Stories for Reading Comprehension 4 Unit 8


1. abreast
2. acquaintance
3. admittance
4. allowed
5. announced
6. appeared
7. arrived
8. astonished
9. audience
10. avail
11. bluff
12. claim
13. claims
14. dragged
15. egged
16. emerged
17. enough
18. extended
19. fact
20. flabbergasted
21. forthcoming
22. hugged
23. humoured
24. importance
25. leapt
26. looked
27. make
28. matter
29. orchestrated
30. overlooking
31. quarters
32. reluctantly
33. robes
34. rushed
35. sceptical
36. trait
37. turned




1. Transform the voice of the sentence.

David Bruce, better known as 'Wee Davy', has one feature which irritates his friends.


2. Transform the sentence into indirect speech.

A passing Italian said, "Excuse me. Could you tell me who the man up there in white is?"


3. Transform the passage into direct speech.

One day conversation was about religion and David mentioned that he was a good friend of the Pope.


4. Transform the sentence into 'there + to be' pattern.

A few of his richer friends decided to call the habit of David's once and for all.


5. Transform the sentence into state pattern.

So they stood at the side of the road as the royal procession made its way to the hospital.


6. Transform the sentence into action pattern.

One night David and a group of his friends were in a pub.


7. Transform the sentence from Complex Subject pattern.

He seemed to know almost anybody of them.


8. Transform the sentence into Complex Subject pattern.

Together they returned to the stage. (appear)


9. Transform the sentence into Complex Object pattern.

Queen Elizabeth was to open a new hospital in the local area.


10. Transform the sentence into Cleft pattern.

Nobody could remember David travelling outside the United Kingdom.


11. Change the sentence into Conditional III pattern.

So they stood at the side of the road as the royal procession made its way to the hospital.


12. Transform the sentence into inverted emphatic pattern.

As the Rolls-Royce came close to David's group it stopped abruptly.


13. Transform the sentence into what + subject + predicate + to be + to inf pattern.

They bought tickets to Rome and insisted that they all visit the Vatican.


14. Change the verb into an analytical one.

David returned to his friends and said that he would bring the Pope out onto the balcony.