Read the following passage carefully and answer the given questions:
About the year 1900, a small, dark-haired boy named Charles Chaplin was often seen waiting outside the back entrances of London theatres. He looked thin and hungry but his blue eyes were determined. He was hoping to get work in show business. He could sing and dance. His parents were music-hall performers and he had been born into the life of the theatre. And, although his own boyhood was painfully hard, he knew how to make people laugh.
His own father had died from drinking too much. And his mother was not really able to look after Charles and his older half-brother, Sid. She was often sick in mind and had to be sent into hospital.
1.1 Choose the right option.
Q 1) The boy Charles Chaplin was __________.
a) brown-haired
b) dark-haired
c) red-haired
d) light-haired
Q 2) Chaplin thought to get a job in __________.
a) soap business
b) hotel business
c) show business
d) hospital business
Q 3) His parents were __________.
a) music-hall performers
b) actors
c) singers
d) directors
Q 4) His father had died due to __________.
a) an illness
b) accident
c) drinking
d) suicide
Q 5) The meaning of ‘determined’ is ___________.
a) mind made up
b) mind turn up
c) mind fade up
d) mind turn down
Answers
1. Dark-Haired
2. Show Business
3. Music Hall Performer
4. Drinking
5. Mind Made Up
1) The boy Charles Chaplin was dark-haired.
2) Chaplin thought to get a job in show business.
3) His parents were music-hall performers.
4) His father had died due to drinking.
5) The meaning of 'determined' is mind made up.
Charles Chaplin-early life
Charles Chaplin is the world-famous film star of silent movies.
He was destined to become a star being born to somewhat talented parents who were music-hall performers. However, his father was a drunkard, who not only abandoned the family but also died from drinking.
His mother was also ill and was unable to manage the house and her performance. These events made Charles's early life very miserable. He was looking for a chance to enter the show business.
But then later one day when his mother was unable to perform in one of her shows, Charles performed and everyone liked him. That was the beginning of the brilliant star of silent movies.