Exercise 2 - Part 1
Read the text and answer the questions below. Choose the best answer for each question.
Every Thursday evening, when most of the town had already gone home, the lights in the old library stayed on a little longer than usual. Inside, a small team of volunteers arranged chairs, stacked books, and checked the sign-up sheets for the next day’s activities. The library had once been so quiet that even the librarian could hear the clock ticking, but now it had become one of the most popular places in the neighbourhood. The change began when a group of students asked whether the building could stay open later so they could study after school.
At first, the idea seemed simple: keep the doors open, add a few extra lamps, and offer a warm place for teenagers to read. Yet once the plan was announced, more people wanted to take part. A baker offered to donate pastries that had not been sold in the morning, a retired engineer volunteered to repair broken shelves, and a local artist painted a bright map of the town on one wall. Soon, the library was hosting homework clubs, language exchanges, and small talks about everything from wildlife to healthy cooking.
The biggest surprise was that the project did not only help students. Many older residents began visiting in the evenings too, especially those who lived alone and found the silence at home uncomfortable. They came for the books at first, but they stayed because the atmosphere felt friendly and relaxed. One man who had not spoken much since his wife died started attending the history group every week. A woman who had recently moved from another country joined the language exchange and quickly became one of the most active participants.
Of course, running the programme was not always easy. Volunteers had to prepare a schedule, make sure the heating worked, and decide which events would fit into the small rooms available. There were also arguments about noise, because some people wanted complete silence while others preferred a more social space. However, the team learned that compromise was possible if everyone remembered the same goal. In the end, they discovered that the library could be both a place for quiet study and a place for conversation.
By the end of the first year, the town council had agreed to fund the project for another twelve months. Attendance had risen steadily, and several teachers reported that their students were reading more confidently than before. For the volunteers, though, the best result was not the number of visitors. It was the feeling that an old building had found a new purpose, and that people of different ages had begun to share it again.
1. Why did the students first ask for the library to stay open later?
2. What did the baker do for the project?
3. What unexpected result did the project have?
4. What problem did the volunteers have to solve?
5. In the phrase an old building had found a new purpose, what does the writer mean?
6. What was the main reason the volunteers felt the project was successful?