👩‍🏫 For the Teacher:

Follow the 15-minute plan: give students 10 minutes to read and answer quietly.
Use the answer key and evidence notes at the end to check the answers together.

🧑‍🎓 For the Student:

Read the short passage from start to end once without stopping to look up words.
Then answer the 8 questions in order and check where you found each answer in the text.

Reading Passage • B1 Level

How an Argument in the Woods Started a Global Bestseller

A

The famous book of Guinness World Records started with an argument. In the early 1950s, Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of the Guinness Brewery, went to a shooting party in County Wexford. While they were out, the guests began to argue about the fastest game bird in Europe. People had different opinions, but nobody could settle the dispute because no reference book had the answer.

B

Later, Sir Hugh imagined the same kind of arguments taking place every evening in the 81,400 pubs of Britain and Ireland. He realized that people really wanted a trusted book of facts to settle their friendly disagreements. On 12 September 1954, he invited the twin brothers Norris and Ross McWhirter, who ran a fact-finding agency in London, to write it. The twins worked extremely hard, finishing the manuscript in 13 and a half weeks of 90 hours each.

C

Their hard work paid off quickly. The first edition came out in 1955 and had 198 pages. Readers loved having all these unusual facts in one place. It became an instant bestseller in the UK just before Christmas 1955, as people bought it as the perfect gift for friends who loved quizzes and general knowledge.

D

What began as a handy guide for pub debates soon turned into a worldwide publishing phenomenon. In 2019, Guinness World Records announced that over 143 million copies of the book had been sold around the world since 1954. Today, it remains one of the most trusted and popular record collections on the planet.

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

____ TRUE ____ FALSE ____ NOT GIVEN

____ A. He wanted to advertise the beer produced by his brewery in London. ____ B. He realized people needed a reliable source to prove who was correct in pub debates. ____ C. He hoped to help hunters identify game birds across County Wexford. ____ D. He intended to start a profitable fact-finding agency with his twin business partners.

____ A. They found the task easy because all the facts were already published in standard reference works. ____ B. They finished the volume well after Christmas because writing took much longer than expected. ____ C. They completed the volume under tremendous pressure and with an exceptionally heavy workload. ____ D. They stopped managing their London agency because Sir Hugh offered them brewery positions.

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

____ Paragraph A ____ Paragraph B ____ Paragraph C ____ Paragraph D

Teacher's Answer & Evidence Guide

Share or review these exact citations with students after completion.

Question 1: Answer: FALSE. Evidence: "nobody could settle the dispute because no reference book had the answer" (paragraph A). Why: The guests could not solve the argument because no book contained the fact.

Question 2: Answer: TRUE. Evidence: "Sir Hugh imagined the same kind of arguments taking place every evening in the 81,400 pubs of Britain and Ireland" (paragraph B). Why: Sir Hugh thought pub visitors had similar arguments every night.

Question 3: Answer: NOT GIVEN. Evidence: the passage does not mention the twins going to pubs in County Wexford to gather information. Why: The text mentions their London agency and long hours, but nothing about visiting pubs in Wexford.

Question 4: Answer: B. Evidence: "He wanted a book of facts to settle them" (paragraph B). Why: Sir Hugh wanted an authoritative source that could give clear answers to debates among drinkers.

Question 5: Answer: C. Evidence: "They wrote the book in 13 and a half weeks of 90 hours each" (paragraph B). Why: Working 90 hours every week shows that the project demanded intense and exhausting effort.

Question 6: Answer: Paragraph B. Evidence: "They wrote the book in 13 and a half weeks of 90 hours each" (paragraph B). Why: This sentence explicitly describes the number of weeks and weekly hours spent drafting the book.

Question 7: Answer: Paragraph D. Evidence: "In 2019 Guinness World Records said that over 143 million copies of the book had been sold around the world since 1954" (paragraph D). Why: This paragraph gives the total sales figure over 65 years across all countries.

Question 8: Answer: bestseller. Evidence: "It became a bestseller in the UK just before Christmas 1955" (paragraph C). Why: Paragraph C explicitly states that the 198-page book achieved bestseller status in the UK before the holiday.