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Collecting Things

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Read about collecting things for the B2 First Reading Part 7 which is at an upper intermediate level of English which focuses on reading for detail and understanding the main idea.

About 10 minutesStrengthening reading comprehensionCambridge English B2 First Exam

B2 First Reading Part 7 (Collecting Things)

This text for the B2 First Reading Part 7 describes four people who enjoy collecting things. Read the article, then answer the following questions.

John HillWill SmithKate WilliamsJane Bruce

John Hill shares his home with about 200 sewing machines. His passion began when he was searching for bits of second-hand furniture and kept seeing ‘beautiful old sewing machines that were next to nothing to buy’. He couldn’t resist them. Then a friend had a machine that wouldn’t work, so she asked John to look at it for her. At that stage he was not an authority on the subject, but he worked on it for three days and eventually got it going.

Later he opened up a small stand in a London market. ‘Most people seemed uninterested. Then a dealer came and bought everything I’d taken along. I thought, “Great! This is my future life.” But after that I never sold another one there and ended up with a stall in another market which was only moderately successful.’

Nowadays, he concentrates on domestic machines in their original box containers with their handbooks. He is often asked if he does any sewing with them. The answer is that, apart from making sure that they work, he rarely touches them.

As a boy, Will Smith collected hundreds of vintage cameras, mostly from jumble sales and dustbins. Later, when the time came to buy his first house, he had to sell his valuable collection in order to put down a deposit. A few years after, he took up the interest again and now has over a thousand cameras, the earliest dating from 1860.

Now Will ‘just cannot stop collecting’ and hopes to open his own photographic museum where members of the public will be able to touch and fiddle around with the cameras. Whilst acknowledging that the Royal Camera Collection in Bath is probably more extensive than his own, he points out that ‘so few of the items are on show there at the same time that I think my own personal collection will easily rival it.’

Kate Williams is one of the foremost authorities on plastics in Britain. She has, in every corner of her house, a striking collection of plastic objects of every kind, dating from the middle of the last century and illustrating the complex uses of plastic over the years.

Kate’s interest started when she was commissioned to write her first book. In order to do this, she had to start from scratch; so she attended a course on work machinery, maintaining that if she didn’t understand plastics manufacture then nobody else would.  As she gathered the information for her book, she also began to collect pieces of plastic from every imaginable source: junk shops, arcades, and the cupboards of friends. She also collects ‘because it is vital to keep examples. We live in an age of throw-away items: phones, computers, hair dryers – they are all replaced so quickly.’

Kate’s second book, Classic Plastics: from Bakelite to High Tech, is the first published guide to plastics collecting. It describes collections that can be visited and gives simple and safe home tests for identification. She admits that ‘plastic is a mysterious substance and many people are frightened of it. Even so, the band of collectors is constantly expanding.’

Jane Bruce already had twenty years of collecting one thing or another behind her when she started collecting ‘art deco’ fans in the 1990s. It happened when she went to an auction sale and saw a shoe-box filled with them. Someone else got them by offering a higher price and she was very cross.

Later, to her astonishment, he went round to her flat and presented them to her. ‘That was how it all started.’ There were about five fans in the shoe-box and since then they’ve been exhibited in the first really big exhibition of ‘art deco’ in America. The fans are not normally on show, however, but are kept behind glass. They are extremely fragile and people are tempted to handle them. The idea is to have, one day, a black-lacquered room where they can be more easily seen.

Jane doesn’t restrict herself to fans of a particular period, but she will only buy a fan if it is in excellent condition. The same rule applies to everything in her house.

Full text about collecting things here for B2 First Reading Part 7.

Collecting Things

John Hill
John Hill shares his home with about 200 sewing machines. His passion began when he was searching for bits of second-hand furniture and kept seeing ‘beautiful old sewing machines that were next to nothing to buy’. He couldn’t resist them. Then a friend had a machine that wouldn’t work, so she asked John to look at it for her. At that stage he was not an authority on the subject, but he worked on it for three days and eventually got it going.

Later he opened up a small stand in a London market. ‘Most people seemed uninterested. Then a dealer came and bought everything I’d taken along. I thought, “Great! This is my future life.” But after that I never sold another one there and ended up with a stall in another market which was only moderately successful.’

Nowadays, he concentrates on domestic machines in their original box containers with their handbooks. He is often asked if he does any sewing with them. The answer is that, apart from making sure that they work, he rarely touches them.

Will Smith
As a boy, Will Smith collected hundreds of vintage cameras, mostly from jumble sales and dustbins. Later, when the time came to buy his first house, he had to sell his valuable collection in order to put down a deposit. A few years after, he took up the interest again and now has over a thousand cameras, the earliest dating from 1860.

Now Will ‘just cannot stop collecting’ and hopes to open his own photographic museum where members of the public will be able to touch and fiddle around with the cameras. Whilst acknowledging that the Royal Camera Collection in Bath is probably more extensive than his own, he points out that ‘so few of the items are on show there at the same time that I think my own personal collection will easily rival it.’

Kate Williams is one of the foremost authorities on plastics in Britain. She has, in every corner of her house, a striking collection of plastic objects of every kind, dating from the middle of the last century and illustrating the complex uses of plastic over the years.

