Dr. Brown's dental practice was on the ground floor of a large suburban house which had been built towards the end of the 19th century. The front room, which served both as the waiting room and an office for the secretary, was furnished with dusty armchairs and a couple of sofas that looked as though they must have been bought second-hand when the house was first occupied. The usual selection of magazines, all hopelessly out of date and falling to pieces, were scattered on the scratched coffee table that stood on the worn-out carpet in the centre of the room.

    John wondered where all these magazines came from. Somehow, he could not imagine Dr. Brown reading magazines with titles like "Woman's Fashion Weekly”and "Home and Family"  in his spare time. Perhaps the secretary brought them in, he thought, as he sat fidgeting on the uncomfortable sofa next to his serious-looking father. He wanted to ask her, but it somehow seemed wrong to  speak;just about the only sounds that could be heard in the room was the steady tick of the clock which stood on  the mantelpiece over the fireplace and the tap-tap of the secretary’s typewriter.

Some of the people sitting in the waiting room idly flipped through the old magazines while others, probably regular visitors, read the morning newspaper they had wisely brought with them. One lady sat next to the fire quietly knitting what looked like a long scarf, exactly as if she were sitting in her own living room at home. Another woman kept looking at the clock and moaning softly, but there was no conversation amongst the waiting patients.

      Bored, John started to play a game. What was wrong with all these people he asked himself. Were they all here for the same routine check-up as he was? Surely not; that lady was clearly in pain, so he decided the others must all have terrible problems as well. He imagined that the knitting lady had absent-mindedly put one of her knitting needles in her mouth and bitten it, breaking a tooth. He was sure this was the case because his mother was always warning him that this would happen to him if he didn't stop chewing his pen when he was doing his homework. And that man with the grey hair; wasn't his right cheek just a little bit swollen? Obviously he had eaten something with a maggot in it and now the maggot was still there in his mouth, eating through his gums...  Suddenly, John was brought back to earth by the sound of footsteps in the hall outside and then a bell rang somewhere in the room. Everybody looked up at the secretary as she consulted a list of names in the diary on her desk. "Mrs. Barker", she called out, and the lady by the fire carefully put her knitting away in the plastic bag she carried and rose to her feet, heading towards the door and the dentist's chair. The other patients seemed to relax a little as they returned to their reading; even the moaning from the clock-watching lady ceased for a few seconds. John sighed inwardly and  picked up one of the more colourful-looking magazines in  front of him. He had had enough of his game, but he had a horrible feeling that it was going to be a long time before he got to see the dentist.

Statements

 1. The furniture in the waiting room must have been:

 a) made before the house was built;

 b) very shabby and dirty looking;

 c)  not new when it was bought;

 d) not suitable for a dental practice.

 2. John was quite sure that Dr. Brown:

 a)  never read the magazines in the waiting room;

 b)  told his secretary to buy new magazines;

 c)  did not'know where the  magazines came from;

d)  did not have enough time to read magazines.

 3. Why didn't John ask the secretary about the magazines?

a)  H is father would be angry;       

 b)  he could see she was very busy;

 c) he was too shy to do so;          

 d)  nobody else was talking.

 4. The writer suggests that some patients had brought newspapers with them because:

 a) they wanted to catch up with the news;

 b) they didn't want to talk to each other;

 c) they knew nothing about the magazines;

 d) they had been to the dentist before.

 5. There were some patients that:

 a) needed treatment badly;

  b) spent their time doing something useful;

  c) were playing table games while waiting;

  d)were impatiently wandering around the room.

 6. Why did John have to see the dentist?

  a) He had broken one of his teeth

  b) His mother insisted on it;

  c) He was in a lot of pain; "

  d)  It was time for his regular visit.

 7. John must have had:

a) good imagination;

b)  a bad toothache;

c) maggot in his mouth;

d)  grey hair.

   8. The secretary knew the dentist was ready to see the next patient because:

  a) she heard footsteps in the corridor;

  b)  the clock sounded the hour;

  c)  she heard a special signal;       

  d)  Mrs. Barker put her knitting away.

  9. The patients in the waiting room seemed to feel:

  a) quite relaxed;                   

  b)  a bit frightened;

  c) little annoyed;                 

  d)  a little bored.

  10. Why did John stop playing his game?

  a) He had got bored with it;

  b) It was time to see the dentist;

  c) he wanted to read the magazine;

  d) It was not very relaxing