's lip. ٧١
  • 75. ٧٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I It says: 'Me dear relations, hank you all for being so kind, And out beside the lily pond You will surely find, The half a million pounds With which I stuffed me garden gnome. Which i leave, with great affection, To the Battersea Dogs 'Home' Pam ayres
  • 76. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٧٣ Reading Skills ١. What is the significance of the subtitle? ٢. Is Sister Alice sincere in her sadness? Give reasons for your answer. ٣. Why did Cousin Arthur leave his car and book a van instead? ٤. Why did beads of sweat gather on Cousin Arthur's lip in lines ٦٤-٥? ٥. What shows that Grandad knew his family better than they knew him? Vocabulary Find synonyms of the following words according to their meaning in the passage: • • • • • favourite desperately wonderingly beads affection Discussion Is the scene of the gathered family in the poem a common one? Now would the members of the family act if Grandad were a poor man?
  • 77. ٧٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I (١٣) MARRIED BLISS I had wanted order in my life, and order was what I was getting. Each morning we got up at seven. While Ira did fifteen minutes of chin-ups and push-ups and running in place, while he showered and shaved, I cooked his breakfast: two fried eggs over easy, two strips of bacon, and two slices of buttered toast with jam, orange juice, and coffee. He proudly remarked that he had eaten the exact same breakfast every morning for fifteen years. At ٧٫٣٠ he was out the door and into his red fire chief's car on his way to his office on Main Street. Here he spent the morning selling either Sno Cats or Honda trail bikes, depending on the season. He also investigated insurance claims and discussed convertible versus renewable policies.... As the bell on the steeple of the Community Church chimed twelve, he walked in the door for his lunch of Campbell's tomato-rice soup and a bologna and cheese sandwich on Wonder Bread and coffee. At ١٢٫٥٠ he returned to his office, for more discussions. While Ira was assisting the males of Stark's Bog with their financial planning, I ironed his shirts. He liked them ironed a certain way, folded just so. I patted them fondly as I folded. I scrubbed his toilet bowl. I waxed his floors. Ira's ancestral manse was so vast and rambling that there was no end to the housework. As soon as I had dusted and polished my way through the antique pine furniture to the end of the ell, it was time to return to the formal parlour and start all over again. In short, my married lot was harsh and tediously predictable. I loved
  • 78. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٧٥ it. I adored knowing exactly what I would be doing for the entire upcoming month. I wallowed in the luxurious knowledge of where Ira was at each moment, whom he was with, what my assignments were. I had tasted freedom at the Free Farm. It had killed Eddie, had nearly killed us all. I preferred my new life in this antique stone cage. As the church bell chimed five, Ira would stride in. We ate dinner at six on the nose-steak or chops or a roast, potatoes, bread, pie and coffee. After dinner, Ira would take a cigar from a silver box on the sideboard. He would pour a short glass of brandy. Witt penknife he would carefully cut off the round tip of the cigar. Then he would place the other rounded end in his mouth and suck and twirl it for a while. Finally, he would dip this end in the brandy and then fit on a silver cigar holder. Lighting it, he would draw, deeply and settle back in his rush-seated armchair. 'Are you happy with me, Ginny?' he'd ask anxiously each evening. 'Please tell me if you're not. How will I know if you don't?' 'Ira, I couldn’t be happier,’ I'd reply. 'I love our life together.' And I did. 'So do I, he’d assure me. 'It' s so wonderful having you here. I've been so lonely.' At seven thirty Ira left for his meeting for that evening. (I envied him all his meetings, begrudged them to him: he would have so many entries in his obituary, and I would have none.) (Lisa Alther, Kinflicks)
  • 79. ٧٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills ١. What is the significance of the title, "Married Bliss"? ٢. What is the speaker's attitude towards life in the "antique store Cage"? ٣. What does keeping regular hours for all his activities show about Ira's character ? ٤. What do you think of the kind of life described in the passage? Give reasons for your answer. Vocabulary Put the following words in new contexts to show a similar meaning to that in the passage: • • • • • Tediously Predictable Luxurious begrudged Obituary Discussion Do you believe that marriage is bliss? Give reasons for your answer.
