PRELIMINARY for Schools Reading Assessment Part Four

Multiple-choice gapped text

Read to understand gist and text structure:
choose the correct sentence to put in the gaps. 

EXAMPLE:

Part 4 

 

Questions 16 – 20 

Five sentences have been removed from the text below. 

For each question, choose the correct answer. 

There are three extra sentences which you do not need to use. 

 

 

Planting trees by Mark Rotheram, aged 13 

 

This spring, our teacher suggested we should get involved in a green project and plant some trees around the school.  Everyone thought it was a great idea, so we started looking online for the best trees to buy.    16____  If we wanted them to grow properly, they had to be the right type – but there were so many different ones available!  So our teacher suggested that we should look for trees that grew naturally in our part of the world.    17____ They’d also be more suitable for the wildlife here. 

 

Then we had to think about the best place for planting the trees.  We learnt that trees are happiest where they have room to grow, with plenty of space for their branches.  The trees might get damaged close to the school playgrounds, for example.    18____  Finally, we found a quiet corner close to the school garden – perfect! 

 

Once we’d planted the trees, we knew we had to look after them carefully.  We all took turns to check the leaves regularly and make sure they had no strange spots or marks on them.    19____ And we decided to check the following spring in case the leaves turned yellow too soon, as that could also mean the tree was sick. 

 

We all knew that we wouldn’t be at the school anymore by the time the trees grew tall, and that was a bit sad.  But we’d planted the trees to benefit not only the environment, but also future students at the school.    20____  And that thought really cheered us up! 

 

A So we tried to avoid areas where students were very active.   

B However, our parents did offer to help with the digging!   

C That could mean the tree had a disease.   

D But we soon found that choosing trees was quite complicated. 
  
E It can be quite good for young trees, though.   

F We knew they’d get as much pleasure from them as we had.  

G But at least we were doing it in the right season.   

H That way, the trees would be used to local conditions.