Exercise Narrative Text

Choose the best answer!

Text 1

The Archer and the Trumpeter were traveling together in a lonely place. The archer boasted of his skill as a warrior, and asked the Trumpeter if he bore arms.

“No replied the trumpeter, “I cannot fight. I can only blow my horn, and make music for those who are at war.”

“But I can hit a mark at a hundred paces,” said the Archer. As he spoke, an eagle appeared, hovering over the tree tops. He drew out an arrow, fitted it on the string, shot at the bird, which straightway fell to the ground, transfixed to the heart.

“I am not afraid of any foe for that bird might just as well have been a man, “said the Archer proudly. “But you would be quite helpless if anyone attacked you.”

They saw at that moment a band of robbers approaching them with drawn swords. The Archer immediately discharged a sharp arrow, which laid low the foremost of the wicked men. But the rest soon overpowered and bound his hands.

As for this Trumpeter, he can do us no harm, for he has neither sword nor bow,” they said, and didn’t bind him, but took away his pursue and wallet.

Then the trumpeter said, “you are welcome, friends, but let me play you a tune on my horn.”

With their consent he blew loud and long on his trumpet, and in a short space of time the guards of the king came running up at the sound and surrounded the robbers and carried them off to prison.

When they unbound the hands of the Archer, he said to the Trumpeter, “friend, I have learned today that a trumpet is better than a bow; for you have saved our lives without doing harm to anyone.

1.       From the text we know about...

a.       How a trumpeter saved an archer

b.      How an archer saved a trumpeter

c.       What an archer and a trumpeter did to survive

d.      How an archer fought against the robbers

e.       How an archer boasted his skill

2.       What is the main idea of paragraph five?

a.       The archer boasted of his skill

b.      The trumpeter realized his weakness

c.       The trumpeter blew his trumpet to save the archer

d.      The robbers freed the trumpeter

e.       The robbers arrested the archer

3.       What can we learn from the story?

a.       We must trust our own ability

b.      We mustn’t trust our own ability

c.       We mustn’t despise other’s ability

d.      We must despise other’s ability

e.       We must increase our skill

4.       “but I can hit a mark at a hundred paces,” said the archer.” (par 3).

What does the word ‘paces’ have similar meaning to?

a.       Faces

b.      Paths

c.       Distance

d.      Facets

e.       Steps

Text 2

A farmer came across a bird with a broken wing. He picked up, took it home and looked after it lovingly, even though his wife complained bitterly about his wasting too much time on the creature.

After some time, the wing mended and, because the bird didn’t want the farmer to have kept on arguing with his wife all the time, it decided to go back to its nest.

When the farmer discovered that the bird was gone, he was so upset that he went out to look for it. Eventually, he found it again, and was greeted happily by the whole family of the bird. As a sign of their thanks for his care and attention, the birds gave him a little box, and told him not to open it until he got home.

To his surprise, the farmer found the box full of precious stones. When his wife saw them, she decided that she too deserved a reward, and she went to see a bird. The birds gave her a little casket; but this one was full of devils. The devil jumped on her as soon as she opened the casket and chased her away. Left alone, the farmer went to live near his friend, the bird. There he built a hut of perfumed wood; and the birds decorated it with flowers of very kind.

5.       Which of the following statements do you agree with?

a.       The farmer chased his wife away

b.      The farmer lived happily with his wife

c.       The farmer’s wife took care of the bird

d.      The bird was very thankful to the farmer

e.       The farmer’s wife as a very kind woman

6.       The farmer’s new hut was...

a.       Well furnished

b.      Built by the birds

c.        A gift from the bird

d.      Decorated luxuriously

e.       Built of perfumed wood

7.       What do we learn from the text?

a.       A gift shows kindness

b.      Suffering bring happiness

c.       Arguing makes you distressed

d.      A good deed deserved a reward

e.       Having no heart make you isolated

8.      What is the main information discussed in the third paragraph?

a.       The bird left the farmer

b.      The birds welcomed the farmer

c.       The farmer got a little casket from the birds

d.      The farmer was so angry and went out to find a bird

e.       The farmer was happy having got a box of precious stones

Text 3

One day Abu Ali went to the fair, and bought nine donkeys. He rode home on one f them and the rest of the donkeys followed behind.