  • 80. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٧٧ (١٤) SMALL WORLD The job of check-in clerk at Heathrow, or any other airport, is not a glamorous or particularly satisfying one. The world is mechanical and repetitive: inspect the ticket, check it against the passenger list on the computer terminal, tear out the ticket from its folder, check the baggage weight, tag the baggage, ask Smoking or Nonsmoking, allocate a seat, issue a boarding pass. The only variation in this routine occurs when things go wrong when fights are delayed or cancelled because of bad weather or strikes or technical hitches. Then the checker bears the full brunt of the customers' fury without being able to do anything to alleviate it. For the most part the job is a dull and monotonous one, processing people who are impatient to conclude their brief business with you, and whom you will probably never see again. Cheryl Summerbee, a checker for British Airways in Terminal One at Heathrow, did not, however, complain of boredom. Though the passengers who passed through her hands took little notice of her, she took a lot of notice of them. She injected interest into her job by making quick assessments of their characters and treating them accordingly. Those who were rude or arrogant or otherwise unpleasant she put in uncomfortable or inconvenient seats, next to the toilets, or beside mothers with crying babies. Those who made a favourable impression she rewarded with the best seats, and whenever possible placed them next to some attractive member of the opposite sex. In Cheryl Summer bee ' s hands, seats allocation was a fine art, as delicate and complex an operation as arranging blind dates between
  • 81. ٧٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I clients of a lonely hearts agency. It gave her a glow of satisfaction, a pleasant sense of doing good by stealth, to reflect on how many love affairs , and even marriages , she must have instigated between people who imagined they had met by pure chance. Cheryl Summerbee was very much in favour of love. She firmly believed that it made the world go round, and did her bit to keep the globe spinning on its axis by her discreet management of the seating on British Airways Tridents. (From Small World by David Lodge)
  • 82. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٧٩ Reading Skills ١. What is the topic of the first paragraph? ٢. Why is it boring to work as a check-in clerk at an airport? ٣. Is Cheryl Summerbee a romantic person? Give reasons for your answer. ٤. What is Summerbee’s way of punishing rude and arrogant passengers? Vocabulary Try to guess the meaning of the following phrases from the context: • • • • • tag the baggage technical hitches take a lot of notice blind dates lonely hearts agency Discussion What do you prefer: dealing with an ordinary check-in clerk or with somebody who is similar to Cheryl Summerbee? Give reasons for your answer.
  • 83. ٨٠ English Comprehension Primer Level I (١٥) MERMAIDS In folklore mermaids are either found maritime regions, particularly along the Scottish coasts, or in pools and rivers in the heart of England. Those from inland waters are undoubtedly lost gods or goddesses of the Celtic or earlier religion. Mermaids from the sea were common on the northern shores of Scotland and stories about them probably originated with the observation of seals. They coveted the love of men and seduced them with offers of treasure from sunken ships. They would then lull their captive to sleep with sweet singing and hold him confined in sea caves for ever. Their reason for wanting to marry a human was that they could' then discard their tail for legs. Mermaids in Orkney tradition were really the lovely daughters of the Fin Folk, who resembled tall dark men but were clad in close-fitting silver scales. They lived in a magic realm under the sea but also cultivated farms on land. As they grew older they aged quickly and became repulsively ugly. It was to escape this fate that mermaids wished to become human. Sometimes the situation was reversed and a human woman married to a mermaid or selchie. Among the supernatural powers of mermaids were those of being able to grant wishes and of uttering curses. In the late Roman period a mermaid cast up on the shores of Conway Bay cursed the town of Conway
  • 84. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٨١ when its inhabitants refused to help her back to the water. She foretold a fish famine, which happened in the next century, and declared that the citizens of the town would always be poor. A fairly well-known mermaid of the second sort, the denizen of; inland waters, was that of Child’s Ercali, in Shropshire. She appeared by a pond at an unspecified date to the utter astonishment of two farm labourers on their way to work. In the pond, she told them, was an immense treasure, and to prove it she brought up a huge gold nugget. The men were so amazed that one of them naturally expressed his feelings in an oath, whereupon the mermaid and the gold sank into the water and were never seen again. (Ralph Whitlock In Search of Lost Gods)
  • 85. ٨٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills ١. According to the passage, how can you describe a mermaid? ٢. Do mermaids have male counterparts? Give evidence from the passage ٣. Why is it dangerous to come across a mermaid? ٤. What is the positive side of meeting a mermaid? ٥. Why would mermaids like to get married to humans? Vocabulary Put the following words into sentences to reveal their meaning according to the passage: • • • • • Captive Ugly Supernatural Famine lull. Discussion Do you believe in the existence of mermaids? Give reasons for your answer.
