A2 Reading & Exercises • 12 Mins

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How to use this lesson

The National Trust says that the Scouts is a worldwide youth movement. It says that Robert Baden-Powell was the founder who planned the first Scout camp. The National Trust says that on 1 August 1907, 20 boys put up their tents on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour in Dorset. It says that ten boys came from Boys' Brigades in Poole and Bournemouth and ten came from public schools. The National Trust says Baden-Powell planned an eight-day camp and told stories by the campfire in the evenings. It says Scouts see this camp as the official start of the movement, and his 1908 book Scouting for Boys became its handbook.

📚 Word Helper (Key Vocabulary)

• Scouts: A worldwide youth group for young people.
• Founder: The person who starts an organization or movement.
• Public schools: Schools in Britain that parents pay for.
• Boys' Brigade: A club for boys.
• Handbook: An official book that gives instructions and advice about a subject.

Pattern Example

Describing how long something lasts

Why this works:

When we join a number and a word like ten-day or eight-day before a noun (like camp), we keep the word day singular without adding an "-s".

Question 1 • Easy True / False

____ True ____ False

Question 2 • Easy True / False

____ True ____ False

Question 3 • Easy Matching

Question 4 • Medium Multiple Choice

____ a. All twenty boys came from public schools in Dorset. ____ b. Ten came from Boys' Brigades in Poole and Bournemouth, and ten came from public schools. ____ c. All twenty boys came from local Boys' Brigades in Bournemouth. ____ d. Ten came from local Scout clubs and ten came from holiday clubs.

Question 5 • Medium Multiple Choice

____ a. He taught them how to write handbooks. ____ b. He showed them how to build tents in Poole Harbour. ____ c. He told stories by the campfire. ____ d. He held swimming competitions in Dorset.

Question 6 • Medium Short Answer

____ (Type book title here...)

Hint: Write the exact book title mentioned in the last sentence.

Question 7 • Hard Short Answer

____ (Type length of time (e.g. eight days)...)

Hint: Look at how the duration of the camp is described in the text.

Question 8 • Hard Short Answer

____ (Type key phrase here...)

Hint: Look for the words about what Scouts see this camp as, near the end of the passage.