After a while Abu Ali said to himself, “I must make sure that all my donkeys are here.” And he turned round to count them.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Oh! Where’s number nine?” Abu Ali cried he jumped down from his donkey. He looked behind the rocks and behind the trees. But there was no donkey to be seen.

“I’ll count them again, “Abu Ali said. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Oh he must have come back.”

Abu Ali climbed back on to the donkey and trotted away.

After a while he counted his donkey again. He counted only eight! Once more he looked behind the rock ad behind the trees. But there was no donkey to be seen. “I will count again,” he said, and this time there were nine.

Just then Abu Ali saw his friend Musa walking along the road. “Musa,” he called. “Help me to count my donkey. I keep losing one. When I stop to count I have only eight, but when I get down to look for the ninth, there he is again!”

“Well, I can see ten donkeys, Abu Ali,”laughed Musa. “Ten? How can you see ten?” asked Abu Ali. “ I can see the donkey you are sitting  on and I see eight donkeys behind you.” Said Musa. “Of course!” cried Abu Ali. “How silly of me but where is the tenth donkey?” “He is sitting on top of the ninth donkey,” said Musa. “And his name is Abu Ali.

9.       What is the moral value of the story?

a.       We  should not sit on a donkey when counting

b.      We often cannot see our own mistake

c.       We need to ask friends for help

d.      We should make sure the values of our belongings

e.       We like laughing at each other

10.   What did Musa mean by mentioning the tenth donkey?

a.       Abu Ali’s new donkey

b.      He does not mean anything

c.       Musa implied that Abu Ali is as silly as donkey

d.      Abu Ali is too old to be a donkey

e.       Musa was only helping Abu Ali to count the donkeys

11.    Why did Abu Ali keep losing the ninth donkey?

a.       Because he was careless

b.      Because he was sitting on it

c.       Because he could not count correctly

d.      Because he was not helped by Musa

e.       Because the donkey was hiding

12.    What is the main idea of paragraph 8?

a.       Abu Ali bought nine donkeys at the fair

b.      Musa was walking on the road when Abu Ali rode on his donkeys

c.       Abu Ali turned round to count his donkeys

d.      Abu Ali asked Musa to help him to count his donkeys

e.       Musa saw Abu Ali count is donkeys

13.    What is the text about?

a.       The number of Abu Ali’s donkeys

b.      The way Musa help Abu Ali to count his donkeys

c.       The silliness of  Abu Ali  in counting his donkeys

d.      The day when Abu Ali went to the fair

e.       The place where Abu Ali stopped to count his donkeys

14.    Arrange the following sentences into a good paragraph

(1)    But Minos, fearing Daedalus might reveal the way out, imprisoned him and his son, Icarus

(2)    the way gradually melted and Icarus fell into the sea

(3)    Minotaur was Minos’ own monster son, half man half bull

(4)    Once in Greek, there was a king named Minos

(5)    Luckily, they could escape by making wings of wax and feathers. Daedalus warned Icarus to fly away from the sun

(6)    One day, the king ordered a man called Daedalus to build a place to hold the Minotaur

(7)    Ignoring his warnings, Icarus flew near the sun

(8)   Daedaus built the labyrinth-a maze of tunnels

a.       4-8-6-3-1-5-7-2

b.      4-6-7-8-1-3-5-2

c.       4-6-3-8-1-5-7-2

d.      4-6-3-1-8-5-7-2

e.       4-3-6-8-1-5-7-2

15.    Arrange the following sentences to the form a meaningful paragraph

(1)    However, the cactus never got upset and it even tried to advise the rose, saying, “God did not create any form of life without a purpose”

(2)    Then the rose looked at a cactus and said, “Look at that ugly plant full of thorns!”

(3)    One day a red rose blossomed in a forest. It said proudly. “It seems that I am the most beautiful plant in this forest.”

