READING COMPREHENSION 4

EIGHT WEEKS WITH CAMP AMERICA

(Lucy Smith tells of her experience)

I applied at the last minute and was so thrilled at the prospect of spending the holidays doing something
more exciting than working in the local supermarket, that I hastily accepted the only job left – in the camp
laundry.
On arrival I was told by the camp director that I would be doing the washing for 200 children – on my
own. For the first week, the party sent out by the jobs agency – seven English students and one Welsh, one Pole
and an Australian – became a full-time cleaning team, getting the place ready for its grand opening.
After the children’s arrival I had to work from 8.45 in the morning to 10.30 at night to get all my work
done. ‘Don’t worry,’ said the director. ‘The kids always throw all their clothes in the wash after five minutes in
the first week.’ I smiled through gritted teeth.
Considering there was no hot water in the laundry and the rickety old machines, the washing came out
remarkably well. But with so many clothes to wash and dry, washing did get mixed up. I had six-year-olds
marching up and telling me their parents would be very angry if I did not find their favourite sweater.
The kitchen workers and myself found ourselves at bottom of camp’s class system. We were never
invited to join in the evening activities and at the talent show we were the only ones out of the entire camp to be
excluded. When we did manage to get out of the camp, our evenings tended to consist of eating ice-cream in the
local gas station or driving 20 miles to a restaurant to drink cheap lemonade. Despite the unexciting venues, we
made the best of the situation and enjoyed a lot of laughs throughout the summer.

QUESTIONS
1. Why did Lucy take a job in the camp laundry?
A. There was no other work available.
B. She thought the work sounded exciting.
C. It seemed to be the easiest work.
2. Lucy was surprised to find that
A. there would be so many children at the camp.
B. there was to be a party during the first week.
C. she would be working without any help.
3. The director suggested that the first week was the worst because
A. the laundry equipment wasn’t working well.
B. the children used the laundry more.
C. Lucy was still learning how to do the job.
4. One problem she had in her work was that
A. some clothes got damaged in the wash.
B. some clothes got temporarily lost.
C. she couldn’t get the clothes completely clean.
5. Lucy and the kitchen workers
A. had to organise their own social life.
B. were the slowest at learning their jobs.
C. didn’t get on together very well.
 READING COMPREHENSION 5
SUMMER IN SIBERIA

It wasn’t until I was seated on the plane that I questioned what I was doing. Six month before, I’d found a
web page about summer camps in Eastern Europe on the Internet. I had quickly applied for one in Lake Baikal,
Siberia.
I had no information about what I would be doing, other than I would be spending a month by the biggest,
deepest and almost any other superlative lake in the world, working with children.
Whilst people around me reunited with hugs and kisses at Irkutsk airport, I stood there alone, wondering
if I had come all the way to Siberia, because of some evil Internet prank. But out of the crowd some five minutes
later, a lovely looking Asian girl appeared and in shy English asked if I was Rowena. She was Gulya, a young
assistant English professor, who out of the goodness of her heart, had volunteered to accompany me to Baikal as
a translator.
The next day we left for Baikal.
The children quickly wanted to become my friend. I constantly had a little fan club following me
everywhere and wanting to see what foreigners do.
I was invited to lunch with a Russian family one day. They filled me full of food and vodka and all of a
sudden I could have a basic conversation in Russian. One of the ladies looked into my destiny via my birthdate.
Her reading was something like Chinese numerology – but far more convincing and more insightful than I would
like to admit.
The Russians have so little themselves, yet they give so much. However, ‘no thank you’ does not seem to
be within their understanding. I don’t eat fish but this family said that I had to try Baikal fish – that it was the
best in the world. After some ten minutes debate I finally gave in and said I would try a little. It was actually
very tasty and I managed to eat a whole piece. But then they wanted me to taste dry fish and finally raw fish –
but seeing how happy they were that I had liked the first one, I couldn’t possibly refuse.
I became really close with some of the children and I was really sad to leave. By the last week I felt as
though I’d gone through so much with them and I felt like some of the Russian toughness was rubbing off on
me. I could stomach fish, I could sleep on a lumpy bed, I could go without a shower for a whole week. But I still
have a lot to learn from them. Although I was a foreigner and I am supposed to be the one with the money and
‘the good life’ I felt that I took far more from them, than I could possibly give.

QUESTIONS
1. Once on the plane bound for Irkutsk, Rowena felt
A. reassured.
B. somewhat scared.
C. relaxed.
2. Gulya, her Russian translator had agreed to accompany her to Lake Baikal because
A. she wanted to practice her English.
B. earn some money.
C. she is a person who likes to help.
3. The vodka drunk helped Rowena
A. to start a simple conversation in Russian.
B. to look into her own destiny.
C. to learn about Chinese numerology.
4. According to Rowena,
A. Russians don’t understand the meaning of the expression ‘no, thank you’.
B. their politeness knows no limits.
C. they give more than they actually have.
5. Out of her Siberian experience Rowena got
A. a lot of money.
B. used to fishing.
C. a lesson in human kindness.