A seguir textos de diferentes gêneros, acompanhados de questões de compreensão , que podem ser utilizados como atividades adicionais para o desenvolvimento da habilidade de leitura.
1. KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM
The white man drew a small circle in the sand and told the red man, "this is what the Indian knows," and drawing a big circle around the small one, "This is what the white man knows." The Indian took the stick and drew an immense ring around both circles: "This is where the man and the red man know nothing."
(Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), American poet.)
According to the passage above:
1. The white man thought the red man knew ............. .
a) very kuttle b) more than he did c) very much d) nothing e) everything
2. In "... and drawing a big circle around the small one," the word one was used instead of ...... .
a) man b) sand c) circle d) Indian e) white man
3. The red man´s answer showed he had more ......... than the white man.
a) knowledge b) land c) circles d) wisdom e) rings
2. TIT FOR TAT*
George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright who wrote Major Barbara, Pygmalion and many other famous comedies, could be very sarcastic.
He once sent the following note do Wiston Churchill: "Here ae two tickets for the first night of my new play. You may bring a friend - if you have one."
Churchill, then a young politician replied: "I can´t come to the first night of your play, but I may come to the second - If there is one."
(From The Little, Brown Book f Anecdotes, Little Brown & Company, Boston, 1985.)
Mark T ( for true ) or F ( for false ) according to the story above. Correct the false statements.
1. George Bernard Shaw wrote plays.
2. Shaw was from Ireland.
3. The Irish playwright was sometimes sarcastic.
4. Shaw and Churchil did not know each other.
5. Shaw sent only one ticket to Churchill.
6. Shaw told Churchill he was allowed to bring a friend to the play - in case he had a friend.
7. Winton Churchill was an old man at that time.
8. Churchill´s reply was clrever and funny at the same time.
_____________________
* Tit for tat is an expression that corresponds to "pagar na mesma moeda." something you do to harm someone that has harmed you.
3. JUST ONE WORD
The British writer Rudyard Kipling ( 1865-1935 ) , autor of kim, The Jungle Books, and the famous poem If, was very popular. In 1890 an American magazine offered Kipling a contract to write a series of stories for which they would play him a dollar a word, a fantastic offer at the time.
A rich American lady had the hobby of collecting autographs of famous people and she sent Kipling a letter together with a one-dollar bill, asking him to write her "a word". A few days later she received Kipling´s reply. It contained exactly one word: "Thanks".
(From The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes, Clifton Fadman, Little, Brown & Company, Bostom, 1985)
Complete the questions with a question word, as required. Choose from the words below.
( When - why - how - how much - how many - where - whhich - who - what )
1. - .................................. was Rudyard Kipling?
- He was the author of kim, The Jungle Books, If, and many others.
2. - ................................. was Rudyard Kipling born?
- He was born in India, then part of the British Empire.
3. - ........................... did an /American magazine contact Kipling?
- In 1890.
4. - ............................ did the American magazine offer Kipling?
- they offered him a contract.
5. -............................. would they pay him for a series of stories?
- They woud pay him a dollar a word.
6. - ............................ was that a fantastic offer?
- Because it was a lot of money at the time.
7. -........................... hobby did the Lady have, collecting stamps or collecting autographs?
- The lady´s hobby was collecting autographs.
8. - ............................ did the lady communicate with the writer?
- She sent him a letter.
9 - .................................... word did Kipling´s reply contain?
- it contained just one word.
4. ANTIQUITIES
Agatha Christie (1891-1976) was an English writer of detective stories. She wrote about a hunred books and plays. many of which were international sucesses. Some of her books became popular movies, such as Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Her most famous play, The Mousetrap, opened at a London theater in 1952 and it is still running, after nearly 60 years! The Mousetrap has been thrilling audiences for as long as Elizabeth II has been on the throne. She became Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1952.
In 1930, when Agatha Christie was already thirty-nine years old, she married Max Mallowan, an archeologist who made his name excavating in Mesopotania. When they returned form the Middle East, somebody asked the writter how she felt about being married to a man whose main interest was antiquities. "An archeologist is the best husband any woman can have," she said. "The older she gets, the more interested he is in her."
( From The Life of the Party, B. Cerf, and The Little , Brown Book of Anecdotes, Clifton Fadiman,
The Little , Brown & Company, Boston, 1985.)
1. Complete the sentences with the right word, as required.
1. .................... comes frm Greek and means the "Land between two rivers".
a) Middle East b) Nile c) Mespotania d) Orient e) Antiquities
2. An archeologist is a man .................... work is the study of ancient things.
a) who b) how c) whose d) who´s e) which
3. ................. is the journey of no return.
a) Husband b) Age c) Death d) Throne e) Mousetrap
2. Answer in English.
a) What king of stories did Agatha Christie write?
b) How many books and plays did she write?
c) What did some of the stories become?
d) What is her most famous play?
e) Where and when did that play open?
f) Is The Mousetrap still running?
g) Did she marry Max Mallowan when she was young?
h) How did Max Mallowan become famous?
i) What did somebody ask Agatha Christie on her return from the Middle East?
j) Why , according to Agatha Christie, does an archeologist make a good husband?
3. Choose the item that best completes each sentence.
1. Agatha Christite wrote stories about ........................... .
a) success b) nature c) murder d) rivers e) thrones
2.
