Reading skills - THE GREAT EXHIBITION 1851

THE GREAT EXHIBITION 1851     

     Frederick Boxer looked out of the train window as it entered Paddington Station in London. It was a hot day in June, a Wednesday, and the sky was blue. Frederick's mother and father sat beside him, and the train was full of lots of other people all going to the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, too.

    Frederick lived in Reading, a small town about forty kilometres from London. His father owned a shop that sold ladies' dresses, and Frederick worked in the shop on Saturday afternoons, when he was not at school. Frederick hated school; he wanted to leave and start work in the shop as soon as possible.

     'I wish Jane was here', Frederick's father said.

     'One of us had to stay and look after the shop,' Mrs Boxer said. 'If we want to eat, we have to work. My mother...'

     'Oh, not your mother again, please,' Mr Boxer said.

     Mrs Boxer spoke louder. 'My mother worked at making dresses from six in the morning until ten at night, and we still didn't have enough money for food. I learned to make dresses to help her. I was eight, I'll never forget it.' Her voice was as hard as her face.

     'Neither will I,' Mr Boxer said. 'I'd still like Jane to be here. The Exhibition is one of the most exciting things to happen in this country this century. There are one hundred thousand exhibits. Jane could learn all sorts of things.'

     'Mr Boxer, a daughter gets married and a son makes money. Jane doesn't need to learn anything more.'

     'Let me leave school and work in the shop, then. I'm already thirteen.' Frederick said. 'I've got lots of ideas to make it better.'

     Mrs Boxer thought about this. Then she said, 'No,' in a terrible voice.

     Frederick wasn't frightened of her, like his father. He held up a magazine. 'There's a machine at the Exhibition that makes shirts in one minute. I want to go and study it this morning.' He was excited now. 'We could buy one and sell the shirts to all the people in Reading.' 

Which statements are true (YES) and which are false (NO)?

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