PÎRÎ REİS UNIVERSITY COMPULSORY

READING WORKSHEET WEEK 5

GAMMA REGULAR

READING EXAM PRACTICE

A Difficult Choice

The Only Way Out

1.
On Saturday, April 26, 2003, Aron Ralston wanted to ride his bike and climb the rocks just
outside the Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah. He parked his truck and rode his
bike fifteen miles to the Bluejohn Canyon Trailhead.

2.
Aron was wearing only a T-shirt and shorts when he started his hike. His backpack
contained two burritos, less than a litter of water, a cheap knife, a small first-aid kit, a video
camera, a digital camera, and rock-climbing gear. He did not have a jacket in his backpack.

3.
When he reached Bluejohn Canyon, Aron tried to climb over the top of a large boulder. As
Aron began to climb down the opposite side of the boulder, the 800-pound rock moved and
trapped his right arm. He couldn’t move the massive boulder, so he tried to chip away at
the rock with his knife. It didn’t work. He was stuck.

4.
Temperatures dropped to near freezing that night, and still Aron worked to free himself.
Sunday and Monday passed but he was still trapped. Sunlight reached the narrow canyon
floor for only a very short period of time each day. By Tuesday, his food and water supplies
were gone.

5.
On Wednesday, Aron pulled out his video camera and recorded a message to his parents.
He then scratched his name, birth date, and Wednesday’s date into the canyon wall. He
finished with R.I.P.1

6.
On Thursday morning, however, after being trapped for five days, Aron had a vision. In
Aron’s mind, a small boy was running toward a one-armed man. Aron believed the boy was
his future son and decided that he had to free himself. He knew that he had to do something
drastic 2 now because he was quickly losing his strength.

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7.
Aron realized he had to cut his arm off in order to survive. First, he forced his arm against
the boulder to break it. Next, Aron applied a tourniquet to his arm, and used his knife to cut
off his arm below the elbow. The entire procedure took about one hour. Aron, with his arm
in a self-made sling 3, then rapelled4 nearly 70 feet down a rope to the bottom of Bluejohn
Canyon, and hiked five miles into Horseshoe Canyon.

8.
A Dutch family, in Utah on vacation, were hiking out of the canyon when they heard a
voice cry, “Help, I need help!” They immediately realized that the voice must belong to the
lost hiker they had heard about earlier in the day.

9.
Aron walked toward the family and calmly told them he needed medical attention. The wife
and son left the canyon immediately, in search of help. The husband and Aron followed at
a slower speed.

10.
In the meantime, Aron’s friends began to worry when he didn’t show up for work, and they
called the authorities5. The problem was that Aron hadn’t told anyone about his plans. Even
his mother didn’t know that her son was missing until Wednesday, when Aron’s boss called
her. A search party quickly formed, and a helicopter was soon in the air.

11.
On Thursday, the helicopter crew saw a group of people waving at them from the canyon
floor. The crew landed the helicopter in a wide space near the canyon and stared at the group
of people in amazement. Aron was walking toward them, weak but alive. Aron Ralston had
rescued himself.

1 R.I.P.: “Rest in Peace”; a common phrase that people put on tombstones

2 drastic: severe; strong; serious
3 sling: a serious of cloth used to support a broken arm
4 to rappel: to go down the side of a rock or mountain on a rope
5 the authorities: people legally responsible for public safety, such as the police, the fire
department, or mountain search and rescue teams

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 PART A: Which of the following statements expresses the main idea of the text?

• In this section, you must read the text above and for question 1, mark one letter A, B, C
or D on your Answer Sheet.

1. What is the main idea of the text?

a) It takes much more than knowledge and skills to survive as you have to make some very
important decisions.
b) You need to be well-trained and have a lot of experience in mountaineering in order to
rescue your or somebody else’s life.
c) Aron Ralston was a successful climber, but he failed to climb a boulder as he didn’t have
the rock gear.
d) It was just a bit of luck that saved the life of Aron Ralston while he was climbing in Utah.

PART B: TRUE/FALSE/DOESN’T SAY

• In this section, you must read the text above and choose True, False or Doesn’t Say.
• For questions 2 to 10, mark one letter A, B or C on your Answer Sheet.

