READING COMPREHENSION FOR 11

ACTIVITY
Read the text and answer the questions

Child Labour

Child workers, some as young as 10, have been found working in a textile 1) __________ in conditions described as close to slavery to produce clothes that appear destined for one the major high street 2) __________.

Speaking to a British newspaper, the children described long hours of 3) __________ work and threats and beatings. The company said it was unaware that clothing intended for its 4) __________ had been improperly 5) __________ to a 6) __________ that used child labour. It further announced it had withdrawn the garments involved until it had investigated the alleged 7) __________ of the 8) __________ code it imposed on manufacturers three years ago.

The discovery of these children working in appalling conditions in the Shahpur Jat area of Delhi has renewed concerns about the 9) __________ by some large retail chains of their 10) __________ production to India, recognised by the United Nations as one of the worlds's hotspots for child labour. According 11) __________one 12) __________, over 20 per cent of India's economy is 13) __________ on children, which comes to a total of 55 million youngsters under 14 working.

14) __________ in the West should not only be demanding answers from retailers about how their 15) __________ are produced but also should be looking into their consciences at how they spend their money and whether cheap prices in the West are worth the suffering caused to so many children.

1 -

a. facility

b. factory

c. office

d. bureau

2 -

a. warehouse

b. retailer

c. warehouses

d. retailers

3 -

a. inpaid

b. unpaid

c. without pay

d. without payment

4 -

a. warehouses

b. stores

c. outlet

d. branch

5 -

a. outsource

b. outsourcing

c. outsources

d. outsourced

6 -

a. association

b. sweatshop

c. closed shop

d. retailer

7 -

a. breaches

b. errors

c. mistakes

d. wrongdoings

8 -

a. ethic

b. ethnic

c. ethical

d. ethnical

9 -

a. outsource

b. outsourcing

c. outsources

d. outsourced

10 -

a. garment

b. raiment

c. garments

d. raiments

11 -

a. by

b. to

c. of

d. from

12 -

a. estimate

b. estimating

c. estimates

d. estimated

13 -

a. depends

b. dependent

c. dependant

d. dependence

14 -

a. Consume

b. Consumption

c. Consumer

d. Consumers

15 -

a. stuff

b. ware

c. goods

d. garment

AIRBUS CRISIS OVER

Airbus says it has turned the corner after a crisis connected to production problems and turmoil in the boardroom at its A380 super-jumbo project that has gone on for the past year. Speaking at the Paris air show, Louis Gallois, CEO of the European planemaker, said, "Airbus is back."

Airbus, which announced a raft of orders on the first day of the show, is competing with Boeing, its American rival, for the title of the largest planemaker in the world.

Boeing is expected to reveal the numbers of orders for its 787 Dreamliner soon. Airbus orders unveiled on Monday included Qatar Airways confirming a $16bn order for 80 A350 Airbus planes and ordering three A380 super-jumbos for about $750m.

Boeing and Airbus are also competing for orders from aircraft leasing firms. Orders from these companies - who rank highly among the biggest global buyers of aircraft - are often regarded as an indication of how successful a model will be in the long term.

Airbus also secured orders from US Airways that are worth $10bn for 22 of its A350 jets, 60 A320s and ten of its A330-200 wide-body planes.

A few months ago, Airbus unveiled a major cost-cutting programme aiming to reduce the workforce in Europe by 10,000, as well as announcing a group restructuring. "I can tell you with full confidence that Airbus is back and fully back, as you have started noting yesterday as demonstrated by our first day announcements," said Mr Gallois on the second day of the air show.

However, Boeing also announced a deal with General Electric (GE) on the show's first day. GE's commercial aviation services placed an order for six 777 Boeing freighters valued at around $1.4bn, to be delivered in the last quarter of 2008.

A Wall Street Journal website report, quoting the Delta operating chief yesterday said that Delta Air Lines were on the verge of ordering as many as 125 Boeing 787 jetliners by the end of this year. However, a spokesman for Delta later said that it had been having conversations "with several aircraft makers" and that "no final decision" had been made on future fleet purchases. 

QUESTIONS

1- The problems at Airbus

a. have been resolved completely.

b. are well on their way to being sorted out.

c. are far from resolved.

2 - Airbus announced

a. a large number of orders on the first day of the show.

b. some orders on the first day of the show.

c. a few orders on the first day of the show.

3 - Qatar Airways ordered

a. 83 planes on Monday.

b. 80 planes on Monday.

c. 3 planes on Monday.

4 - US Airways

a. placed an order for the new super-jumbo.

b. didn't place an order for the new super-jumbo.

c. may have placed an order for the new super-jumbo.

5 - Boeing

a. announced sales of the Dreamliner.

b. may sell some Dreamliners to General Electric.

c. may sell some Dreamliners to Delta Air Lines.

6 - The Wall Street Journal website report

a. was definitely correct.

b. was possibly correct.

c. was definitely wrong.