YDS Reading Passages Test II

2. HOW BORING IS FAKENHAM? Dictionaries are clear about, the meaning of 'boring' — "causing boredom, tedious". Boring means something so uninteresting and dull that sleep is the only escape. Fakenham in Norfolk, England, is a rural market town with roots in the printing industry and allegedly the most boring place in Britain. A local resident who let his controversial views loose on the Internet has whipped up a storm of protest from the majority of Fakenham's local people. At the time that the accusation appeared on an Internet page, newspapers and radio stations picked up the story. In retaliation, Fakenham had its own web site designed to explain the town's many virtues. In view of the information on this page, showing Fakenham as being steeped in history and with a remarkably clean river running through it, it seems an attractive place to visit. The riverside walks pass through wildflower meadows, where rare orchids grow in abundance and wildlife, such as the kingfisher, thrives. The town may lack a night club, which prompted the original accusation, but there is a new cinema, a bowling alley, a race course and plenty of pubs, cafes and antique shops. According to the owner of one of the cafes, The Dancing Goat, Fakenham is a wonderful little town and places are only as interesting or boring as people make them. From the statements given in the passage, it appears that Fakenham's own web site ........ .

3. LEAVES OF GRASS Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" could stand as an autobiography, as a self-portrait, and as the life work of a man who first began to write in 1855. The book provoked a reaction of praise and criticism unequaled by any other American work of literature before. His friends agreed that he and the book were the same, and this was exactly the illusion the poet wished to create. But of course the two were separate. The Walt Whitman who was portrayed in "Leaves of Grass" was transcendental, as much myth as man. The mortal Walt was born to a family of English and Dutch extraction on 31 May, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, N.Y. We learn from the passage that Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" ....... .

4. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART'S FAMOUS STEPS More money is spent on art in Philadelphia than in any other American city. In fact, about one percent of the total city budget is spent on art. Philadelphia's art museum houses an unparalleled collection from the Middle Ages onward. It has exhibits from all over the world and has a superb collection from the Orient. It is a palatial structure set in the middle of beautiful Fairmount Park. The museum is the city's number one tourist attraction and you would be forgiven for thinking that this has something to do with its collection of 500,000 paintings. However, the museum's popularity has more to do with another form of art, the film. During the film 'Rocky', the hero, played by Sylvester Stallone, runs up the front steps of the building while he was training for a fight. Tourists arrive in bus loads, but many don't even bother to enter the building. They come merely for a glimpse of the scene from the Academy Award winning film, Rocky. We learn from the passage that the museum is very popular with tourists because ........... .