  • 86. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٨٣ (١٦) CATS Much of the ill-treatment meted out to cats in past centuries (and it was severe) was due to the belief that they were really witches in disguise. Until quite recently some people were very careful about what they said when a cat was present, in case the animal turned back into human shape and repeated what it had heard. Cats were, and probably still are, credited with psychic powers. They are said to have foreknowledge of approaching disasters. When a cat deserts a house where a person is lying sick, that person will shortly die. When in the Fen country cats go upstairs to sleep, a flood is imminent - and there are many instances to confirm the accuracy of this belief. Cats are said to be effective killers of adders, and the prejudice against May kittens (superficially nonsensical) is probably due to the fear that by the late summer, when adders are numerous, they would bring adders into the house. Black cats are, of course, especially lucky, though a pure white cat also brings good luck if it is seen by chance. On the other hand, sailors, they liked to have a black cat on board, would never mention the word cat, referring to them instead by some euphemism. The same applied to miners in Cornwall. Fenland fishermen believed that cats could hear fish swimming under water and so based their activities on observation of cats' behaviour. A widespread superstition is that a cat should not be allowed near a sleeping child, lest it should suck the baby's breath, but that may well be an instance of a wise precaution for the wrong reason , for cats have been known to suffocate a baby by lying on its face. A cat’s sneezing is a lucky omen.
  • 87. ٨٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I Reading Skills ١. What psychic powers are cats believed to possess? ٢. What evidence do black cats give of the great difference in superstitious beliefs from one culture to the other? ٣. Why is it a wise precaution to keep cats away from babies? ٤. What does "the same" in line ٢٧ refer to? ٥. According to the passage, in what way can cats be useful? Vocabulary Fill in the blanks with a word from the passage: ١. The belief in … is a universal phenomenon. ٢. I have to take certain … while setting off a journey. ٣. The … of a helps in taking precautions against it. ٤. It is a widespread Egyptian superstition that black cats are an ill … ٥. 'Pass away' is a …for 'die'. Discussion What other animals or birds are said to have supernatural powers?
  • 88. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٨٥ (١٧) THE ADVENTURES OF A SHILLING Joseph Addison (١٦٧٢-١٧١٩) was a scholar, traveller and essayist. He was a close friend of Swift and Steele, but quarrelled with the latter before his death. In the following essay, Addison describes how a shilling was made and was used. It seemed to me that the shilling that lay upon the table raised itself upon its edge , and turning the face towards me , opened its mouth , and in a soft , silver sound , gave me the following account of his life and adventures : “I was born (said he) on the side of a mountain, near a little village of Peru, and made a voyage to England with Sir Francis Drake. I was, soon after my arrival, taken out of my old dress, refined, and put into the English fashion, with the face of Queen Elizabeth on one side, and the arms of the country on the other. Being thus provided, I found in myself a wonderful desire to wander, and visit all parts of the new world into which I was brought. The people very much liked me, and moved me so fast from hand to hand, that before I was five years old, I had travelled into almost every corner of the nation. “But at the beginning of my sixth year, to my unspeakable sorrow, I fell into the hands of a miserable old fellow who shut me in an iron chest, where I found five hundred more of my own sort, who were in the same prison. The only relief we had was to be taken out and counted over in the fresh air every morning and evening.
