Question

Family
Reading Comprehension Test
Form 8
Vanessa-Mae.
Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore in 1978. She moved to England with her mother when
she was four. Vanessa was already having piano lessons when she started playing the violin
as well.
At the age of eight Vanessa went to Beijing in China to study the violin: The course takes
normal students three years to complete, but Vanessa finished it in six months. While she
was studying in Beijing, she visited some interesting places like the Great Wall of China and
the Emperor's Palace. She remembers that the Chinese she met were very surprised that she
couldn't speak a word Chinese.
Vanessa began performing when she was ten years old, and at 11 she entered the Royal
Academy of Music, While she was studying there she played with the London Philharmonic
Orchestra and went on tour with the London Mozart Players. She was also the youngest
person to record violin music by composers such as Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.
In 1995, Vanessa recorded an album called The Violin Player. This was not a classical
album, but mixture of pop, jazz and techno. It was an unusual album because it was the first
time a classical musician mixed music in this way. In the same year Vanessa gave a famous
concert in Time Square, New York. At the end of the concert she was so excited that she
jumped onto a yellow cab. She played her last song while she was standing on the roof of the
cab. The next day her picture was in all the newspapers - Vanessa-Mae was famous.
Today Vanessa-Mae continues to mix different styles of music, including classical and pop
as well as sounds from Africa and India. She composes her own music. Some people don't
like her music because it isn't classical but other people are happy because she makes violin
music popular. What do you think?
Put the events into the correct order. Vanessa-Mae:
saw the Great Wall of China.
b)
made The Violin Player.
c) started at the Royal Academy of Music.
d) began to learn the violin.
e) moved to England.
f) toured with the London Mozart Players.
Semester II
Answer the questions
1. How old was Vanessa-Mae when she went to Beijing?
Why were the Chinese surprised when they met her?
2:
3. Where did Vanessa-Mae end a concert on top of a taxi?
4. What sort of music does she play today?

Answer 1

Correct order of events:

e) moved to England.

d) began to learn the violin.

a) saw the Great Wall of China.

c) started at the Royal Academy of Music.

f) toured with the London Mozart Players.

b) made The Violin Player.

Answering the questions:

Vanessa-Mae was eight years old when she went to Beijing. The Chinese were surprised when they met her because she couldn't speak a word of Chinese.

Vanessa-Mae ended a concert on top of a yellow cab in Times Square, New York.

Vanessa-Mae plays a mixture of different styles of music today, including classical and pop, as well as sounds from Africa and India.