University Tips is here to help you prepare for the English exams and tests that are coming your way. It gives you practise answering questions similar to those you may have at school and also on the University Entrance Examination.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.
By Ajarn Helen Jandamit
A pickup that sells a variety of fresh food is known as a rod kubkhao, which translates as "food car.” The vendors usually drive around residential communities during the day.
WIDE CHOICE
The choice of goods is more or less the same for all vendors. It includes vegetables, red meat, poultry, fish and seafood as well as herbs and spices. Merchandise is often put on paper sheets or in baskets, with some kept in large ice buckets. Some are displayed inside plastic bags on the side of the truck.
Each rod kubkhao has a distinctive announcement made through an electric megaphone. Recordings of "Kubkhao ma laew krub kubkhao" (“Food, here comes the food,”) tell the residents of their arrival.
That this exotic Thai-style trade is thriving is a good sign that traditional home-cooked meals won't fade away any time soon in our food-loving kingdom.
VEGGIE COUPLE
Lumphun Amchaiphum and her husband park their vegetable-filled truck between The Mall Ngamwongwan and Tesco Lotus. Some may wonder whether a location filled with so many shops needs this mobile veggie stall. But in a short time, the large number of people that visit the truck shows how popular it is.
"I think it's because we stop right in front of people's doors and sell things at very reasonable prices, that's why they don't buy them somewhere else," explains 29-year-old Lumphun.
It's been 10 years since the couple started the business on the advice of Lumphun's husband's grandparents who did the same thing in their younger years.
EARLY START
Lamyai Thongnak, a traditional food truck vendor in the Lat Prao area, has been in the truck business for almost six years. Usually she earns enough to make a living, except when she returns to her hometown of Phetchabun.
"I sell everything ranging from vegetables to chili paste, fish and meat. I have a number of regular customers who are elderly. They buy goods from me once or twice a week.”
Every night at around midnight, she goes to buy goods from Si Mum Muang Market in Pathum Thani because the prices are so low. She then starts selling goods at 4 am and finishes at around 9 or 10 am. She parks her pickup at the same place each day.
FRESH FOOD
Toey, 45, operates his 6 am to 1 pm food truck business in a middle-class residential estate off Ramkhamhaeng Road. His wife sits in the back of his truck and shares the space with a 100-item collection of fresh produce that is changed daily depending on seasons and demands.
Section 1
Read the story and answer the following multiple-choice questions.
1. Which of the following titles best describes the article?
a. How to cook.
b. Mobile markets.
c. Vending machines.
2. Where is Lamyai’s hometown?
a. Phetchabun.
b. Phetchaburi.
c. Chon Buri.
3. How old is Toey?
a. 40 years old.
b. 42 years old.
c. 45 years old.
4. Where does Toey sell food?
a. Near Rama IV Road.
b. Near Ramkhamhaeng Road.
c. Near Sukhumvit Road.
5. How long have Lumphun and her husband operated their food truck business?
a. For about one year.
b. For about ten years.
c. For about fifteen years.
6. Where is Si Mum Muang Market located?
a. In Pathum Thani.
b. In Phetchabun.
c. In Nonthaburi.
Section 2
Specify whether each of the following statements is true or false.
7. Lamyai sells food in the Lat Krabang area.
…………………
8. Lamyai sells vegetables, chili paste and fish.
…………………
9. Lamphun started her business on the advice of her husband’s brothers.
…………………
10. Toey and his wife sell seasonal fresh produce.
…………………
Section 3
Read each of the following sentences and underline the grammatically correct prepositions in each from the choices given.
11. He sells food in/of/at reasonable prices.
12. The menu changes depending up/on/from the season.
13. They spoke through/for/under an electric megaphone.
14. We sell everything ranging after/from/off vegetables to meat.
15. She starts selling fish at 5 pm and finishes at above/onwards/around 9 to 10 am.
Section 4
Read the following passage. Then fill in the blanks with the correct words from the choices given.
From the food trucks, customers can buy as little …..16….. 5 baht portions of vegetables, which is impossible in …..17….. If there's demand for more expensive produce, customers are …..18….. to place an order for delivery the following day. …..19….. number of local food trucks in Bangkok nonetheless appears …..20….. be on the rise.
16. a. for b. as c. with
17. a. super markets b. supermarket c. supermarkets
18. a. welcome b. welcomed c. welcoming
19. a. The b. A c. An
20. a. to b. too c. two
Section 5
Match each of the following words used in the story with the correct synonyms from the choices given.
……….. 21. suggestion
……….. 22. famous
……….. 23. purchase
……….. 24. consumers
residential (adj): (of an area of a town) suitable for living in
poultry (n): meat from chickens, ducks and geese
megaphone (n): a device for making your voice sound louder, that is wider at one end, like a cone
Answers
Section 1
1. b.
2. a.
3. c.
4. b.
5. b.
6. a.
Section 2
7. False.
8. True.
9. False.
10. True.
Section 3
11. at
12. on
13. through
14. from
15. around
Section 4
16. b.
17. c.
18. a.
19. a.
20. a.
Section 5
21. Advice.
22. Popular.
23. Buy.
24. Customers.
SCORE
21-24: Excellent!
17-20: Good.
13-16: Fair.
12 or fewer: You'll do better next time!
