C1 Reading Part 5 Ladder of Years

 

C1 Reading Practice – Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler (scroll down for the answers)

Read the adapted extract below and answer the six multiple-choice questions that follow. Choose the correct answer (A, B, C, or D).

Delia Grinstead had always been a steady presence in her family's life. She woke early, packed lunches, managed the calendar, and listened to the same stories told at the dinner table. No one asked her how she was, but she didn't mind—at least, she didn't think she did. That summer, on holiday with her husband Sam and their nearly grown children, she felt herself drifting out of focus. She would enter a room, and conversations wouldn't pause. She would speak, and people responded distractedly, if at all.

One afternoon, during a family walk on the beach, Delia lagged behind. The sand was hot, the sun too sharp. Her husband walked ahead, talking animatedly to their son, while the girls kicked at the surf, laughing together. A man—an older man, sunburnt and wearing a faded hat—nodded politely as he passed her. For a moment, Delia felt more seen by this stranger than by the people who knew her best. It was a small moment, almost nothing, but it tilted something inside her.

Later that day, without announcing it, she walked to the bus stop with a tote bag and some cash. No real plan, only a sense of needing to be elsewhere. She boarded a bus going inland, watched the coast vanish behind her, and arrived that evening in a small town she'd never heard of. There, she introduced herself as Miss Grinstead, found a room above a stationery shop, and answered an ad in the newspaper for a part-time secretary at a law office. The work was simple, the people kind, and for the first time in years, no one asked about her family.

At first, she felt both guilty and giddy. Guilt crept in each time she imagined the empty seat at the dinner table back home. But freedom had a sweetness she hadn't expected: choosing her meals, walking unnoticed, buying a second-hand book just because she liked the cover. She spent quiet evenings with library books, occasionally watching the world from her window, the town lit soft and golden at dusk.

She never stopped thinking about her family, but she began thinking about herself, too. Not as a wife or mother, but as Delia. She discovered she liked chamomile tea, disliked loud televisions, and enjoyed the smell of freshly printed paper. These small preferences felt oddly important, as if she were slowly drawing the outline of a person she'd forgotten she was allowed to be.

Delia didn’t know how long she’d stay. She missed her children’s voices, her husband’s familiar sigh when he read the news. But the thought of returning too soon felt like folding herself back into a shape that no longer fit. So, she stayed, for now. Just until she felt ready to be seen again—not as someone’s support act, but as someone whole in her own right.

Questions

1. What impression do we get of Delia’s role in her family at the start of the extract?

·        A) She is central to every family discussion.

·        B) She feels appreciated and fulfilled.

·        C) She is present but often overlooked.

·        D) She has always wanted more independence.

2. What is significant about Delia’s interaction with the stranger on the beach?

·        A) He offers her an opportunity.

·        B) He mistakes her for someone else.

·        C) He makes her feel visible and acknowledged.

·        D) He reminds her of her husband.

3. Why does Delia leave her family and take a bus inland?

·        A) She wants to visit her childhood town.

·        B) She has secretly planned a new life.

·        C) She has a job opportunity waiting for her.

·        D) She acts on impulse, needing space and change.

4. How does Delia feel in the early days of her new life?

·        A) Entirely carefree and confident.

·        B) Lonely and desperate to return home.

·        C) Torn between remorse and a sense of freedom.

·        D) Anxious about her finances.

5. What do Delia’s new habits and discoveries suggest about her?

·        A) She is trying to reinvent herself completely.

·        B) She is learning to notice and prioritise her own predilections.

·        C) She is becoming more materialistic.

·        D) She is preparing to cut ties with her past.

6. What is the most accurate summary of Delia’s state of mind at the end of the extract?

·        A) She has fully embraced her new identity and future.

·        B) She regrets leaving her family and wants to return immediately.

·        C) She is conflicted but not yet ready to resume her former life.

·        D) She is planning to move to a bigger city for new experiences.

 

 

                                 She's leaving home, the Beatles

 

 

Answers:

 

1. What impression do we get of Delia’s role in her family at the start of the extract?

C) She is present but often overlooked.
Correct Answer: C  “She would enter a room, and conversations wouldn’t pause. She would speak, and people responded distractedly, if at all.”

2. What is significant about Delia’s interaction with the stranger on the beach?

C) He makes her feel visible and acknowledged.
Correct Answer: C  “Delia felt more seen by this stranger than by the people who knew her best.”

3. Why does Delia leave her family and take a bus inland?

D) She acts on impulse, needing space and change.                                                Correct Answer: D “No real plan, only a sense of needing to be elsewhere.” 

4. How does Delia feel in the early days of her new life?

C) Torn between remorse and a sense of freedom.
Correct Answer: C “At first, she felt both guilty and giddy... freedom had a sweetness she hadn't expected.”

5. What do Delia’s new habits and discoveries suggest about her?

B) She is learning to notice and prioritise her own predilections.
Correct Answer: B “These small preferences felt oddly important, as if she were slowly drawing the outline of a person she’d forgotten she was allowed to be.”

6. What is the most accurate summary of Delia’s state of mind at the end of the extract?

C) She is conflicted but not yet ready to resume her former life.
Correct Answer: C “But the thought of returning too soon felt like folding herself back into a shape that no longer fit. So, she stayed, for now.”