Read the passage and answer the questions below.
“Thank you for dinner," I say, gazing fixedly at the tablecloth as one of the waiters magically appears at my side with my coat.
“Emma," says Jack, getting to his feet in disbelief. “You're not seriously going."
"I am."
"Give it another chance. Please. Stay and have some coffee. I promise I'll talk —”
“I don't want any coffee," I say as the waiter helps me on with my coat.
“Mint tea, then. Chocolates! I ordered you a box of Godiva truffles specially...." His tone is entreating, and just for an instant I waver. I love Godiva truffles.
No, I've made up my mind. “I don't care. I'm going. Thank you very much," I add to the waiter.
"How did you know I wanted my coat?"
"We make it our business to know," says the waiter discreetly. There's an instant of silence.
"Fine," says Jack at last in resignation. “Fine. Daniel will take you home. He should be waiting outside in the car...."
"I'm not going home in your car! I'll make my own way, thanks.”
"Emma, don't be stupid —"
"Good-bye. And thanks very much," I add to the waiter. “You were all very attentive and nice to me."
I hurry out of the restaurant to discover it had started to rain. And I don't have an umbrella. Well, I don't care. I stride along the streets, skidding slightly on the wet pavement, feeling raindrops mingling with tears on my face.
I have no idea where I am. I don't even know where the nearest station is or where....
Hang on. I can see a bus stop. The Islington bus runs from here.
Well, fine. I'll take the bus home. And then I'll have a nice cup of hot chocolate. And maybe some ice cream in front of the TV.
It's one of those bus shelters with a roof and little seats, and I sit down, thanking God my hair won't get any wetter.
What happened? Did I do something wrong? Did I break some rule I wasn't even aware of? One minute everything's great. The next, it's a ( 1 ).
It doesn't make any sense. My mind is running back and forth, trying to work it out, trying to pinpoint the exact moment when things started going wrong, when a big silver car purrs up at the pavement.
I don't believe it. “Please," says Jack, getting out. “Let me take you home." "No," I say without turning my head. "You can't stand here in the rain."
“Yes, I can! Some of us live in the real world, you know." What does he think? That I'll meekly say, “Thank you!" and get in? That just because he's got a fancy car he can behave how he likes?
He sits down in the little seat next to mine, and for a while we're both silent.
"I know I was terrible company this evening," he says ( 2 ). "And I'm sorry. And I'm also sorry I can't tell you anything about it. But my life is complicated. And some bits of it are very delicate. Do you understand?"
No, I want to say. No, I don't understand, when I've told you every single, little thing about me. "I suppose," I say at last.
The rain is beating down even harder, thundering on the roof of the shelter and creeping into my — Jemima's - silver sandals. God, I hope it won't stain them, or she'll be upset.
“I'm sorry the evening was a disappointment to you," says Jack, lifting his voice above the noise.
“It wasn't," I say, suddenly feeling bad. “I just had such high hopes! I wanted to get to know you a bit, and I wanted to have fun and for us to laugh...."
“Oh, Emma. I'm sorry." He shakes his head. “I wanted to get to know you, too. And I wanted to have fun, too. It sounds like we both wanted the same things. And it's my fault we didn't get them.”
"It's not your fault," I mumble.
“This is not the way I planned for things to go.” He looks at me seriously. “Will you give me another chance? Tomorrow night?"
A big red double-decker bus rumbles up to the bus stop, and we both look up. "I've got to go," I say, standing up. “This is my bus. "Emma, don't be silly. Come in the car."
I feel a flicker of temptation. The car will be all warm and cozy and comfortable.
But something deeper inside me resists it. I want to show Jack that I was serious. That I didn't come running out here expecting him to follow me.
"I'm going on the bus."
The automatic doors open, and I step onto the bus. I show my travel card to the driver and he nods.
"You're seriously considering riding on this thing?” says Jack, stepping on behind me. He peers dubiously at the usual motley collection of night bus riders. A man with bulbous eyes looks up at us and hunches his plastic hood over his head. "Is this safe?"
"You sound like my grandpa! Of course it's safe. It goes to the end of my road."
“Hurry up!" says the driver ( 3 ) to Jack. “If you haven't got the money, get off.” "I have an American Express card," says Jack, feeling in his pocket.
"You can't pay a bus fare with American Express!" I say. “Don't you know anything? And anyway" — I stare at my travel card for a few seconds— "I think maybe we should call it an evening. I'm pretty tired."
I'm not really tired. But somehow I want to be alone. I want to clear my head and start again.
"I see," says Jack in a more serious voice. "I guess I'd better get off," he says to the driver. Then he looks at me. "You haven't answered me. Can we try again? Tomorrow night. And this time we'll do whatever you want. You call the shots."
"OK.” I try to sound noncommittal, but as I meet his eye, I find myself smiling, too. “Tomorrow.” "Eight o'clock again?"
“Eight o'clock. And leave the car behind," I add firmly. “We'll do things my way.”
“Great! I look forward to it. Good night, Emma." "Good night."
As he turns to get off, I climb the stairs to the top deck of the bus. I head for the front seat, the place I always used to sit when I was a child, and look out at the dark, rainy London night. If I gaze for long enough, the streetlights become blurred like a kaleidoscope. Like a fairyland.
