By Ajarn Helen Jandamit
Photos courtesy of AFP
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.
Tourism bosses in a Japanese prefecture have come up with what they hope will draw more cat-loving visitors: a Google-style Street View for cats.
FLUFFY EXPLORER
Google-style Street View for cats is an online map that explores the streets of port city Onomichi from the purr-spective of a four-pawed visitor. Billed as a world first, officials launched the online map in early September.
"We decided to focus on cats because they know everything about the city, including the backstreets," a tourism spokesman for western Hiroshima prefecture told AFP. He added that the city of about 150,000 people is known for its many cats and has a street known as "Cat Lane.”
The map is based on the perspective of Lala, a fluffy kitty with emerald-coloured eyes, who lives with a local hair salon owner.
BACKSTREET ACTION
So far, the map covers just two streets but plans to expand its reach are in the works using a camera attached to a stick that hovers 20 centimetres above the ground.
Viewers can trace what Lala — appointed the head of the prefecture's "backstreet tourism" division — sees from her low-level perspective.
ANIMAL MASTER
The unlikely tourism bid is not Japan's first. Wakayama prefecture drew thousands of tourists to its regional train station where a cat served as nominal stationmaster.
Tortoiseshell-coloured Tama was credited with saving the Kishigawa Line after being appointed as master of the tiny Kishi station.
With the regional railway losing money, the station lost its last human employee in April 2006, passing on the mantle to Tama, who delighted in strolling around her own office wearing the formal uniform cap of Wakayama Electric Railway. After Tama's death in June, a new cat took over the position.
Exercises
Section 1
Read the story and answer the following multiple-choice questions.
1. Why was this Google-style Street View for cats created?
a. To stop the regional railway losing money.
b. To attract visitors who like cats to Onomichi.
c. To attract cats to Onomichi.
2. Which of the following is true about Onomichi?
a. It hovers 20 centimetres above the ground.
b. It is in Wakayama prefecture.
c. It is a port city.
3. Which cat is featured in the Street View for cats?
a. Tama.
b. Doraemon.
c. Lala.
4. Where is "Cat Lane" located?
a. In Onomichi.
b. In Wakayama prefecture.
c. Near Kishi station.
5. When was the online map launched?
a. In early September.
b. In April 2006.
c. In June 2015.
6. Why was the Street View camera placed 20 centimetres above the ground?
a. To show what Onomichi looks like from ground level.
b. To cover two streets.
c. To show the backstreets.
7. How many people live in Onomichi?
a. About 1,500.
b. About 15,000.
c. About 150,000.
8. What colour are Lala’s eyes?
a. They are emerald.
b. They are tortoiseshell.
c. The news story does not say.
Section 2
Read the story and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
9. Lala lives with a local hair salon owner.
………………………
10. Lala is the stationmaster of Kishi station.
………………………
11. Lala is now the head of "backstreet tourism" in Onomichi.
………………………
Section 3
Read each of the following sentences and underline the grammatically correct words in each from the choices given.
12. Tama delighted at/with/in strolling around her own office wearing a stationmaster’s cap.
13. Sadly, Tama died at/in/for June.
14. It hovers 20 centimetres on/above/in the ground.
15. After the chief inspector retired, a new man took over/on/up the position.
Section 4
Read the following passage. Then, fill in the blanks with the correct words from the choices given.
Kishi Station is a train station on the Kishigawa Line in Kinokawa, Wakayama, Japan, operated by . …..16….. private railway operator Wakayama Electric Railway. Kishi Station was known for Tama the Station Cat, a female cat …..17….. became the mascot for the station until she died …..18….. June 2015. The cat held the official position of Super Station Master. Tama …..19….. succeeded as Station Master by another cat, named Nitama. Since …..20….. , the station is housed in a cat-shaped building, along …..21….. a Tama-themed cafe, with cat-themed chairs and cakes.
16.
a. an
b. the
c. these
17.
a. whose
b. which
c. whom
18.
a. between
b. in
c. into
19.
a. was
b. were
c. have been
20.
a. renovate
b. renovates
c. renovation
21.
a. next to
b. near
c. with
Section 5
Write down the noun forms of the following words used in the story.
22. regional ……………….
23. decided ……………….
24. local ……………….
Vocabulary
- prefecture (n): an area of local government in Japan
fluffy (adj): covered in soft animal fur
backstreet (n): a small quiet street away from main roads
stationmaster (n): a person in charge of a train station
