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's sister was coming to
- (a)visit her sister
- (b)help Mrs. Smiles
- (c)settle down in England
- (d)pursue her studies
Correct — D, 'pursue her studies'. Mrs. Smiles puts it as a question — 'She's coming over here to study?' — and Magda answers 'Yes, that's right.' No other purpose for the sister's journey is given anywhere in the dialogue.
- (a)visit her sister — The two will indeed meet, and Magda is glad of it, but the purpose stated for the journey is study.
- (b)help Mrs. Smiles — Mrs. Smiles has no part in the sister's plans; she is only being told about them.
- (c)settle down in England — 'Settled down' is used of the sister finding her feet after she arrives, and no country is named anywhere in the dialogue.
A purpose in a dialogue is often confirmed by a short answer such as 'Yes, that's right' given to somebody else's question.
One option is built from a real phrase in the passage put to a different use. Magda says she will not go home 'until she's settled down', which is about her sister getting used to a new place rather than about emigrating, and the dialogue never says where the conversation is happening. Watch for a distractor that lifts a phrase from the text and then adds a fact the text does not carry.
- Magda's sister is eighteen and younger than Magda.
- 'Settle down' means to become used to a new place or a new way of life.
- The purpose of the journey is put to Magda as a question and confirmed by her in three words.
- Accepting a place name that the passage never gives.
- Choosing the meeting of the two sisters, which is a consequence rather than the purpose.
Asked as a comprehension item on the stated purpose of a journey.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
How old is Magda's sister?
- (a)sixteen
- (b)seventeen
- (c)eighteen
- (d)nineteen
Answer(c) eighteen — Magda gives her age in the last line.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'Settle down' in the dialogue means to
- (a)sit quietly
- (b)become used to a new place
- (c)pay a bill
- (d)go to sleep
Answer(b) become used to a new place — Magda will stay until her sister has done so.