Unit 8 Reading Worksheet 1

Name

1 Read quickly and number the sections in the correct order.

My Father’s Choice
So recently, when he decided to leave his job to start selling and distributing comic books, the whole family was
shocked! Comic books had always been a serious hobby of his, but leaving everything to start a small store where he
could trade magazines? That was not the man who raised me! Where was the man who once told me, “Never choose
your profession with your heart, do it with your head?” We thought he was nuts, but I felt sure there was something
more to this. I was worried he was not thinking clearly, so after a while, we had a conversation about it.
Ever since I was very young, I always looked up to my father. He worked in a high-paying job that provided my
mother, my brother and me with a good place to live, a good education and family activities that included traveling
and fun days out.
My father is the kind of person who likes to have a backup plan for any situation that comes his way. In other words, he felt
he needed to be prepared for the unexpected. Highly organized, he always advocated for objective decisions based on
facts and data, not on emotion.
“But, Dad. Why would you leave all the good things you had for this?” I asked. He looked me straight in the eyes.
“The good things I had?” he replied “I have my family and my health, so I did not leave anything good behind.” He
continued, “And don’t you know me by now? I will make this work!”
Sure enough, after just a couple of months, he had made a small fortune! It turns out that the comic-book business can
be a good investment if you play your cards well.
I know now to believe more in my dad’s business sense, but I also know now that, if you’re smart, you can make a
dream job come true. My dad loves his new business.

2 Read again and circle the correct option.

0. The purpose of the text is to .

a. s hare a meaningful b. convince people to c. formally inform readers on
family experience change jobs an important subject
1. The author was happy as a child because .
a. he could eat all he wanted b. he was rich c. he had a nice family life
2. The author’s father was .
a. fun and spontaneous b. angry and controlling c. prepared and objective
G lossary
3. The author was surprised because .
trade: to sell or
a. h
 is father made a
b. he didn’t think his father’s c. his mother was fine with buy products
strange decision decision was right the change nuts: crazy
4. At the beginning, the family thought the decision was . look up to:
a. calm and rational b. crazy c. irrelevant to admire,
to respect
5. The writer was worried because . (someone)
 f the problems in the
a. o b. his father wouldn’t have
c. nobody would ever give backup plan:
comic-book market today money for good things him a job to have a plan
if something
6. The final message of the text is .
doesn’t work
a. optimistic b. fatalistic c. sarcastic data: information
turn out: to
Stop and Think! What would your dream job be? result or prove
to be

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