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London Police Force

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london police forceFor this exercise about the London police force, you have to read the text and choose the correct answer to each of the five questions. This provides practice for Part 3 of the A2 Key examination.

About 5-10 minutes.Reading comprehension.Developing stages of learning English.
Enhanced Accessibility.
Reading ComprehensionVocabulary
Read the article about the London police force and answer the questions.

London Police ForceToday there are police officers everywhere, but in 1700 London had none at all. A few old men used to protect the city streets at night, and they were not paid very much.

About 300 years ago, London was starting to get bigger. The city was very dirty, and many people were poor. There were so many thieves who stole money in the streets that people stayed at home as much as possible.

In 1750, Henry Fielding started to pay a group of people to stop thieves. They were like police officers and were called 'Bow Street Runners' because they worked near Bow Street.

Fifty years later, there were 120 Bow Street Runners, but London had become very big and needed more police officers. So, in 1829, the first Metropolitan (or London) Police Force was started with 3000 officers. Most of them worked on foot, but a few rode horses. Until 1920 all the police in London were men.

Today, London police are quite well paid, and for the few police officers who still ride horses, the pay is even better than for the others.

1. In 1700, there were

2. 300 years ago, many people

3. The Bow Street Runners

4. Of the 3000 Metropolitan police officers,

5. Today, police officers who work with horses are paid


 

Here are new words and phrases from this reading comprehension:

  • Bow Street
  • dirty
  • London Police Force
  • Metropolitan
  • paid not very much
  • police officers
  • rode horses
  • thieves
Print version available.
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In addition, we add listening and speaking exercises in order to practise for this part of the A2 Key test.

Part 1 - Listen to conversations and choose the correct answer.

Part 2 - Listen to a monologue and complete gaps in a page of notes.

Part 3 - Listen to a conversation and choose the correct answer.

Part 4 - Listen to  conversations and choose the correct answer.

Part 5 - Listen to a conversation and choose the correct answer.

The more words you encounter and understand, the broader your day-to-day vocabulary will become. Our word games and puzzles are an excellent way to help to reinforce spellings in your mind.
Especially helpful are exercises that are focussed on a theme or topic as these provide word retention practice so you can be confident to read, write, speak and listen successfully.

Cambridge English Examinations:

Cambridge English exams are designed for learners at all levels from the elementary level Cambridge English: Key (KET) to the very advanced level Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE). These exams give candidates proof of their ability to use English in a wide variety of contexts, relevant to work, study and leisure activities.

A2 Key | B1 Preliminary | B2 First

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