Read the text and the questions below. For each question, choose the correct answer.

Sand Sculptures

My name’s Ariana and I live on the coast of Portugal where there are lots of beautiful sand beaches and warm sunny days. It’s the perfect location for my favourite hobby – making sand sculptures. It’s always great fun and it costs nothing. For fairly basic sculptures like the ones I make, all you really need is a safe place to build it, something to dig with, and a large bucket. I’d never actually thought of making sand sculptures before until my friends and I discovered some fantastic ones that were along the shore near where I live. I couldn’t believe that beautiful model buildings, incredible creatures and some amazingly realistic faces of famous people were all made out of sand. From that moment, I knew that this was something I just had to do even though I’d never considered myself to be an artist or very creative.

In fact, anyone can create a sand sculpture, but it’s much harder than it looks as I soon discovered. The first sand sculpture I ever made was of a two-metre-long dolphin. I was making billiant progress on it until quite suddenly the head started to break off!

I tried everything to try and fix it, but it was hopeless. Soon the whole thing was a big pile of wet sand on the beach. Some people sunbathing nearby seemed to think this was extremely funny, but that just made me want to keep trying even more. I whised I’d listened to an expert on Youtube who recommends digging up wet sand and to use it to build the sand sculptures because it sticks together better. So, I did that for my next sculpture of a camel. And I managed to complete it in four hours though they don’t always take me that long to make.

I’ve heard people say that making sand castles is for kids, not adults, but that doesn’t bother me at all. Many people don’t undestand that even lightly touching a sand sculpture can make a whole section fall off, which can take ages to rebuild and I get upset when that sometimes happens. Of course, heavy rain can do some damage, but not as much as you might think. As long as you build far enough up the beach, the waves won’t wash a sand sculpture away either. So, when you’re next at the seaside, make one youself – you’ll get a geat sense of achievement!

1. Why did Ariana decide to start making sand sculptures?
   A She was always been good at other kinds of art.
   B She saw some sculptures that her friends had already made.
   C She wanted to do a new outdoor activity with her friends.
   D She was impressed by some objects that were made out of sand.
2. What did Ariana realise when she started making her first sculpture?
   A She wasn’t very patient.
   B She thought it would be easier.
   C She knew straight away it wouldn’t be a success.
   D She disliked people watching her make the sand sculpture.
3. How did Ariana feel when her fiirst sculpture failed?
   A She felt like giving up her new hobby.
   B She was embarrassed because of how it looked.
   C She regretted ignoring some useful advice.
   D She was angry with herself for wasting four hours.
4. In the final paragraph, what does Ariana say annoys her?
   A people damaging her sculptures
   B the sea covering her
   C the weather destroying her
   D people believing it is only a hobby for children

ANSWERS

1D 2B 3C 4A