  • 89. ٨٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I After an imprisonment of several years, we heard somebody knocking at our chest and breaking it open with a hammer. This we found was the old man's heir, who, as his father lay dying, was good enough to come to set us free. He separated us that very day. What was the fate of my companions I do not know: as for myself, I was sent to a shop for some wine. The shopkeeper gave me to a woman, and the woman gave me to a butcher. In this way ١ passed merrily through the world; for, as I told you before, we shillings love nothing so much as travelling. I sometimes fetched in a piece of meat, and sometimes a book. In the midst of this pleasant progress which I made from place to place, I was seized by a foolish old woman, who shut me up in a dirty purse. She did this because of a foolish saying that, 'While she kept a Queen Elizabeth's shilling about her, she would never be without money." I continued there a close prisoner for many months, till at last I was exchanged for forty-eight farthings. “thus wandered from pocket to pocket till the beginning of the civil wars, when, to my shame be it spoken , I was employed in raising soldiers against the king.' (Joseph Addison, A Book of English Essays)
  • 90. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٨٧ Reading Skills ١. How can a shilling travel? ٢. What are the two instances of imprisonment mentioned by the shilling in the passage? . ٣. Why is the old man described as ‘miserable’? ٤. Why is the old man’s heir thought to be 'good' by the shilling? ٥. Why is the old woman in the fourth paragraph described as 'foolish'? Vocabulary Write the meaning of the following words as they occur in their context: • • • • • refined merrily fetched exchanged raising soldiers Discussion Make up a similar story from the point of view of an Egyptian pound.
  • 91. ٨٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I Part I Answer Keys Fictional story-telling The visual arts: are the arts of painting and sculpture, rather than literature and music. I think that schools often put too little emphasis on learning about the visual and performing arts. Annual {adjective} happening once every year, or relating to a period of one year an annual event/festival/convention/show/visit/holiday annual income/salary/profit/interest/rainfall/subscription attend to be at or go to (an event, place, etc.) A large number of people attended the funeral/the meeting/the court. Schedule noun [C] a list of planned activities or things to be done showing the times or dates when they are intended to happen or be done
  • 92. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٨٩ fiction noun the type of book or story which is written about imaginary characters and events and not based on real people and facts, or a false report or statement which you pretend is true The author insists that the book is a work of fiction and not intended as a historical account. [U] Speculation noun The rumours that they are about to marry have been dismissed as pure speculation. [U] After he was dropped from the team, speculation about his future plans was rife. [U] addiction noun Her previous novel dealt with her recovery from drug addiction. [U] For years she was dependent on drugs and drink and it was only in her fifties that she finally managed to overcome these addictions. [C] He is trying to cure himself of his addiction to alcohol.[U] Alternatives (something that is) different from something else, esp. from what is usual, and offering the possibility of choice There must be an alternative to people sleeping on the streets.[C]
  • 93. ٩٠ English Comprehension Primer Level I We are not going to rule out every other alternative. [C] I'm afraid I have no alternative but to ask you to leave (= that is what I have. Libraries and the digital revolution lurch verb [I] to move in an irregular way, esp. making sudden movements backwards or forwards or from side to side A crowd of drunken football supporters lurched down the street, singing and shouting. giggle verb [I] to laugh repeatedly in an uncontrolled and childish way, often at something silly or something that you know you should not be laughing at Once one child starts giggling it starts the whole class off. Substantial (LARGE) adjective large in size, value or importance The findings show a substantial difference between the opinions of men and women. She inherited a substantial fortune from her grandmother. Intellect noun [U]
