A2.

3 Reading
Assessment

Student’s name: Viridiana Martínez Marín Final grade: A2.3 .

Time limit: 40 minutes

Part 1
Instructions: Read about Alex and Olivia’s blog and choose the best answer A, B or C. Look at the example (0).

Alex and Olivia's travel blog

We had a great trip last weekend, here in Syria. We decided to go into the Syrian Desert to
sleep under the stars for a night. It was really incredible! We travelled from the city of
Palmyra, first by car and then by camel.

We travelled with our tour guide and with two people from Germany. Before we arrived, we
visited some interesting historical sites. We saw a desert castle! We arrived at the camping
place in the early evening. First, we had a cup of Bedouin tea. An hour later, we watched
the sunset.

The sky turned red and then the stars appeared. It was really beautiful. The colours were
magical. The silence of the desert was very relaxing. When it was dark, our tour guide
cooked dinner on a fire. We looked at the stars all night. We talked and sang. We slept for
about 2 hours! The next morning was fantastic, too. We woke up early and we watched the
sunrise but what we really wanted was to eat a traditional Bedouin breakfast. It was a great
experience! You can have a look at our photos! Later this week, we will arrive in Damascus,
the capital of Syria. They say that this city is just breathtaking, with wonderful old buildings
and streets full of life. We are going there by camel but we will make use of a car while in
there.
0. Alex and Olivia travelled into the desert... 3. Alex and Olivia...
A. By car A. Had dinner outside, under the
B. By rain stars. B. Had dinner inside a desert
C. By car and camel castle

1. Alex and Olivia spent... C. Had dinner before the sunset

4. Alex and Olivia...

A. One night under the stars A. Woke up early to see the

sunset
B. Two nights in the desert B. Woke up early to see the
sunrise
C. One week in the desert C. Woke up early to have
breakfast
2. On the journey, Alex and Olivia visited... 5. Damascus...

A. A Bedouin village for some tea A. Is an amazing place.

B. A Bedouin village and a desert B. Is a place only visited by camel

castle
C. Is the biggest city in Syria.
C. Some historical sites and a castle
Part 2
Instructions: Read the text about the carrot and decide if the sentences below are True or False.
Write T for true and F for false. Look at the example (0).

Manchester
The carrot is one of the most popular vegetables in the world. It originated in Afghanistan
many thousands of years ago. We can see from ancient Egyptian temple drawings from 2000
BC that people ate the purple variety of carrots in the Middle East. It was the Romans who
introduced white and purple varieties into Europe.

Did you know that the carrot comes in many different colours - white, purple, yellow and even
black? We often associate carrots with the colour orange, but carrots were probably purple
origi- nally. It was the Dutch who produced the orange carrot in the 16th century. Orange was
the colour of the Dutch Royal House of Orange and it was the colour associated with Dutch
independence. It is the orange variety of carrots that is mostly eaten in Europe today.

The orange carrot is one of the most important vegetables in Western cuisine, appearing in
salads, soups, roast dinners and even cake. My favourite carrot dish is orange and carrot
soup. It is very simple – a little olive oil, vegetable stock, a glass of orange juice and, of
course, orange carrots. It doesn't take much time to cook – around 20 minutes. First cook the
carrots in the stock and then purée. Taste before you serve, adding salt, pepper and a
sprinkle of Parmesan cheese though it can also be served alone and the taste is great too.

0. The carrot came from Afghanistan and was introduced to Europe by the F
Dutch.

1. Ancient Egyptian art shows that people ate purple carrots. T

2. Only orange carrots are used in Western cuisine. F

3. Orange carrots were cultivated by Dutch in the 1500s. T

4. To make orange and carrot soup you need half an hour cooking time. F

5. Orange and carrot soup tastes better if you do not add anything to it. F