A young cheesemaker – A2 English Reading Test

A young cheesemaker

16-year-old Pat Tulloch has an unusual hobby. She makes cheese on the family farm in Australia. She began by making yoghurt with her mother when she was little. Then she started watching her father’s workers make cheese. When she was ten, she made some herself for the first time. ‘It wasn’t great,’ she says, ‘but the workers told me what I was doing wrong and that helped me to slowly get better.’

Pat always needs good milk for her cheese, but she doesn’t have to buy it. Her mother and father keep 100 cows on their farm. Pat can just ask them when she needs more. Last year, Pat’s neighbour gave her a young cow to keep and look after, but it doesn’t produce milk to make cheese yet.

Pat and her family make several types of cheese. Recently they won a prize for one of them. ‘It’s been great for helping customers find out about us,’ says Pat. ‘Last month we started selling cheese in New Zealand. People there read about our prize in a food magazine. Soon we’re going to do some advertisements, too.’

Pat’s next idea is to post some online recipes for cooking with cheese. ‘One of my favourites is cheese with eggs for breakfast. It’s great! Our cheese is also lovely with pasta – I hope a restaurant might buy some one day.’ But right now Pat is still at school. ‘Making cheese is fun and winning a prize for it is great, but doing well in my studies matters more for now.’

1   Pat learned to make good cheese

      A   by listening to the advice she got.

      B   by seeing how her mother did it.

      C   by practising at home on her own.

2   Where does Pat get the milk for her cheese?

      A   from her neighbour’s farm

      B   her father helps her to buy it

      C   her parents give it to her

3   Pat says winning the prize means

      A   more people know about her family’s cheese.

      B   she can be the star of the family’s new advertisements.

      C   she was invited to visit another country.

4   What’s the most important thing for Pat at the moment?

      A   writing a new cookbook

      B   being successful at school

      C   selling cheese to a restaurant

5   In this article, Pat is explaining

      A   why her family started making cheese.

      B   how to win a competition for making cheese.

      C   how she has become part of a cheese-making business.