Exercise
10. Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate
the correct answer to each of the questions.
All over the
country, young people are entering a world of homelessness and poverty,
according to a recent report by the housing group, Shelter.
Nearly 150,000
young people aged between sixteen and twenty-five will become homeless this
year, says Shelter. Some of the young homeless may sleep out in the open in
such places as the "cardboard city” in London, where people of all ages
sleep in the open air in their only homes - cardboard boxes. Others may
find accommodation in shelters run by voluntary organisations or get a place in
a hostel, which gives them board up to ten weeks.
But who are
these people? Those who are seeking a roof over their heads are mostly not
runaways but “throwaways" - people who have been thrown out of their homes
or forced to leave because of parental divorce, an unsympathetic step-parent or
one of many other reasons.
Take the case of
one sixteen-year-old schoolgirl, Alice. She did not come from a poor home and
had just passed her exams with good results. The Shelter team met her in a
hostel where she was doing her physics homework. Her parents had thrown her out
of her home for no other reason that she wanted to do Science Advanced Level
Exams - which her parents refused her permission to do, saying that studying
sciences was unladylike!
Shelter says
that the government's laws do nothing to help these youngsters. Rising rents,
the shortage of cheap housing and the cut in benefits for young people
under the age of twenty-five are causing a national problem, according to
Shelter. The recent changes in the benefit laws mean that someone aged between
sixteen and twenty-five gets less than older people and they can only claim
state help if they prove that they left home for a good reason.
Shelter believes
that because of the major cuts in benefits to young people, more and more are
being forced to sleep on the streets. Shelter also points out that if you are
homeless, you can't get a job because employers will not hire someone without a
permanent address; and if you can't get a job, you are homeless because
you don't have any money to pay for accommodation. It's an impossible
situation.
111. According to a recent report
by Shelter, it appears that ____.
A. hostels are
too full to offer accommodation to homeless young people
B. more and more
young people all over the world are finding themselves homeless
C. nearly
150,000 young people live out in the open
D. young
homeless people live in places like "cardboard city”
112. The word “Others” in
paragraph 2 refers to ____.
A. people of all
ages
B.young people
C. the young
homeless
D. voluntary
organisations
113. Most young people become
homeless because ____.
A. circumstances
make it impossible for them to live at home
B. they do not
want to live with a divorced parent
C. they have run
away from home
D. they have
thrown away any chances of living at home by behaving badly
114. Why was Alice turned out of
her home?
A. Her parents
didn't agree with what she wanted to do.
B. She didn't
want to study for her Advanced Level Exams.
C. She had not
obtained high marks in her exams.
D. She refused
to do her homework in the evening.
115. According to the passage, “benefits"
are ____.
A. extra wages
for part-time workers
B. gifts of food
and clothing
C. laws about
distributing money
D. subsidies for
those in need
116. The changes in the system of
benefits mean that ____.
A. anyone under
twenty-five and not living at home will receive help with food and
accommodation
B. the under
twenty-fives can claim money only if they have left home
C. young people
do not receive as much money as those over twenty-five
D. young people
cannot claim money unless they are under sixteen or over twenty-five
117. According to Shelter, once
young people have been forced onto the streets, ____.
A. their
benefits will be severely cut
B. they will
find it difficult to find work
C. they will
never go back home again
D. they will
encourage their friends to do the same
118. The word "permanent"
in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.
A. flexible
B. obvious
C. stable
D. simple
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