English Reading Comprehension Answer Key: Dracula, Dogs, Marco Polo, Wild Cats, Smart Shoes and Tattoos

English Reading Comprehension Answer Key

WHERE DOES DRACULA COME FROM?

1. a) True. Bram Stoker... his reading. b) False. When Stoker's Dracula... black bat.

2. a) Whitby is an essential town in the creation of Dracula because it was in this city where its author was planning the novel while he spent the summer there with his family. b) Countess Báthori was a Hungarian lady who belonged to the aristocracy and was arrested in 1610 for murdering girls. She is mentioned in the text because her habit of washing herself in the blood of her victims reminds us of Dracula, who also used his victims' blood to stay young.

3. a) imposing b) engaged c) appears d) habit

4. a) although... than b) had been... what c) deals... is explained d) what else she had seen

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO BE A DOG

1. a) False. As far as animal... in agreement. b) True. Nowadays an... have feelings.

2. A) Because it was generally accepted that animals had automatic reactions rather than showing emotions, they reacted automatically and through instincts to external stimuli. B) Current scientific investigations have revealed that animals' brains share common structures and secrete the same chemicals that carry information within the brain. In addition, the way animals show several emotions in their behaviour is recognizable, just like we are able to recognize grief or happiness in humans.

3. a) indeed b) in addition c) increasing d) as well

4. a) study... will understand b) that... have been explored c) working... the most intelligent d) that his experiment would prove the existence of the emotional lives of animals

TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO

1. a) False: M.P. wrote... to the east. b) False: Experts have... was invented.

2. a) According to the text, the Middle Ages were not a very prosperous period for Europeans, who had to undergo countless wars. Most of its leaders were unscrupulous and incompetent and the social conditions they lived in were not very favourable either. Europeans suffered health problems like the Black Death, hunger and poor hygienic conditions. b) Marco Polo's attitude was important because at the time prejudice towards foreign cultures was common in Europe and his accounts show how he praised the different races, places, nature and customs that he came across with.

3. a) account b) grim c) alien d) prevalent

4. a) who... was b) was governed... ruled c) with... whose d) Marco Polo said that he had only told half of what he had seen.

South American Wild Cats Find Hope in a Test Tube

1. a) True: Some types... American cultures. b) False: The assisted... in Latin America.

2. a) The number of felines has decreased because human activities such as mining or hunting have reduced their natural habitat in the forest, and this implies the reduction of the feline population. b) Scientists from these two countries will use assisted reproduction techniques, that is, they will create two genetic banks from which female animals will be fertilized with semen from males.

3. a) declined b) threat c) farming d) so far

4. a) to... should b) had... carelessly c) too... for d) researchers when they had begun their new wild cat project.

SMART SHOES

1. a) False: the term... new invention. b) True: some experts... physical condition.

2. a) The new invention controls children's viewing time by recording the number of steps that a child has taken in a day. This information is passed to a receiver connected to the television which calculates the number of minutes that a child can watch television according to the exercise done. When the time set has expired, the TV automatically switches off. b) Swan believes that the new device will make families aware of their sedentary lifestyle and will hopefully put an end to it, therefore becoming more active.

3. a) concerns b) expired c) device d) raise

4. a) easiest... from b) which c) of... has increased d) watching... tries... spent

SKIING ART

1. a) False: fashionable people... had tattoos. b) False: The origin... is unknown.

2. a) The Polynesian people used tattoos as symbols to protect themselves against enemies. b) Sailors had crosses tattooed on their bodies because they thought no enemies would try to hit the image of Christ and so they would not get hurt that way.

3. a) mummies b) nearly c) deep d) fully

4. a) becoming... his b) what... a c) whose... it d) were linked... is worn