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.
A flawless fancy vivid pink diamond was sold recently for a record $17.7 million (531 million baht) in Hong Kong, Sotheby’s Gallery said.
A model showcased an 8.41 carat pear-shaped pink diamond at a Sotheby’s gallery in Hong Kong on September 18. The auction house said the internally flawless 8.41-carat stone had been expected to go under the hammer for up to $15.5 million (508 million baht).
Quek Chin Yeow, deputy chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, said the pear-shaped stone had attracted keen competition before fetching a wonderful price of HK$137.88 million (531 million baht) and setting a world auction record for a fancy vivid pink diamond. The buyer’s identity was not immediately disclosed.
Internally flawless clarity is extremely rare in pink diamonds, and the auction house said this, in combination with its “fancy vivid” colour grading, made the stone among the rarest and most desirable of coloured diamonds ever seen at an auction.
“Diamonds in the fancy vivid category are considered to have the highest possible concentration of colour,” Quek said.
Exercises
Section 1
Read the story. Then, answer the following multiple-choice questions.
1. How much did the diamond sell for?
a. 17.7 million baht.
b. 137.88 million baht.
c. 531 million baht.
2. What is Sotheby’s?
a. An art gallery.
b. An auction house.
c. A shopping mall.
3. When and where was the stone sold?
a. September 8 in Macau.
b. September 18 in Hong Kong
c. September 18 in the US.
4. Who bought the diamond?
a. Quek Chin Yeow.
b. The deputy chairman of Sotheby’s Asia.
c. The buyer’s name was not disclosed.
5. What shape is the diamond?
a. Round.
b. Oval.
c. Pear-shaped.
6. How did the final price paid for the diamond compare with earlier expectations?
a. The selling price was below expectations.
b. The selling price was higher than expected.
c. The selling price was exactly the same as the expected price.
Section 2
Read through story again. Then, decide whether the following statements are true or false.
7. The diamond’s weight is 8.8 carats.
……………….
8. Internally flawless clarity is extremely rare in pink diamonds.
……………….
9. Quek Chin Yeow is working for Sotheby’s Asia.
……………….
10. Quek said diamonds in the fancy vivid category are considered to have the lowest concentration of colour.
……………….
Section 3
Fill in the blanks in the following passage with grammatically correct words from the choices given.
A rare Stradivari viola, …..11….. to be one of the finest in existence, is expected to fetch …..12….. than $45 million (1.35 billion baht) in a sealed bids sale, …..13….. would set a world record for the most expensive musical instrument ever …..14….. . The MacDonald Viola, made by the famed Italian artisan Antonio Stradivari in 1719, …..15….. the first to be on the market in 50 years, …..16….. Sotheby’s.
11.
a. considers
b. considered
c. considering
12.
a. much
b. more
c. most
13.
a. who
b. where
c. which
14.
a. selling
b. sells
c. sold
15.
a. is
b. are
c. been
16.
a. in line with
b. according to
c. based on
Section 4
Specify whether each of the following words is used in the story as a noun, verb, adverb, or adjective.
17. showcases ……………..
18. flawless ……………..
19. immediately ……………..
20. category ……………..
Section 5
Find words used in the story that are synonyms of the following words.
21. contest ……………………
22. perfect ……………………
23. log ……………………
24. vibrant ……………………
Vocabulary
- vivid (adj): very bright
carat (n): a unit for measuring the weight of diamonds and other precious stones
disclose (v): to give somebody information about something, especially something that was previously secret
