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READING COMPREHENSION TEST
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Life in the fast lane
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Between studying for school exams, including business studies, 14-year-old Dominic McVey has set up his own company, Scooters UK. The business, which imports motorized scooters and skateboards from the United States, has already made a profit of over �5,000 on sales of the equipment.
To start the business, Dominic used his savings from birthday and Christmas money and cashed in some investments that his father had made when Dominic was born. �I realised the potential for the business when I noticed that a lot of inner-city streets were closed to cars or they were chock-a-block with traffic. I thought there would be a great market for these scooters and skateboards, particularly now that more restrictions on cars in town centres have been introduced.�
�You can take a smaller one with you on a train in a backpack and then unfold it and use it when you get into town. Men in suits are riding them up and down Wall Street in the USA and it is my aim to get them to do the same in this country. I approached the American manufacturer and, after doing some research into their company and the scooters, I was allowed to become their UK distributor.�
�I ride them around town in busy areas and usually end up with a crowd of people running down the street wanting to know where to buy them.� Recently he went with his mother on a sales trip to Paris. He went out with 500 leaflets and came back with none.
In the early stages Dominic had to overcome a few obstacles. When he tried to open a business account at his bank, they thought it was a joke. �This really upset me. I think people should take children more seriously.� Now that he has succeeded in setting up the business Dominic wants to expand it. He also plans to open a showroom for his scooters in the city of London, �right by some traffic lights so people stop and look.� His idea would then be to sell the business and look for further opportunities to make money.
Circle the most appropriate option:
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1. Dominic McVey
����� started his business upon finishing his business studies
����� has already earned five thousand dollars in his own business
����� runs his business in spite still being a student
������started his business in North America
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2. This business was started
����� partly by investing the money Dominic was saving
����� as soon as Dominic was born
���� by his father
�����although Dominic�s father had other investments in mind
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3. He got the idea about such business
���� because all the streets in the inner-city were closed
���� because he was forbidden to use a car himself
����� thanks to the traffic jam in the city centre
�����because there wasn�t such a market in his town
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4. Dominic wants
����� to make people start using smaller scooters
����� to try selling scooters and skateboards on trains
���� to see men in suits from Wall Street riding along the streets in his country
����his countrymen to follow in the footsteps of American businessmen
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5. The American manufacturer
����� did some important research in connection with scooters
����� started business cooperation with Dominic
���� gave Dominic a position in their company
������wanted Dominic to work for their market
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6. His business is so good that
����� lots of people show interest in his scooters
���� he sometimes can�t get rid of people in the busy areas
���� his mother must help him run it
������he recently sold 500 scooters in Paris only
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7. Why was Dominic upset?
����� He realized he wasn�t good enough for such a serious business.
����� Nobody considered him capable of running that business at first.
����� His attempt to open a business account wasn�t taken seriously.
�����Because he won�t be able to expand his business.
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8. Dominic wants to sell the business
���� in order to open a showroom
����� because he has had enough of it
����� so as to start a new one
������to draw more public attention
