Select a question set to download for
Question 1
Select an answer set to view for
Question 1
Read the following text:
"All of a sudden there was a frightful jarring, followed by a crash. I sat up in my berth. From the rack above me my heaviest suitcase was cannonaded down, catching me with fearful force on either knee-cap.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The writer heard a loud noise but stayed lying down.
The writer was struck by a falling suitcase.
The writer avoided being hit by the suitcase.
The writer was unharmed by the crash.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“And now the journey was almost over. There is no more luxurious sensation than what may be described as the ‘end of term’ feeling. I felt very content.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The writer felt anxious about the end of the journey.
The writer felt regretful about the journey coming to a close.
The writer described the end of the journey as a luxurious feeling.
The writer expressed happiness about the journey overall.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“The carriage was set in motion by only a push and rolled with us down a slope into a tunnel which forms the entrance to the railroad.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The carriage started moving after being pushed.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the tunnel.
The carriage moved uphill into the railroad tunnel.
The carriage was powered by an engine down the slope.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“Almost from the start the track was cut through the solid rock which formed a wall on either side of it, about sixty feet high.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The track was surrounded by walls of solid rock about sixty feet high.
The track was built on solid rock with walls that sloped gently down.
The track was cut through rock but surrounded by walls of earth.
The track was surrounded by walls of solid rock about twenty feet high.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“We then re-joined the rest of the passengers and the carriage set off at its utmost speed, thirty-five miles an hour, swifter than a bird flies, on our return journey.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The carriage travelled faster than thirty-five miles an hour on the return journey.
The passengers set off on a journey at thirty-five kilometres per hour.
The carriage moved at its maximum speed of thirty-five miles an hour on the return journey.
The return journey was slower than the speed of a bird in flight.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“Mr Stephenson and I took our seats on the bench of the train engine and we set off at about ten miles an hour.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The writer sat alone on the bench of the train engine.
Mr Stephenson sat in a carriage separate from the train engine.
The train engine moved unpredictably along the tracks.
The train engine travelled at a speed of ten miles an hour.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“Bridges were thrown from side to side across the top of these cliffs, and the people looking down upon us from them seemed like tiny dolls standing in the sky.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The bridges spanned the cliffs and people on them appeared very small.
The bridges crossed the cliffs and people on them appeared larger than life.
The bridges were built across the cliffs and people stood next to them on the ground.
The bridges spanned the cliffs but no people were visible on them.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“There she lay, in the middle of the wide green plain; the fastest train, the Trans-Siberian Luxury Express. For more than a week she had bullied us.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The Trans-Siberian Luxury Express was the slowest train on the plain.
The Trans-Siberian Luxury Express was stopped on a narrow track.
The Trans-Siberian Luxury Express had been their home for more than a week.
The Trans-Siberian Luxury Express had treated the passengers kindly.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“Fifty yards down the line, the engine, which had parted company with the train, was dug in, snorting steam, on top of the embankment.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The engine remained attached to the train on the embankment.
The engine had separated from the train and was on top of the embankment.
The engine was fifty yards ahead, still pulling the train.
The engine had fallen off the embankment into the field below.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“I could either have read or written; and as it was, I stood up, and with my bonnet off, drank the air before me.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The writer chose to read and write instead of enjoying the fresh air.
The writer kept their bonnet on while standing to read and write.
The writer stood up and removed their bonnet to enjoy the fresh air.
The writer sat down and decided to drink the air from their surroundings.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“Here, we were introduced to the little train engine which was to drag us along the rails. She (for they make these curious little fire-horses all mares) consisted of a boiler, a stove, a small platform, a bench, and behind the bench a barrel containing enough water to prevent her being thirsty on our journey.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The train engine was described as large and powerful.
The train engine lacked a water supply for the journey.
The train engine was referred to as a "fire-horse" and described as a mare.
The train engine was entirely automated without human control.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“She goes upon wheels which are her feet and are moved by bright steel legs called pistons which are propelled by steam. The reins of this wonderful beast are a small steel handle, which applies or withdraws the steam from its legs or pistons, so that a child might manage it. The coals, which are its oats, were under the bench.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The steam-powered machine is described as a beast with wheels for feet.
The reins of the machine are made from its bright steel legs.
The coals powering the machine are compared to its legs and feet.
The steam-powered machine is described as being too difficult for a child to manage.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“It would be difficult to imagine a nicer sort of railway accident. No one was hurt. The weather was ideal. And the whole thing was done in just the right sort of theatrical manner, with lots of twisted steel and splintered woodwork and turf scarred deeply with demoniac force.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The writer thought the accident was disastrous and tragic.
The writer described the accident as uneventful and minor.
The weather made the accident seem worse than it was.
The writer appreciated the dramatic and theatrical nature of the accident.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Read the following text:
“You can’t imagine how strange it seemed to be journeying on thus, without any visible cause of progress other than the magical machine, with its flying white breath and rhythmical, unvarying pace, between these rocky walls. Then, when I reflected that these great masses of stone had been cut asunder to allow our passage far below the surface of the earth, I felt as if no fairy tale was ever half so wonderful as what I saw.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The writer was unimpressed by the machine's movement through the rocky walls.
The writer thought the machine’s "flying white breath" was a magical sight.
The writer reflected that cutting through stone was a routine, everyday feat.
The writer described the experience as mundane compared to a fairy tale.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?
Look at the following text:
“The mail van and the dining-car, which had been in front, lay on their sides at the bottom. Behind them the five sleeping cars, headed by my own, were disposed in attitudes which became less and less grotesque until you got to the last, which had remained, primly, on the rails.”
Choose one statement which is true.
The mail van and dining-car overturned, while the last sleeping car remained upright on the rails.
The mail van and dining-car remained upright, but all the sleeping cars derailed.
The last sleeping car remained undisturbed because it was disconnected from the train.
All the train cars overturned and ended up at the bottom of the slope.
Choose your answer
Did this page help you?