That date was nothing like I expected it to be. Not that I knew what to expect. I wasn't expecting to storm out. I wasn't expecting to cry. I wasn't expecting Jack to have made such an effort.
Swooshing around my mind are images of Jack's expression as I said I was leaving, the waiter bringing me my coat, Jack's car arriving at the bus stop. Everything's jumbled up. I can't quite straighten my thoughts. All I can do is sit there, aware of familiar, comforting sounds around me.
The old-fashioned grind and roar of the bus engine. The noise of the doors swishing open and shut. The sharp ring of the request bell. People thumping up the stairs and thumping back down again.
I can feel the bus swaying as we turn corners, but I'm barely even aware of where we're going. Until after a while, I start to take in familiar sights outside, and I realize we're nearly at my street. I gather myself, reach for my bag, and totter along to the top of the stairs.
Suddenly the bus makes a sharp swing left, and I grab for a seat handle, trying to steady myself. Why are we turning left? I look out of the window, thinking I'll be really upset if I end up having to walk, and blink in astonishment.
We're in my tiny little road.
And now we've stopped outside my house. I hurry down the stairs, nearly breaking my ankle.
"Forty-one Elmwood Road," the driver says with a flourish.
No. This can't be happening.
I look around the bus in bewilderment, and a couple of drunk teenagers leer at me.
"What's going on?" I look at the driver. “Did he pay you?"
“Five hundred pounds," says the driver, and winks at me. “Whoever he is, love, I'd hold on to him.”
[Adapted from Sophie Kinsella, Can You Keep a Secret? (2004).]
(1) Choose the ONE way to complete each of the sentences that is CORRECT according to the passage.
1 After dinner,
A Emma remembers that the restaurant is close to the station.
B Emma starts to cry as she walks along the street.
C it starts to rain as Emma arrives at the bus shelter.
D Jack and Emma talk about why Jack's life is so complicated.
E Jack runs to the bus stop to prevent her from leaving.
2 Emma
A didn't want to ask Jack too much about himself.
B is happy when Jack offers to drive her home in his car.
C is surprised that the bus driver remembers her home address.
D is wearing sandals she borrowed from Jemima.
E liked to sit next to the bus driver when she was a child.
3 Emma decides to leave the restaurant because
A she found the conversation with Jack to be frustrating.
B she is angry that Jack tries to stop her from leaving with chocolates.
C she is embarrassed to have deliberately broken some rules.
she realized that Jack wasn't having any fun either.
E she wants to go home to watch TV and eat ice cream.
4 Jack
A drives his car after Emma after she leaves the restaurant.
B explains to Emma during dinner that his company isn't good.
C is happy when Emma suggests to have dinner again tomorrow.
D offers Emma money so that she can get home safely.
E seems to be unaccustomed to using public transportation.
5 The bus that Emma uses to go home
A does not seem safe to Jack.
B is full of teenagers that keep looking at her as she gets off the bus.
C is one that she uses regularly, so she knows the driver well.
D only accepts cash for passengers to ride it.
E usually stops outside the front of her house.
6 The waiter at the restaurant that Emma and Jack go to
A does not seem to notice that they are fighting.
B makes Emma upset by ignoring her.
C offers to bring them coffee after the meal.
D waits for Emma to ask for her coat.
E watches them to provide whatever they need.
(2) Choose the FOUR statements that are NOT true according to the passage. You may NOT choose more than FOUR statements.
A After being invited by Jack three times on the bus to have dinner again the following night, Emma finally agrees to go.
B Although Emma told Jack a lot about herself, Jack seems to be hiding things about his life from her, which upsets her.
C As she is unhappy that Jack didn't try to organize the dinner tonight properly, she decides to plan things for tomorrow herself.
D Despite the fact that she is still upset with Jack, Emma can't stop herself from smiling before they say good night to each other.
E Emma has become quite tired from the fight with Jack, so she wants to be alone to have some time to reflect on things.
F Even though Emma is really tempted to go home in Jack's car, she is worried that Jack wouldn't take her seriously if she did.
G Jack promises to talk with her over coffee and chocolates because he feels guilty that he didn't talk much with Emma during dinner.
H The bus shelter has a roof so that Emma and Jack don't get wet as they stand talking with each other.
I Though the bus ride back to her house is quite noisy, Emma is able to think about the events that happened during the night.
(3) Choose the ONE word that best fits each of the blanks 1 through 3 in the passage.
1
A coincidence
B disaster
C miracle
D performance
E relief
2
A accidentally
B eventually
C happily
D incidentally
E occasionally
3
A impatiently
B pleasantly
C quietly
D repeatedly
E unfortunately
(4) Choose the best way to complete each of the sentences, which relate to the underlined words in the passage.
1 Here “mumble" means to say something
A angrily.
B intentionally.
C loudly.
D unclearly.
E unnecessarily.
2 Here "dubiously" means that he looked at them
A aggressively.
B carelessly.
C irritably.
D slowly.
E suspiciously.
3 Here "leer at" means to
A make jokes about.
B say something quietly to.
C stare unpleasantly at.
D throw something at.
E walk behind.
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