Magda : Good morning, Mrs. Smiles. It's wet, isn't it? Mrs. Smiles : Yes, it is, isn't it? How are you today? All right? You haven't been studying too hard, have you? You look a bit pale. Magda : I don't, do I? Well, I haven't been out much lately. I don't like this weather a bit. Why, we haven't had a dry day for weeks, have we? Mrs. Smiles : No, I don't think we have. Let's see, you'll be going back home next month, won't you? Magda : Oh no, I'm not going back yet. My sister's coming over first. Mrs. Smiles : Oh, is she? You're looking forward to that, I expect. How long is it since you saw her? Magda : Nearly a year now. Yes, I am looking forward to it very much. Mrs. Smiles : She's coming over here to study? Magda : Yes, that's right. I shan't go back home until she's settled down. I don't think I ought to, ought I? Mrs. Smiles : Well, no, she's younger than you are, is she? Magda : Yes, she's only eighteen. Magda had not been out much lately because
- (a)she had not been keeping well
- (b)she was busy with her studies
- (c)the weather had been unpleasant
- (d)her sister had come over to stay
Correct — C, 'the weather had been unpleasant'. Magda gives the reason herself, in the same breath — 'Well, I haven't been out much lately. I don't like this weather a bit.' She then adds that they have not had a dry day for weeks, and that is the only explanation the dialogue offers.
- (a)she had not been keeping well — Mrs. Smiles remarks that she looks a bit pale, and Magda's reply — 'I don't, do I?' — questions the remark instead of confirming any illness.
- (b)she was busy with her studies — Mrs. Smiles raises the possibility — 'You haven't been studying too hard, have you?' — but Magda does not take it up; she answers with the weather.
- (d)her sister had come over to stay — The sister has not arrived at all; she is still expected.
In a dialogue the reason for something is usually stated by the speaker it concerns, in the turn straight after the question that raises it.
This dialogue is built almost entirely of tag questions — 'isn't it?', 'have you?', 'won't you?' — which is how English keeps small talk moving without asserting much. Two of the wrong choices come from Mrs. Smiles's guesses rather than from Magda's answer, so the skill being tested is telling a guess apart from a confirmation.
- Magda says they have not had a dry day for weeks.
- A tag question invites agreement; it does not assert a fact.
- Magda answers the remark about looking pale with a question of her own rather than an admission.
- Taking Mrs. Smiles's suggestion as though Magda had agreed to it.
- Reading 'You look a bit pale' as evidence of illness.
Asked as a comprehension item on a reason given inside a dialogue.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Complete the tag — It's wet today, ______?
- (a)isn't it
- (b)is it
- (c)doesn't it
- (d)wasn't it
Answer(a) isn't it — a positive statement takes a negative tag.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Magda says they have not had a dry day for
- (a)days
- (b)weeks
- (c)months
- (d)a year
Answer(b) weeks — the dialogue gives that word exactly.