Упражнения уровня IELTS по английскому языку. № 9.

Edward's Strange Story

I think that one of the strangest things that ever happened to me occurred about ten years ago. It was when I was travelling by train to see my parents for the Christmas holidays. I remember I had with me a rather large bag; I've always found it impossible to travel anywhere, even for a few days, without packing too much.

Because it was Christmas time, my train was rather crowded, and there was no room for me to put my bag inside the compartment. I therefore decided to leave it outside the compartment, next to the door. Then I found myself a seat, got out my book, and settled down for the rest of the trip.

Everything was perfectly normal until the third stop, when for some reason - I don't quite know why - I thought I should check to see if my bag was still OK. So I got up, went to the door and slid it open. The bag had gone!

Feeling quite sick and not really knowing what to do, I ran to the window and opened it, hoping to find a porter to help me. And there on the platform I saw a tall man calmly carrying my bag toward the exit. I couldn't believe it, especially since he didn't look like a thief. I was just going to shout after him, when something very strange happened. The man simply stopped, placed the bag on the ground, and carried on walking toward the exit. And he did this without seeing me because I was behind him and he was walking away from me.

Of course, I didn't hesitate. I jumped out of the train, ran to my bag, picked it up and hurried back onto the train just as it started moving. I put it down, inside the compartment this time, and sat down, breathless after all the excitement. Of course, I was relieved that I now had my bag, but I still couldn't understand why that person had done such an extraordinary thing. It's a minor incident, I suppose, but I will always remember it.

(1) The train was crowded because…
a) it was quite small. /
b) it was a busy time of the year. /
c) people were going to work. /

(2) At the beginning of the trip, Edward…
a) relaxed. /
b) kept his bag with him. /
c) fell asleep. /

(3) At the third stop, Edward got up because…
a) he saw someone with his bag. /
b) he wanted to check his bag. /
c) he wanted to call a porter. /

(4) The man put down the bag ….
a) because Edward had seen him. /
b) because he realised it wasn't his. /
c) for no obvious reason. /

(5) Edward thought what had happened was….
a) confusing. /
b) amusing. /
c) annoying. /