(4)    The red rose replied, “I see everyone looking at me and admiring me.”

(5)    The proud red rose looked angrily at the pine and said, “You don’t know what beauty is at all. You cannot compare my thorns to that of cactus.”

(6)    A sunflower asked, “Why do you say that? In this forest there are many beautiful plants. You are just one of them.”

(7)    The pine tree said. “Red rose, what kind of talk is this? You have thorns too.”

a.       3-6-7-1-5-4-2

b.      3-6-7-4-1-5-2

c.       3-6-5-1-2-4-7

d.      3-6-4-2-7-5-1

e.       3-6-2-7-1-5-4

16.    What is the correct arrangement of the following sentences?

(1)    When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house, “ he said, “my gift to you.”

(2)    The carpenter agreed, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work

(3)    This is a story of an elderly carpenter who was ready to retire

(4)    If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the house he had built none too well

(5)    One day he told his employer, a contractor, about his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family

(6)    He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior material

(7)    The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor

a.       3-5-2-7-6-1-4

b.      6-3-5-7-2-1-4

c.       7-2-3-5-6-1-4

d.      6-3-5-7-2-1-4

e.       3-5-7-2-6-1-4

17.    Arrange the following sentences to the form a meaningful paragraph

(1)    The lion saw its reflection in the well and thought it was its enemy

(2)    So, it told the lion there was a very strong animal that  looked like the lion

(3)    The rabbit took the lion behind a hill and pointe to a deep well

(4)    The rabbit could stand it no longer and wanted to teach the lion a lesson

(5)    So, it plunged into the well and drowned

(6)    A long time ago, there was a lion that always frowned upon the rabbit and frightened it

(7)    The lion was angry and asked the rabbit to show it the animal

a.       6-4-7-5-2-3-1

b.      6-4-7-3-1-2-5

c.       6-4-5-2-7-1-3

d.      6-4-3-1-5-2-7

e.       6-4-2-7-3-1-5

Once upon a time there lived a young man, named Nazar. He lived very poor. One day, Nazar went to town to look for a job. He had to climb up the hill and (5).....thick jungle to get to the nearest town. Suddenly, he heard (6).....from a bush. As he approached, he saw people gathering around a big tree. Nazar realized that the people were going against God’s orders. So, he took out a big (7).....axe and decided to cut down the tree.

18.   a. checked

b. examined

c. inspected

d. go through

e. hunted through

19.    a. trembles

b. shadows

c. movement

d. gestures

e. sounds

20.   a. sharp

b. edge

c. dull

d. rough

e. thick

Once, there was a mouse that mad a close friendship with a frog. One day the frog said to the mouse, “let’s bind ourselves together with a string ....(10) we may never get separated.” The mouse agreed. So, both tied themselves together leg-to-leg. It went quite well on land, but.....(11) the pool. It was tragic for the mouse. The frog swam about delightfully in the pool dragging the mouse with him. Soon the mouse.....(12) and his body floated on the surface of the pool.  

21.    a.  So that

b. because

c. only if

d. unless

e. although

22.   a. beneath

b. outside

c. near

d. on

e. in

23.   a. drown

b. drowns

c. drowned

d. is drowning

e. has drowned

One day a mother and a baby camel were having a discussion when the baby camel began asking, “Mom, why do we have these huge two-toed feet?” the mother replied, “well, son, when we trek across the desert, our toes will help us stay on top the soft sand.” Two minutes later, the young camel (8).....”Mom, why do we have these long eyelashes?”. They are there to keep the sand out of our eyes on the trips through the dessert,” the mother said. “Mom, why have we got these great big humps on our back?”. They are there to help us store (9)....for our long treks across the desert, so we can go without drinking for (10).....periods of time.” “so, we have huge feet to stop us from linking, long eyelashes to keep the sand out of eyes, and these humps to store water.” “Yes dear”, said the mother.

24.   a. told

b. asked

c. replied

d. answered

e. questions

25.   a. sand

b. goods

c. food

d. water

e. dates

26.   a. long

b. short

c. easy

d. dangerous

e. careful