You are going to read about a woman returning to the house she used to live in.
Return to Gunnesbury.
Mary got off the train at Gunnersbury station and walked up towards the mad. The suburban London summer hung over the scene like an old familiar smell and memories made her tremble with recognition at every step. It was many years since she had been here.
She walked along, and although she could not have pictured the road in her mind before, now she remembered each house; a gatepost, the coloured glass in a front door, the lamp-post casting a lonely light on the step. These houses, 'the older larger houses' as she thought of them then, were surprisingly unchanged. In the heat of the afternoon the remembered road had the slightly threatening familiarity of a place in a dream when one thinks: I have been here, yet where is it and what is going to happen? The colours too seemed like dream colours, not reflecting light, as if they were bright colours seen in darkness. And the streets were empty as in a dream.
Mary turned a corner and for a moment did not recognize the scene at all. Houses had disappeared. Tall blocks of flats and huge garages had taken their place. Now there were a few cars, but still nobody walking on the pavements. Mary frowned and thought with a sudden surprised pain, perhaps ourhouse too will have simply disappeared. But by now she had reached the end of the little road and could see, halfway down upon the left, the small semi-detached house where she had lived with Alistair during the four years of their marriage.
Mary steadied herself, putting her hand on to the low wall at the corner of the road, aware of her hand's sudden memory of the wall and its sharp stones. With the touch of her hand upon the wall there came the unexpected image of a piano, their old upright piano long since sold, which Mary must have thought of once as she paused with her shopping-bag at the corner of the road. Alistair had a beautiful voice and they had often sung together, he playing the piano, she standing with her hands on his shoulders. This was a purely happy memory.
Mary now began to walk slowly down the far side of the road. She could already see that the hedge which she and Alistair had planted had been taken away and a low brick wall had been put there instead. The small front garden, which she and Alistair had planted with roses, was entirely paved now except for two beds out of which large rosemary bushes leaned to sweep the paving stones with their blue-green branches.
Now Mary, almost opposite the house, could see with a shock the light of a farther window within the darkness of the front room. They must have knocked down the wall between the two downstairs rooms. She and Alistair had often discussed doing so. She stopped and looked across. The house seemed deserted.
For items 1-7 choose the answer (a, b, c or d) which you think fits best according to the text.
- When she returned to Gunnersbury, Mary
A expected to recognize everything
B recognized the smell of the place
C recognized each house as she came to it.
D recognized the road from the station.
- The ‘older larger houses’ were
A just as they used to be
B like the houses Mary had dreamt of
C painted the dark colours
D apparently deserted
- After turning the corner, Mary was upset because
A there were so many flats and garages
B her old house might have gone
C there were only ugly buildings left
D the street was completely deserted
- ‘Their’ in line ‘21’ refers to
A the flats
B the houses
C the garages
D Mary and Alistair
5. When she touched the wall, Mary
A remembered playing the piano with her husband
B wished she had not sold their piano
C stopped the rest and listened to the piano
D was reminded of the piano they used to have
6. As she approached the house, Mary noticed that
A the hedge had been replaced with a fence
B the garden wall had been lowered
C the front garden had been swept
D the roses had been removed
7. When she looked into the house, Mary could see that
A the layout of the rooms was different
B there was an extra window downstairs
C an inside wall had been damaged
D the front room was darker than before
Part 2.
2.1. Read the article. Match headings a) –e) to paragraphs 8-12.
a) A weekend invitation.
b) A spooky experience.
c) A nation of believers.
d) Still a sceptic.
e) Our first evening.
Look behind you!
8________A recent survey revealed that 68% of people in the UK believe in ghosts, and 1 in 10 people claim that they've actually seen a ghost. Being naturally sceptical, I always take these kinds of survey with a pinch of salt, but it does seem that nowadays everyone wants to meet a real-life ghost.
9________So when my sister-in-law Pat suggested going on a ghost-hunting weekend, I didn't need to be asked twice, Pat was hoping to see her first ghost, while I just wanted a few days off to recharge my batteries. We were soon heading off to Brockfield Castle in Somerset,' one of Britain's most haunted houses, to spend the weekend looking for ghosts - I thought it was going to be a piece of cake.
10_______Brockfield Castle, a spooky old building in the middle of nowhere, certainly was a far cry frommy modern London flat. There were eight other guests and we all had dinner together on the first evening to break the ice. Our fellow ghost-hunters seemed normal enough - apart from one strange old lady who kept telling us to keep an eye out for werewolves (she must have booked the wrong weekend break). After dinner Ashley, our guide, gave us a talk on the history of the castle, which is apparently haunted by two brothers who died in a fire over 200 years ago. Then we were taken on a tour of the castle's 37 rooms. Sadly the brothers were nowhere to be seen - perhaps they'd gone away for the weekend too.
11________That night I slept like a log, but on the second evening things started to get weird. Pat and I were walking in the Hardens after dinner when out of the blue she shouted, 'Look, there's a ghost!" I thought she was pulling my leg, but she pointed to one of the windows. An old man was standing there, arms outstretched. We watched him for about a minute and then he suddenly vanished. When we told Ashley what we'd seen, he said we'd been looking up at the room where the Brothers had died.
12_______Of course, Pat's first ghostly encounter really made her day, and I have to admit that the experience gave me food for thought. However, as someone once said, for the believer, no proof is required - but for the sceptic, no proof is sufficient.