  • 94. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٩١ the ability to think intelligently and understand, or the ability to do these things to a high level An intellect is also a highly educated person whose interests are studying and other activities that involve careful thinking. Intellectual noun [C] An intellectual is a highly educated person whose interests are studying and other activities that involve careful thinking and mental effort. She was too much of an intellectual to find teaching young children rewarding. He had no time for intellectualism and would never analyse a film or book that he had read. Digitize UK usually -ise verb [T] When information is digitized, it is put into the form of a series of the numbers zero and one, usually so that it can be processed by a computer. Megalomania noun [U] the belief that you are very much more important and powerful than you really are She has a bad case of megalomania, and always wants to take charge of everything she gets involved in. Pollution
  • 95. ٩٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I Glasshouse (plural-houses) usually greenhouse (plural greenhouses) noun [C] a building with glass sides and roof for growing plants in; a large greenhouse He's a commercial tomato grower with ten glasshouses. Climate noun the general weather conditions usually found in a particular place In some parts of the world there is an extreme climate, and it is very hot in summer and very cold in winter. reproduce (of living things) to produce young If this generation of young women don't start reproducing soon there will be a fall in the population. Reproduction noun [U] The group is researching reproduction in elephants/the reproduction of elephants. Teaching about human reproduction was widespread in schools but only half of all ١٦-year-olds had discussed 'personal relationships' in the classroom. The reproduction rate is the rate at which a population produces new members by birth.
  • 96. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٩٣ Environment (NATURE) noun [U] the environment (the quality of) the air, water and land in or on which people, animals and plants live Certain chemicals have been banned because of their damaging effect on the environment. We're not doing enough to protect the environment from pollution. Related words Contaminate verb [T] to spoil the purity of (something) or make it poisonous Much of the coast has been contaminated by nuclear waste. The food which had been contaminated was destroyed. Contamination noun [U] The water supply is being tested for contamination (= the presence of unwanted or dangerous substances). Related words A coral reef is a bank of coral, the top of which can sometimes be seen just above the sea.
  • 97. ٩٤ English Comprehension Primer Level I An English professor confesses Stimulate verb [T] to encourage (something) to grow, develop or become active The government plans to cut taxes in order to stimulate the economy. The book was an attempt to stimulate discussion of the problem of global warming. Stimulant noun [C] Tourism has acted as a stimulant to the country's economy (= It has made the economy grow). Phonograph noun [C] US old use for record player, see at record Psychology noun [U] the scientific study of the way the human mind works and how it influences behaviour, or the influence of a particular person's character on their behaviour She studied psychology at Harvard.
  • 98. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٩٥ Abridge verb [T] to make (a book, speech, article, etc.) shorter I've only read the abridged edition/version of her novel. Related words memorize, verb [T] to learn (something) so that you will remember it exactly She has memorized all her friends' phone numbers. When I was at school, we were required to memorize a poem every week. Scientists Dilemma Humanitarian adjective, noun (a person who is) involved in or connected with improving people's lives and reducing suffering Bacteriology noun [U] the scientific study of bacteria and other very small living things, esp. those which cause disease Related words
  • 99. ٩٦ English Comprehension Primer Level I Weaponry noun [U] nuclear/conventional weaponry (= weapons in general) Threat noun [C] a suggestion that something unpleasant will happen, esp. if a particular action or order is not followed She left the country under threat of arrest if she returned. Dilemma noun [C] a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two possibilities, both of which are often unpleasant The poor girl is caught in/facing the dilemma of obeying her father or marrying the man she loves. A work of art Category (in a system for dividing things according to appearance, quality, etc.) a type, or a group of things having some features that are the same There are three categories of accommodation - standard, executive and de luxe. Some social scientists try to divide a population into categories according to how much money people earn. Related words.
