Painting in Spain – B1 English Reading Test

Painting in Spain

My husband, David, is an artist and has always been interested in painting pictures of the Spanish countryside. We’ve both always loved Spanish culture and have spent many holidays in Spain. Five years ago, we decided to give up our jobs in London, sell our house and move to a small village in the south of Spain.

We thought it would take months to get organized, but in just three months, we’d sold our home, found a house to rent, booked our ferry and said goodbye to our friends. We were so excited to move!

At first, we thought we’d stay here for a year, but when we arrived on a beautiful September evening, we were amazed to realize immediately that we wanted to stay longer. The owners of our new house were waiting to show us around and cooked us a lovely meal. Gradually, over the following weeks, we settled into a routine. I got a job teaching English and began to learn the language while David painted.

David loved the scenery and he was inspired by the wonderful landscape around us. But mostly he fell in love with the bright light of the sun in the south. As a painter, he’s always looking at the contrast between colours and light. During the first six months, he spent hours outdoors painting. His paintings were always about the same landscape but each one of them had something special. The elements in his work were always changing and each new painting was even more beautiful than the previous one.

The following May while we were visiting a small town, we saw an empty shop. David thought it would make a lovely art gallery and we decided to rent it for a year. We filled the shop with David’s paintings and after two days, sold our first picture. Over the next few months, a lot of tourists bought paintings, but the tourists went home in November and our shop became very quiet. But we advertised online and soon business improved. We started getting orders from different places. Everyone loved David’s paintings. Today our gallery is a great success and we both feel we’re living a perfect life.

1    Why does the writer say she moved to Spain?

      A   to find out more about Spanish culture

      B   because she and her husband loved the country

      C   because she had never been there before

      D   because she lost her job in London

2    What does the writer say about leaving London?

      A   It was difficult to sell their home.

      B   None of their friends wanted them to leave.

      C   They organized everything quickly.

      D   They rented their house to some of their friends.

3    What did the writer find surprising about her first day in Spain?

      A   She was offered a job teaching English.

      B   She and her husband decided to live in Spain for more than a year.

      C   The owners of the rented house were unfriendly.

      D   There was already somebody living in her new house.

4    When talking about the shop, the writer says that

      A   they sold nothing for several weeks.

      B   it was popular with tourists.

      C   they sold some paintings on the first day.

      D   it became very busy in November.

5    What might the writer say about living in Spain?

      A   I’m glad we came to live here, but I wish we hadn’t rented the gallery.

      B   The gallery has been a great success, but now we’d like to move back home.

      C   We’ve had very few problems. It’s definitely the best thing we’ve ever done.

      D   I wish we hadn’t moved here. I really miss my friends and family.