Narrative texts
The Three Sheiks and Queen of Arabia
Maura, who liked to be thought of as the most beautiful and powerful queen of Arabia, had many suitors. One by one she discarded them, until her list was reduced to just threes sheiks, all equally young and handsome, rich and strong. It was very hard to decide who would be the best of them.
One evening, Maura disguised herself and went to the camp of the three sheiks, as they were about to have dinner, and asked them for something to eat.
The first gave her some leftover food; the second gave her some unappetizing camel’s tail; the third sheik, who was called Hakim, offered her some of the most tender and tasty meat. After dinner, the disguised queen left the sheiks’ camp.
The following day the queen invited the three sheiks to dinner at her palace. She ordered her servants to give each one exactly what they had given her the evening before.
Hakim, who received a plate of delicious meat, refused to eat it if the other two could not share it with him, and this act finally convinced Queen Maura that he was the man for her.
“Without question, Hakim is the most generous of you,” she announced her choice to the sheiks, “So, it is Hakim I will marry.”
1. The three sheiks were not…..
A.rich
B.young
C.strong
D.gloomy
E.handsome
2. Which statement is true about the queen?
A.The queen was the most powerful queen in Africa
B.The queen was very proud of her beauty and riches
C.The queen herself served the sheiks with delicious food
D.The queen was very careful in deciding whom the would marry
E.The queen was very satisfied with the food given by the sheiks
3. The queen ordered her servants to give the sheiks the same kind of food she got from them the evening before because……
A.She wanted to entertain her guests
B.She wanted to test the sheiks’ taste
C.She wanted to see the sheiks’ reaction
D.She wanted to make a joke of the sheiks
E.She wanted to repay the sheiks’ kindness
4.The main idea of paragraph six is…..
A.Hakim was an unselfish person
B.Hakim was served with succulent meat
C.Hakim was satisfied with the food served
D.Hakim wanted to share the food with the sheiks
E.Hakim had made the queen find the resolution of her problem
The Princess and the Pea
There once was a prince who wanted to marry a princess, but it had to be real princess. So he went all over the world looking for a real princess. Everywhere he met young ladies told him they were real princess, but could never be completely sure that this was true. There was always something about them that did not seem quite right. And so, after along time, the prince went back home to his parents and was very sad.
One evening there was a terrible storm. It rained heavily and there was thunder and lightning in the sky above the royal castle. Then there was a knock at the castle gate. The old king went out to see who it could be.
A princess was standing outside the gate. The rain ran down over her hair and clothes and into her shoes. She told the king that she was a real princess, and he asked her to come inside.
“Well, said the old queen. We’ll soon find out if that is true. She went into the guest bedroom and took the mattress and blanket of the bed. Then she put a little green pea on the bed. She put twenty mattress on top of the pea, and then twenty mattress on top of the pea, and then twenty blankets on top of the mattress. This was where the princess was going to spend the night.
The next morning the queen asked the princess how she had slept.
“oh, it was terrible” answered the princess. Í didn’t close my eyes all night. I don’t know what was in my bed, but I lay on something hard, and now I am black and blue all over. It was quite a terrible night.”
Now, the king, the queen and the prince could be sure that this was a real princess she had felt the little pea trough twenty mattresses and twenty blankets. Only a real princess will be able to do that.
So the prince married the princess and the pea was put in a museum for everyone to see, unless someone has taken it, it’s still there today.
5. The king, the queen and the prince were sure they have found a real princess because…..
a) the princess was coming to the royal castle
b) the princess had felt the little pea through twenty mattress and twenty blankets
c) the princess told the king that she was a real princess
d) the princess was staying at the royal castle and spent the night there
e) the princess was able to sleep soundly and had a wonderful night
6. The correct rhetoric of the text is…..
a) orientation – complication – reorientation – resolution – evaluation
b) evaluation – reorientation – resolution – orientation – complication
c) orientation – resolution – evaluation – complication – reorientation
d) orientation – evaluation – complication – resolution – reorientation
e) evaluation – reorientation – resolution – complication – orientation
7. “So he went all over the world looking for a real princess.” (Paragraph 1)
The antonym of the underlined word is…..
a) fake
b) true
c) right
d) exact
e) correct
8. “And unless someone has taken it, it’s still there today.” (Last paragraph)
The underlined word has the same meaning with…..
a) because
b) since
c) otherwise
d) if not
e) if
Spoof text
The Blonde and the Lawyer
A blonde and a lawyer are seated next to each other on a flight from LA to NY. The lawyer asks if she would like to play a fun game.
The blonde, tired, just wants to take a nap, politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks.
The lawyer persists and explains that the game is easy and a lot of fun.
He explains, “I ask you a question, and if you don’t know the answer, you pay me $5.00, and vise versa.”
Again, she declines and tries to get some sleep. The lawyer, now agitated, says, “Okay, if you don’t know the answer you pay me $5.00, and if I don’t know the answer, I will pay you $500.00.”
This catches the blonde’s attention and, figuring there will be no end to this torment unless she plays, agrees to the game. The lawyer asks the first question. “What’s the distance from the earth to the moon?” The blonde doesn’t say a word, reaches into her purse, pulls out a $5.00 bill and hands it to the lawyer. “Okay” says the lawyer, “your turn.”
She asks the lawyer, “What goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four legs?” The lawyer, puzzled, takes out his laptop computer and searches all his references, no answer. He taps into the air phone with his modem and searches the net and the library of congress, no answer. Frustrated, he sends e-mails to all his friends and coworkers, to no avail. After an hour, he wakes the blonde, and hands her $500.00.
The blonde says, “Thank you”, and turns back to get some more sleep.
The lawyer, who is more than a little miffed, wakes the blonde and asks, “Well, what’s the answer?” Without a word, the blonde reaches into her purse, hands the lawyer $5.00, and goes back to sleep.
Adapted from http://www.dizzyboy.com
1. The story tells us about …
a. A plane which a blonde and a lawyer took.
b. A lawyer who played a game with a blonde.
c. A lawyer who bet on something with a blonde.
d. A blonde who was tricked by a lawyer.
e. A blonde who lost her money.
2. What did the lawyer want to play with the blonde?
a. hide and seek
b. chicken limbo
c. jump rope
d. guessing game
e. scrabble
3. What was the rule of the game finally?
a. If the blonde could not answer the lawyer’s question, she paid him $5.00, and vise versa.
b. If the blonde could not answer the question, she should pay $5.00. If the lawyer could not answer her question, he should pay $500.00.
c. If the blonde could not answer the lawyer’s question, she paid him $500.00, and vise versa.
d. If the blonde could not answer the lawyer’s question, she paid him $500.00. If the lawyer could not answer her question, he paid her $5.00.
e. If the lawyer could not answer her question, he paid her $500.00. If the blonde could not answer his question, she did not have to pay him.
4. How much money did the blonde benefit from the game?
a. $5.00
b. $50.00
c. $500.00
d. $510.00
e. $490.00
5. Who was cleverer, the blonde or the lawyer?
a. the blonde
b. the lawyer
c. none of them was clever.
d. Both were clever.
e. They were the same.
6. The word “miffed’ in the last paragraph has the similar meaning to…
a. shy
b. happy
c. generous
d. doubt
e. angry