  • 100. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٩٧ Common belonging to or shared by two or more people We've got a lot of interests in common/common interests (= We've have many of the same interests). Orchestrate If a piece of music is orchestrated, it is arranged or written to be played by an orchestra. Container A container is a hollow object, such as a box or a bottle, which can be used for holding something esp. for the purposes of carrying or storing. an unbreakable container a plastic drinks container She kept the buttons in an old ice-cream container. To containerize is to put goods in a large standard-sized metal box for transport, or to make a port, ship, etc. suitable for this method of transport. The goods must be containerized for export. Character a person, esp. when you are describing a particular quality that they have She's a curious/interesting character - I don't really know what to think of her.
  • 101. ٩٨ English Comprehension Primer Level I Part II Answer Keys (١) William Shakespeare Reading Skills: ١. The biography of William Shakespeare. Or New information on Shakespeare’s life. ٢. Shakespeare was imprisoned for theft. He also worked as an apprentice butcher. ٣. Because it was in London he started his career as a playwright. ٤. His plays attracted large audiences and he shared in the profits. ٥. Because it shows that Shakespeare felt insecure and uncertain about his place as a great man whose remains cannot be disturbed. Vocabulary: • • • • • mention (١٫٣٥) genius (١٫٧٢) presume (١٫١١) performance (١٫٤٢) retirement (١٫٥٨)
  • 102. English Comprehension Primer Level I ٩٩ (٢) The History of Pollution Reading Skills: ١. Humorous and sarcastic. ٢. He does not approve of them. ٣. They encourage people to buy the advertised goods. ٤. They polluted the river in which he drowned. Vocabulary: • Super • Fortified • giant. (٣) Carol Reading Skills: ١. She thinks it forces people to do things they do not want to do. ٢. Because it lessens her chances of marriage. ٣. It means that there is no relation between femininity and washing some man's socks. ٤. Because the writer does not believe that it is really work. ٥. He makes her consent to the image of a good woman according to her society.
  • 103. ١٠٠ English Comprehension Primer Level I Vocabulary: • • • • somebody who is unresponsive psychopathic a knowledgeable person or an expert advised her to take a certain medicine - run to. (٤) General Behaviour Reading Skills ١. Good manners are useful and profitable. ٢. Talking about one's illness can be boring and disturbing to others. ٣. "Unwitting discourtesy" is an act of impoliteness that is not done on purpose while "deliberate discourtesy' is an act of impoliteness that is meant to annoy others. ٤. He can know about ft from other people who have been present at the time this thing has been said. ٥. It is an untruth that causes no harm to anybody. Vocabulary: • • • • • • • Disagreeable Indisposed non-acceptance unwitting discourtesy discomfort unhappiness.
  • 104. English Comprehension Primer Level I ١٠١ (٥) Bread as a Symbol Reading Skills: ١. It is a symbol of life and of some religious concepts. ٢. Because, for them, bread is the basic kind of food used by all people and food is essential for any form of living. ٣. Cholera neuralgia and headaches. ٤. To ensure a plentiful harvest in the following year. Vocabulary: • Wonderful • religious rites (certain forms of celebrating a religious- occasion • abundant • make sure that • cure. (٦) Vitamin Magic Reading Skills: ١. The reasons for thinking of vitamins as mysterious. ٢. Because they are commonplace and people have a good idea what they are like. ٣. They are mysterious and people think they can cure all diseases. ٤. Yes, it can. See the last sentence.
  • 105. ١٠٢ English Comprehension Primer Level I Vocabulary: • • • • • Promoter Affluent Faltered Nutritional surfeit (٧) Women's Work in History Reading Skills ١. Because, in those days, most women's jobs were very low-grade. ٢. It shows that she approves of women's work. ٣. Because they were thought to be less intelligent than men. ٤. It refers to rebelling against the old traditions that prevented them from work. ٥. She is prejudiced against them. Vocabulary: All sentences that are grammatical and reveal the meaning of the word are acceptable.