Short Reading Comprehensions

My name is Simon Parkinson and I am a surgeon at James Cook University hospital. Last week, I had the late evening duty and it must have been about two in the morning when I returned home. I was extremely exhausted and needed to go to bed. As I was walking towards the front door, I realised I had forgotten my keys in my other jacket. I tried to wake my wife up by ringing the doorbell, but she was fast asleep, so in a moment of desperation I got a ladder from the shed in the garden, put it against the wall, and began climbing towards the bedroom window. I was almost there when a sarcastic voice below said, 'I don't think the windows should be cleaned at this time of the night.' I looked down and nearly fell off the ladder when to my surprise I saw a policeman. I immediately regretted answering in the way that I did, but I said, 'I enjoy cleaning windows at night.' 'So do I,' answered the policeman in the same tone. 'Excuse me for interrupting you. I hate to interrupt a man while he is busy working, but would you mind coming down to go along with me to the police  station?' 'Well, I would prefer to stay here,' I said. 'You see, I have forgotten my key.' ,Your what?' he said. 'My key,' I shouted. Luckily, the fuss woke my wife up who opened the window just as the policeman had started to climb the ladder to arrest me!

Are these sentences true or false?

1. Mr Parkinson is a doctor.

2. It was very early in the morning.

3. He forgot his keys in the house.

4. Mrs Parkinson was out shopping.

5. Nobody opened the door.

6. Mr Parkinson climbed a tree.

7. A policeman appeared in his garden.

8. He told Simon to clean the window.

9. Simon told the officer he lost his keys.

10. Did the policeman believe him?

11. Who woke up and opened the window.

12. How do you think this story ended?

It was announced in an article in the newspapers yesterday that public bus drivers have decided to go on strike next week. The strike is expected to commence in the early hours of Monday. The article didn’t mention how long it would last, but  the bus drivers have confirmed that the strike will continue until a general agreement is reached about pay and working conditions. It is believed that the strike will last for at least a week. Private taxi companies were very pleased with this announcement as this would mean the public would have to depend on them to get around, which meant an increase in profits during this time. On the other hand, private car owners offered free rides to people on their way to work. This is a good gesture because it will relieve pressure on the trains to some extent. Meanwhile, a number of enthusiastic university students have volunteered to drive the abandoned buses while the strike lasts. All the students are qualified drivers, but before they drive any of the buses, they will have to pass a special test. The students are going to take the test in two days time. Even with this help, people are going to find it difficult to get to work and back. But so far, the public has expressed its gratitude to the students in emails to the Press. Only one or two elderly people have objected the idea with the notion that these students have no experience and will drive the buses recklessly!!

Answer these questions in full sentences after reading the passage above:

1. How was the news spread?

2. What was happening at the beginning of the week?

3. Why was this taking place?

4. Who would be affected?

5. Who welcomed the news? Why?

6. What did car owners offer?

7. Who were volunteering?

8. What were they going to do?

9. What did they have to take before?

10. Where the people happy?

11. What did they send?

12. Do you think it was a good idea? Try to justify your answers.