E.O.
I Las Palmas Reading Test
Nivel Intermedio 1
TASK
There are seven gaps in the following text. You need to fill them with the sentences below in the
correct place. There are two extra sentences you will not need. The first one has been done for
you as an example.
Too Much Time Watching TV? You May Be a Couch Potato
..........1………. For example, someone who likes to spend a lot of time sitting or lying down
while watching television is sometimes called a couch potato. A couch is a piece of furniture that
people sit on while watching TV.
Robert Armstrong, an artist from California, developed the term couch potato in 1976……2…….
Mr. Armstrong also helped write a funny book about life as a full-time television watcher. It is called
the “Official Couch Potato Handbook”.
Couch potatoes enjoy watching TV just as mouse potatoes enjoy working on computers……3
……The description of mouse potato became popular in 1993.
Too much time inside the house using a computer or watching TV can cause someone to get
cabin fever. A cabin is a simple house usually built far away from the city. …….4………
Cabin fever is not really a disease. . ……5…… This is especially true during the winter when it
is too cold or snowy to do things outside. Often children get cabin fever if they cannot go outside to
play. So do their parents.
Some people enjoy spending a lot of time in their homes to make them nice places to live. This
is called nesting or cocooning. Birds build nests out of sticks to hold their eggs and baby birds. Some
insects build cocoons around themselves for protection while they grow and change. Nests and
cocoons provide security for wildlife. ………. 6 ………..The terms nesting and cocooning became
popular more than twenty years ago. . These people then had children.
Now these children are grown and have left the nest. They are in college………. 7 ……… .
Now these parents are living alone without children in their empty nest. They have become empty
nesters.
Adapted from “[Link]”
A However, people can experience boredom if they spend too much time inside their homes.
B Some unusual words describe how a person spends his or her time. 1
C They describe people buying their first homes and filling them with many things.
D It is the device that moves the pointer ,or cursor, on a computer screen.
E They have their own nest.
F Or they are married and starting families of their own far away.
G People go there to relax and enjoy quiet time.
H Several years later, the term was listed as a trademark with the U.S. government.
I An electric machine which is used for storing, organizing and finding words.
KEY
A However, people can experience boredom if they spend too much time inside their homes. 5
B Some unusual words describe how a person spends his or her time. 1
C They describe people buying their first homes and filling them with many things. 6
D It is the device that moves the pointer ,or cursor, on a computer screen. 3
E They have their own nest.
F Or they are married and starting families of their own far away.
G People go there to relax and enjoy quiet time. 7
H Several years later, the term was listed as a trademark with the U.S. government. 4
I An electric machine which is used for storing, organizing and finding words. 2