Friends again – B2 English Reading Test

Which person

1   is surprised at the job her friend now has?

2   is sure that this time their friendship will last?

3   thinks her life may have changed as a result of meeting her friend again?

4   feels that in one way she and her friend have similar personalities?

5   believes that even without the Internet they would have met again?

6   regrets losing contact with her friend years ago?

7   was initially unsure whether she wanted to talk to her friend again?

8   told her friend she was sad to hear what had happened to her?

9   was surprised at how little her friend’s appearance had changed?

10   admits she wrongly predicted her friend would never have a successful career?

Friends again

Five people talk about the school friends they have met up with again thanks to social media websites.

A   Nadia Hassan

Although we’ve been living in different countries for a long time, I know I should have made more of an effort to stay in touch with Amina because we always got on well together, even though we’re quite different people. For instance, I’m much more ambitious than her and have no plans to start a family, whereas she already has two children. It’s quite a contrast in lifestyle, and although it’s great that we’re both content with our own lives – and we’ve enjoyed catching up with each other’s news – I don’t really know whether in the future we’ll have enough in common to keep the relationship going.

B   Julia Nowak

The first thing that struck me was that Natalia still looked much the same as she had ten years earlier, unlike some other people in their late twenties – especially those who have had serious personal issues to deal with during that time. She’s also still very keen on sports, which I’m not, but she remains as sociable as she ever was and I suppose we’re quite alike in that respect. In fact, she was one of the first people I thought of when the idea of contacting my old classmates occurred to me, and it’s great you can do that online so easily. Otherwise you could lose touch with them forever.

C   Olivia Morgan

Back in our school days I always liked Megan, but she was never keen on studying so I sort of took it for granted that she would end up doing a job that didn’t require qualifications. Now it turns out she went on to do really well academically and for two years was a Philosophy lecturer at a top university. The other mistake I made was being rather cautious about responding when she first got in touch with me online last autumn, when in fact as soon as we saw each other on the screen we started chatting again as if that ten year gap had never existed. I think we both quickly realised that we wouldn’t ever let anything like that happen again.

D   Maite Silva

I was delighted when Carla told me she has such a good job. Somehow I always knew she’d do well, though I must confess that back then she was the last person I would have imagined becoming an economist because she was pretty hopeless at maths. But when she appeared on my laptop screen after all those years I was impressed by how mature she sounded and looked, and in fact she might be having an influence on me. Ever since we met up again, I’ve found myself taking a more serious attitude to my career, with promotion now a real possibility.

E   Yan Lin

When I realised my old classmate Ming was trying to contact me I didn’t hesitate for a second in replying. Somehow I’d always known that one way or another we were bound to run into each other at some point, because when we left school we’d both gone off to do the same subject at different universities. What I hadn’t been prepared for, though, was the news that she’d had to interrupt her studies owing to personal problems. I expressed my sympathy, but she assured me she’d recovered and eventually graduated, and that since then she’s been working in advertising. Which of course is exactly what I do, too.