English reading passages (for dtm test takers)

14. All of the following statements are TRUE, EXCEPT ...
A) Swimming makes one a more confident person.
B) The author was always afraid of the water.
C) The author didn’t seem to be afraid at all.
D) Swimming was an important skill for the author.
15. Which word best describes how author felt when he was waiting for his teacher?
A) thoughtful
B) relaxed
C) nervous
D) ashamed
16. According to the passage, when did the author begin to feel relaxed?
A) After seeing the students who didn’t know how to swim.
B) Before the teacher came over to the pool with his students.
C) He never experienced such feeling in the text above.
D) On changing his bathing suit in the locker room.


Read the text and answer the questions according to it.

Lately, some people have been concerned that the explosion in text messaging among

young people is having a negative effect on their literacy skills. However, a recent study at the department of communication and science at City University in London compared the spelling and punctuation of 11 and 12 -year-old texters and non-texters, finding no significant differences between the two groups. It is important when texting to be fast and concise. This is to save on time and spa ce . A non-texter who is unfamiliar with texting will feel lost when they see abbreviations, acronyms and emoticons. For texters, this ’language’ is easy to read and easy to write. The debate about effects of texting started a few years ago. Teachers began noticing examples of the harmful texting language in their students’ exam papers. One case, a 13-year- old Scottish girl who wrote an entire description of her summer holidays in text language, became famous. Her teacher sen! mple of the essay to a national newspaper and readers sent hundreds of letters giving their opinion.


17 . What is the passage mainly about?
A) Essay writing B) Text messaging
C) Language learning D) Writing books