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 was not going back home yet because
- (a)it had been raining heavily
- (b)her sister was coming over
- (c)her studies were not completed
- (d)she was not feeling well
Correct — B, 'her sister was coming over'. Mrs. Smiles supposes that Magda will be going home next month, and Magda corrects her at once — 'Oh no, I'm not going back yet. My sister's coming over first.' She confirms it later in the same conversation: 'I shan't go back home until she's settled down.'
- (a)it had been raining heavily — The weather explains why she has stayed indoors, not why she is putting off the journey home.
- (c)her studies were not completed — Her studies come up only in Mrs. Smiles's opening guess; Magda never gives them as a reason for anything.
- (d)she was not feeling well — Magda does not accept that she is unwell — she queries the remark that she looks pale.
The word 'first' in 'My sister's coming over first' fixes the order of events, and with it the reason for the delay.
Two separate turns of the dialogue point the same way — the correction to Mrs. Smiles, and the later line about not going back until her sister has settled down. When a passage confirms a point twice, that point is usually what an item has been built on. The previous item was answered by the weather, and part of this one's difficulty is the pull to use the same answer twice.
- 'Shan't' is the contracted form of 'shall not'.
- Magda has not seen her sister for nearly a year.
- Magda's plan is to stay until her sister has settled down, which puts her own journey second.
- Reusing the answer that settled the previous item.
- Taking a question in the dialogue as a statement of fact.
Asked as a comprehension item on a reason stated inside a dialogue.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'I shan't go' is the contracted form of
- (a)I shall not go
- (b)I should not go
- (c)I shall go
- (d)I cannot go
Answer(a) I shall not go — 'shan't' contracts 'shall not'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
How long has it been since Magda last saw her sister?
- (a)nearly a month
- (b)nearly a year
- (c)two years
- (d)a week
Answer(b) nearly a year — Magda gives the answer herself.