1. Complete the sentences with the prepositions below.
about for from in of on to with
1 Is the teacher angry ……………………… your homework?
2 My dad is very similar ……………………… his brother.
3 Barbados is famous ……………………… its beautiful beaches.
4 My sister is very proud ……………………… her exam results.
5 I’m not very interested ……………………… sport.
6 Are you keen ……………………… music?
7 Jake is very different ……………………… his father.
8 Are you pleased ……………………… your new bike?
Answer
1 about 2 to 3 for 4 of 5 in 6 on 7 from 8 with
2. Read the text. Match paragraphs 1-5 with the headings below (a-e).
a Educational advantages
b Step-siblings
c Introduction
d Girl power
e Learning important skills
THE SIBLING EFFECT
1 …….. We don’t always get on well with our brothers and sisters – but we get a lot of benefits from them. Research shows that siblings have a big effect on our personalities – and in general, it’s a good effect.
2 …….. When you’re young, you argue with your brothers and sisters. It’s part of life. 1……………. Why? Because you learn important skills from these arguments. And according to research, you don’t get these skills from friends, only from siblings.
3 …….. A big brother or sister is also an advantage at school. According to research, when your big brother or sister does well at school, you do well too. 2……………. They can also give you important information about your school and your teachers. The research shows that a big brother or sister can bring you an extra 4% in your exams! (And for children from poor families, it’s 11%)
4 …….. Some benefits are only true when your sibling is a girl. For example, according to research at the University of Ulster, in Northern Ireland, boys with sisters are usually good at talking about emotions. This helps them to be happy, because when they feel worried about something, they can share their feelings. 3…………….
5 …….. But what about stepbrothers and stepsisters? 4……………. The answer is: yes, they do – but only when they are part of the family for six years or more.
Answer
1 c 2 e 3 a 4 d 5 b
Reading Strategy
When you want to know if a sentence fits a gap, read the sentences before and after as well as the sentence itself, and ask yourself these questions:
– Does it make sense?
– Does it fit grammatically? (Think about tense, pronouns, singular and plural, this / that, etc.)
– Does it match the topic of the paragraph?
3. Read the Reading Strategy. Then match gaps 1-4 in the text with sentences A-E. There is one extra sentence.
A This is because they help you with homework.
B Boys with sisters are also good at talking to girls.
C Do they offer the same advantages?
D Nobody is very keen on arguments, but in fact, they can be a good thing.
E Do you get on well with your brother or sister?
Answer
1 D 2 A 3 B 4 C –The extra sentence is E.
Extra exercises
Strategy
In true or false tasks, the information in the text you need to answer the questions follows the order of the questions. For each question, underline the sentences in the text that has the information in the question. Compare the sentences with the question and decide if the sentence is true or false.
1. Read the Strategy. Then look at the statements below and read the first paragraph of the text in exercise 2. Underline the sentences in the text that have the information in the statements. Are they true (T) or false (F)? Why?
1 Arthur Conan Doyle is a detective.
2 Dr Watson doesn’t know Sherlock Holmes before they share a flat together.
Answer
1 F 2 T
2. Read the text Are the sentences 1-8 true (T) or false (F)?
Famous friends
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are two very famous detectives. They appear in the books by the writer Arthur Conan Doyle. Watson first meets Holmes when Holmes is looking for a person to share his flat at 221B Baker Street. The two men like each other, so they decide to live together.
Holmes and Watson are about the same age, but they look quite different. Holmes is tall and thin with dark hair. Watson is neither tall nor thin and he has fair hair. He also has a moustache. The two men are also quite different in character. Holmes is a very private person, and he has a lot of secrets. Watson is the opposite. He’s friendly, open and honest. The two men soon become good friends.
At first, Watson doesn’t know that Holmes is a detective. When a lot of strange people start to visit the flat, Watson asks Holmes about them. Holmes tells him about his work.
The two men have a housekeeper called Mrs Hudson, who does the housework. Holmes spends most of his time doing detective work. Watson works as a doctor, but he helps Holmes in his free time. He isn’t as intelligent as Holmes, but he knows a lot about medicine, and Holmes doesn’t.
Holmes and Watson are single when they first meet. Later, Watson gets married, and he goes to live with his wife. But he still sees Holmes and they continue working together. Watson goes back to live with Holmes when his wife dies. In Conan Doyle’s stories, the two friends solve more than 60 crimes together.
1 The two men don’t look very different.
2 Holmes doesn’t like talking about himself.
3 Watson knows that Holmes is a detective before he goes to live with him.
4 Mrs Hudson does most of the cooking and cleaning for Holmes and Watson.
5 Watson helps Holmes with his detective work, but he also has another job.
6 Watson is useful to Holmes because he is a doctor.
7 Holmes is married, but he doesn’t live with his wife.
8 Watson lives in the Baker Street flat in all of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Answer
1 F 2 T 3 F 4 T 5 T 6 T 7 F 8 F