Learn English #1 •Intermediate | Advanced

Read the newspaper story below, and then answer the questions that follow it.

Man hung on to stolen car at 130kph

A US man held on to the back of his sports car and rang police on his mobile phone as a thief drove off at speeds of up to 130mph.

Tony Young said he was determined to hang on to his car because it had been stolen before, but admitted he thought he was a 'goner'.

Mr Young, 35, of Swartz Creek, told reporters: "I didn't want to lose it again. That car's my pride and joy."

The car was stolen from his home, but Mr Young asked a friend to give him a lift so he could look for it, and they saw the car at a stop sign.

He challenged the driver but the car drove off. Mr Young jumped on the back of the car and held on to the spoiler.

As the car went faster and faster, Young hung on and gave police a running commentary on his phone. He says he thought he was going to die when the car turned on to a motorway.

The chase finally ended when the thief stopped the car and ran away on foot. He was caught by police about 10 minutes later.


• Text from Ananova.com

Reading comprehension

True or false?

    true false
1. Mr Young phoned the police when he saw his car had been stolen.
2. This was the first time someone had stolen Mr Young's car.
3. Mr Young and a friend drove around the area looking for the car.
4. Mr Young tried to get into his car when it stopped at a road sign.
5. Mr Young stayed in contact with the police by phone from the back of the car.
6. The police finally managed to stop the car.
       

Exercises

1. Noun modifiers
You can use a noun to give more information about another noun, e.g. a sports car. Match the two halves of the sentences below.

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2. Comparative + and + comparative
Complete the sentences with the comparative form of the adjectives below.

e.g. As the car went faster and faster, Young hung on and gave police a running commentary.

Please ensure a Java Virtual Machine is installed and enabled

 

3. More exercises
You will find more exercises relating to this text in the Advanced section:

 

What do you think?

Do you think that Tony Young was right to jump on the back of his car? Is it ever a good idea to confront a criminal, or should you always leave that to the police? Is theft a serious problem where you live? What type of theft is most common?

Have you ever had anything stolen? What were the circumstances? Did you see the person who stole it? Did you get the stolen object back? Have you ever seen anybody else being robbed? What happened?

 

More exercises

 


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