AD2-READING TASK-JANUARY 2021
OBJECTIVE FIRST
You are going to read an extract from a novel. Five sentences have been removed from the text. Choose
from the sentences A-F the one which fits each gap (1-5). There is an extra sentence you do not need to
use.
‘He’ll be in soon for this,’ thought Mrs Bland, who ran the village shop, putting on her glasses to examine the
envelope more closely. 1. ____________ She hadn’t, at first, objected when he asked if his post might be sent
care of her address. After all, he was new to the village and she liked to oblige people, especially a customer.
He’d taken a cottage, he’d explained, a couple of kilometres out of the village and wanted to be sure of getting his
letters regularly. So, she’d agreed. There seemed no harm in it.
He hadn’t been so odd, either, in those first few weeks; a bit untidy, admittedly, and apparently rather shy, but
anyone could tell he came from a good background; he was well spoken and polite. 2. __________ Where had
he come from and why had he chosen to live in Stokes Cottage? It had been empty for two years because nobody
wanted to live up that lane, far from the main road. The villagers came to the conclusion that the newcomer was
from London and had been ill or, more likely, unlucky in love. He had the withdrawn, faded look of illness or
disappointment.
As the months passed, however, Mrs Bland became less sure of her decision. With time, he became even less
talkative, He would stand silently in the shop, looking out of the window, running his hands through his
increasingly long and untidy-looking beard, if another customer was being served. Nobody could draw him into
conversation, and in the end people gave up trying. Some of them complained that he made them feel uneasy
and avoided coming into the shop while he was there. But, as Mrs Bland said to them, what could she do? He
only came in once a week, on a Friday morning, and she couldn’t refuse to serve him on the grounds that he
wasn’t sociable. ‘Besides,’ she added to herself, ‘I can’t start turning people away for no reason.’
She wondered about him, though, and every week looked at the envelope, hoping to find something. She’d
decided that it must contain money, although she couldn’t be sure as it was never opened in front of her and even
the most curious customers hadn’t dared to question him about it. 3. __________ The London postmark never
changed, and the typewritten address gave no clue as to the sender.
A storm had broken that morning. Mrs Bland had run to put down newspaper to save the flooring tiles from the
wet and mud, and that’s when she saw him coming. He was with his head bent against the downpour.
4. __________
‘Good morning, Mr Smith. What dreadful weather we’re having. I’ve got your letter.’
‘Yes,’ said Smith. He took the envelope and put it, without looking at it, into his inside pocket, handing her in
exchange the shopping list he always had prepared.
She read the list of ítems, saying each one aloud as she fetched it from the shelf and entered the price in the till.
She liked talking. 5. __________ She left that sort of thing to her husband, who was more sociable and better
with words. It is necessary to be careful with what you say in a shop.
A. Even when alone, she talked to herself in her head, but she did not like serious conversations.
B. It was obvious that there was something thin and flat inside, anyway.
C. Every Friday, for over a year, she’d received a letter addressed to Mr Smith.
D. Of course, locals had gossiped about him.
E. When Smith entered the shop, Mrs Bland wanted to start a conversation, although she knew he would
not respond.
F. She didn’t notice his presence, so she kept on organising the shelves.
