A Helping Hand – B1 English Reading Test

Five sentences have been removed from the text below. For each question, choose the correct answer. There are three extra sentences which you do not need to use.

A Helping Hand

Lee Newton was sitting on a station platform under an old blanket when he saw a young couple talking. (1)………… It was a freezing night in January, and the couple were clearly cold. Lee called to them and asked them if they wanted to share his blanket. The three of them started chatting, and Lee learned that their names were Karen and Mark.

(2)………… Lee told them that he’d lost his job and then his flat when he could no longer pay the rent. He had no family to help him, and nowhere to go. (3)………… Karen and Mark felt terrible. They couldn’t imagine sleeping on the icy platform for even one night. As they spent their night in the station chatting to Lee, they realized that anyone could end up in his situation. (4)…………

When morning came, Karen and Mark bought an extra train ticket and invited Lee to come home with them. Lee accepted, and gratefully moved into Karen and Mark’s spare bedroom. Once he had an address, Lee was able to apply for jobs. (5)………… He saved up to buy a small motorbike, then got an evening job delivering pizzas. After a few months, Lee had saved up enough money to rent a small flat of his own.

‘When times get tough, you need friends and family,’ Lee says. ‘Karen and Mark became that for me.’ An act of kindness was all Lee needed to help him get his life back.

A   He offered to drive them home.

B   He’d been sleeping in the train station for three months.

C   They’d missed the last train, and they seemed upset.

D   They enjoyed living together, so Lee decided to stay.

E   He soon found work in a local factory.

F   They felt very lucky to have jobs and a home.

G   It wasn’t a big problem because he bought a flat.

H   Karen explained that they lived two hours away and they couldn’t afford a taxi home.