Kate Williams
Kate’s interest started when she was commissioned to write her first book. In order to do this, she had to start from scratch; so she attended a course on work machinery, maintaining that if she didn’t understand plastics manufacture then nobody else would.  As she gathered the information for her book, she also began to collect pieces of plastic from every imaginable source: junk shops, arcades, and the cupboards of friends. She also collects ‘because it is vital to keep examples. We live in an age of throw-away items: phones, computers, hair dryers – they are all replaced so quickly.’

Kate’s second book, Classic Plastics: from Bakelite to High Tech, is the first published guide to plastics collecting. It describes collections that can be visited and gives simple and safe home tests for identification. She admits that ‘plastic is a mysterious substance and many people are frightened of it. Even so, the band of collectors is constantly expanding.’

Jane Bruce
Jane Bruce already had twenty years of collecting one thing or another behind her when she started collecting ‘art deco’ fans in the 1990s. It happened when she went to an auction sale and saw a shoe-box filled with them. Someone else got them by offering a higher price and she was very cross.

Later, to her astonishment, he went round to her flat and presented them to her. ‘That was how it all started.’ There were about five fans in the shoe-box and since then they’ve been exhibited in the first really big exhibition of ‘art deco’ in America. The fans are not normally on show, however, but are kept behind glass. They are extremely fragile and people are tempted to handle them. The idea is to have, one day, a black-lacquered room where they can be more easily seen.

Jane doesn’t restrict herself to fans of a particular period, but she will only buy a fan if it is in excellent condition. The same rule applies to everything in her house.

1. Who had to re-start their collection?

Question 1 of 10

2. Who was misled by an early success?  

Question 2 of 10

3. Who received an unexpected gift?

Question 3 of 10

4. Who admits to making little practical use of their collection?

Question 4 of 10

5. Who regrets the rapid disappearance of certain items?

Question 5 of 10

6. Who is aware that a fuller collection of items exists elsewhere?

Question 6 of 10

7. Who has a history of collecting different items?

Question 7 of 10

8. Who performed a favour for someone they knew?

Question 8 of 10

9. Who is a national expert on their subject?

Question 9 of 10

10. Who is aware that they form part of a growing group?

Question 10 of 10


 

Extra Free Exercises for B2 First Reading Part 7.

B2 First Reading Part 5B2 First Use of English and Reading Section

You need to be able to understand a range of texts, including how they are organised and the opinions and attitudes expressed in them. The texts will be from sources familiar to you such as magazines, articles, fiction and advertisements, but targeted at the interests of students. Students’ use of English will be tested by tasks which show how well they can control their grammar and vocabulary.

For this part, you practice how to understand the details of a text, including opinions and attitudes.

For this part, you practice how to understand the structure and follow the development of a text.

For this part, you practice how to find specific information in a text or texts.

B2 First Writing Section

You are required to produce two pieces of writing. The first piece is compulsory and will be an essay of 140-190 words. For the second, you can choose from an article, email/letter, essay, review or report (B2 First for schools the report is replaced with a story) of 140-190 words.

B2 First Listening and Speaking Section

Requires being able to follow and understand a range of familiar spoken materials, such as news programmes, public announcements and other sources, but targeted at the interests of the learners.

In this part you talk to the examiner about yourself and your life, e.g. your name, school, interests and future plans.

In this part, you talk about two photos on your own which you have to compare for about 1 minute. After you have finished, your partner will be asked a short question about your photo. When your partner has spoken about their photos for about 1 minute, you will be asked a question about their photos.

In this part you express ideas with your partner by looking at a discussion point that the examiner gives you.

This will be available soon.

In this part, you focus on general aspects of a topic with the examiner or you may involve your partner.

This will be available soon.

In this part, you will hear people talking in eight different situations.

In this part, you will hear five people talking about different things.

In this part, you will hear an interview.

Especially helpful are exercises that are focussed on a theme or topic as these provide word retention practise so you can be confident to read, write, speak and listen successfully. We have many activities to get your English up to speed in no time.

Customs and Traditions explores how we celebrate our cultural identity across the globe.

Entertainment and Leisure explores how we spent our free time.

Environment and Nature explores the way humans and animals live, adapt and change on our planet.

Exploring how different societies create roles for people to develop their skills and knowledge.

Exploring how we learn and adjust to the world around us. .

Exploring how we experience the world through our life journeys

The more words you encounter and understand, the broader your day-to-day vocabulary will become. Our word games and puzzles such as our films word search are an excellent way to help to reinforce spellings in your mind.
Level Links:
This free material is for students at an Upper Intermediate Level of English. This will probably be suitable for students in their third or fourth year of English studies. We add exercises on grammar and vocabulary as well as whole text activities on a regular basis. In addition, we provide test practice activity for students who are preparing for the C1 Advanced which is part of the Cambridge Assessment English Main Suite as well as the English Language B for the IB Diploma. The material will also support students studying for the Cambridge Advanced courses and IELTS examinations.

We also provide free resources across the full range of levels to provide the tools to communicate in English well.

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