2. Aron used to visit Bluejohn Canyon with his friends on Saturdays when he was a child.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

3. Aron didn’t have enough water for 5 days.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

4. Aron had two cameras with him but he lost one of them in the canyon.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

5. Aron scratched R.I.P on the canyon wall.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

6. Aron had a vision of a small boy and an old man.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

7. It took Aron about one hour to rappel 70 feet down a rope to the bottom of the canyon.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

8. The Dutch family came across interesting endangered species on their vacation in Utah.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

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 9. The Dutch family consisted of three people.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

10. Aron’s friends were worried because he didn’t go to work.

a) True b) False c) Doesn’t Say

PART C: WORD-DEFINITION MATCHING

• In this section, you must read the FOUR bold words in the text above and choose the
correct word for the definition given.
• For questions 11 and 14 mark one letter A, B, C or D on your Answer Sheet.

11. The word _________________means to have something inside or include something

as a part.
a) crew
b) entire
c) trapped
d) contained
12. The word _________________means a group of people working together.
a) crew
b) entire
c) trapped
d) contained
13. The word ___________________ means the whole.
a) crew
b) entire
c) trapped
d) contained
14. The word __________________means caught or fixed.
a) crew
b) entire
c) trapped
d) contained

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PART D: REFERENCE

• In this section, you must read the SIX bold and underlined words in the text above and
choose the correct word for the reference.
• For questions 15 and 20, mark one letter A, B, C or D on your Answer Sheet.

15. The word “his” in paragraph 2, line 1 refers to___________________

a) his son’s
b) Aron’s
c) the husband’s
d) Aron

16. The word “it” in paragraph 3, line 4 refers to_____________________

a) chipping away at the rock with his knife

b) trying to climb over the top of a large boulder
c) reaching Bluejohn Canyon
d) climbing down the opposite side of the boulder

17. The word “it” in paragraph 7, line 2 refers to _____________________

a) the boulder
b) the elbow
c) his arm
d) his knife

18. The word “they” in paragraph 8, line 1 refers to____________________

a) the lost hiker

b) the Dutch family
c) the authorities
d) Aron’s mother

19. The word “her” in paragraph 10, line 4 refers to____________________

a) Aron’s mother
b) Aron’s boss
c) Aron’s friend
d) Aron’s family

20. The word “them” in paragraph 11, line 1 refers to______________________

a) a group of people
b) Aron’s friends
c) Aron’s family
d) the helicopter crew
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PART E: COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

• In this section, you must read the text above and for questions 21 and 28, mark one
letter A, B, C or D on your Answer Sheet.

21. Why did Aron go to Bluejohn Canyon?

a) To take a walk for a while

b) To see the Bluejohn Canyon
c) To have an adventure
d) To ride his bike and climb the rocks

22. How did Aron go to Bluejohn Canyon?

a) Aron went to Bluejohn Canyon by truck

b) Aron went to Bluejohn Canyon by plane
c) Aron went to Bluejohn Canyon by car
d) Aron went to Bluejohn Canyon by train

23. What happened to Aron in the Canyon?

a) He was stuck by a heavy rock.

b) He fell down the canyon.
c) He lost his way in the canyon.
d) He had a heart attack.

24. How long did it take Aron to rescue himself?

a) six weeks
b) six minutes
c) six days
d) six hours

25. What was the problem Aron faced on his first night he was trapped in the Canyon?

a) being afraid of darkness

b) being hungry and thirsty
c) reaching Bluejohn Canyon
d) freezing temperature

26. Who realized the voice of Aron?

a) Aron’s friends
b) A Dutch family
c) Aron’s family
d) The helicopter crew

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 27. Did Aron’s mother know that her son was missing on Wednesday?

a) Yes, he did.
b) No, he didn’t.
c) No, he didn’t because her son didn’t tell anything.
d) Yes, he did but she forgot.

28. What happened at the end of the Journey?

a) Aron rescued himself.

b) Aron couldn’t survive.
c) Aron lost his conscious.
d) No one could find Aron.

PART F: WORD FORMATION

• In this section, you must read the text above and for questions 29 and 32 mark one letter
A, B, C or D on your Answer Sheet.

29. Doing exercises will _______________your muscles.

a) strong b) strength c) strengthen d) stronger

30. His body was really weak after the accident because of __________of blood.

a) lose b) lost c) loss d) loser

31. Tina has an __________________ability to learn new languages.

a) amaze b) amazing c) amazement d) amazed

32. There is a common __________________that educational standards are declining.

a) belief b) believe c) believable d) unbelievable

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