QWERTYUIOP (4 practices)

PRACTICE 1

Read the extract from the short story QWERTYUIOP below and answer thequestions that follow.

She stared at it in horrified bewilderment. What had happened? What had she done? Not even on her first day at the Belmont Secretarial College had she made such ridiculous mistakes. Such strange mistakes – QWERTYUIOP, the top line of letters on a typewriter, repeated over and over again! Thank God there had been no one to notice. They’d think she had gone mad.She must be more careful. Keep her mind on the job, not allow it to wander out of the window into the sunny shopping street below. Putting fresh paper into the typewriter, she began again.She was tempted to look at the keyboard . . . “Don’t look at the keys! Keep your eyes away!” Mrs Price was always saying. “No peeing. You’ll never make a good typist if you can’t do it by touch. Rhythm, it’s all rhythm. Play it to music in your head.”

a. What is QWERTYUIOP?

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b. Why must she be careful?

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c. What did she decide to do after making the repeated mistakes?

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d. Do you think you would make such mistakes. Give a reason for your answer.

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PRACTICE 2

Read the extract from the short story QWERTYUIOP below and answer thequestions that follow.

For an hour, she battled with the machine. As fast as QWERTYUIOPs and unwanted capitals appeared, she attacked with a loaded brush. The white fluid ran down the typing paper like melting ice-cream, and dripped thickly into the depths of the typewriter.YOU’RE DROWNING ME, it complained pathetically, and she swiped at the words with her brush.HELP!Another swipe.PLEASE!But Lucy showed no mercy. The large bottle was half-empty when she reached the end of the letter in triumph.Yours faithfully,

George Ross,She typed, and sat back with a sigh of relief.The machine began to rattle. Too late, Lucy snatched the completed letter out of the typewriter. Across the bottom of the otherwise faultless page, it now said in large, red capitals:I HATE YOU!Furiously she painted the words out.

a. What is the white fluid?

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b. Why is Lucy battling with the machine?

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c. Why is the large bottle half empty?

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d. What quality did Lucy display? Provide a reason for your answer.

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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………PRACTICE 3

Read the extract from the short story QWERTYUIOP below and answer thequestions that follow.

Lucy typed quickly:Are you from outer space?The typewriter rocked, as if with laughter, its keys clicking like badly fitting false teeth.IDIOT, it wrote.Who are you? Lucy typed.Miss Broome, it answered.Lucy hesitated. She did not know quite how to reply to this. In the end she typed:How do you do? I am Miss Beck.GO AWAY, MISS BECKWhy should I?I AM SECRETARY HERE, it sated, this time in red letters.No, you’re not! I am! Lucy typed angrily.The machine went mad. Q U E R T Y U I O P “ / @ Q U E R T Y U I O P £ – &()*QWERTYUIOP+1, it screamed, shaking and snapping its keys like castanets.

a. What does the word ‘rocked’ mean?

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b. What is Lucy’s occupation?

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c. Why did Lucy hesitate?

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d. If you were Lucy do you think you would reply to Miss Broome? Give a reason for your answer.

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PRACTICE 4

Read the extract from the short story QWERTYUIOP below and answer thequestions that follow.

Lucy Beck was young and small and mouse-coloured, easily overlooked. She had a lonely ‘O’ level and a typing speed that would make a tortoise laugh.“Whoever will want to employ me?” she had asked Mrs. Price once, and Mrs. Price had been at a loss to answer.Lucy wanted a job. More than anyone, more than anything, she wanted a job. She was tired of being poor. She was fed up with macaroni cheese and baked beans. She was sick of second-hand clothes.“We are jumble sailors on the rough sea of life,” her mother would say. Lucy loved her mother, but could not help wishing she would sometimes lose her temper. Shout. Scream. Throw saucepans at the spinning, grinning head of Uncle Bert.

a. Why is Lucy described as ‘easily overlooked’?

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b. Why is finding a job so important to Lucy?

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c. What was Mrs. Price’s answer to Lucy when she asked whether she would ever find a job?

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d. Describe Lucy’s feelings towards Uncle Bert. Provide reasons for your answer.

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