Pirates: Romance and Reality

B1.2-Reading-Test 33
Read the following passage and choose the best answers.

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Pirates: Romance and Reality

In many movies, a pirate's life is an exciting adventure. But what was life actually like for an 18th century pirate? And which parts of the movie pirate are real and which are invented?

A pirate's life
In reality, the average pirate was usually trying to escape from a difficult life. Somewhere ex-sailors who were treated poorly on their ships. Others were escaped slaves who wanted their freedom. They came from many different backgrounds. But on a pirate ship, equality was important. Men elected their captain and created the ship's rules together. The men also divided the income from stolen goods and they share these earnings fairly.

Pirate treasure
In popular culture, Pirates are often shown with chests full of gold. It is true they took money from others. However, it was far more common for pirates to steal things like spices and even medicine. Then they often sold these things. Of course, purchasing stolen goods from a pirate was illegal, but many people did it. Also, unlike movie pirates, real “pirates didn't bury their money,” says Cory Convertito, who works at a maritime museum in the U.S. They blew it as soon as they could on women and booze.

Pirate Style
Movie Pirates often wear eye patches and have wooden legs. In reality, many Pirates did look like this. Why? One factor was the poor living conditions. “Life at sea was hard and dangerous,” says David Moore, a maritime museum employee in the U.S. Disease was also common. For these reasons, some pirates lost eyes and legs. But many pirates did one thing for their health: they wore earrings just as in the movies. They believed putting weight on the ears stopped seasickness.

1. What is the main idea of this reading?

1. A pirate's life was dangerous but exciting adventure.
2. Some things we've seen or read about pirates are true, but others aren't.
3. The lives of 18th-century pirates and modern-day pirates are similar.
4. Today's stories and movies about pirates are entirely wrong.

2. On many pirate ships, _____.

1. men were like slaves
2. there were serveral captains
3. only ex-sailors were alowed
4. the men shared the money they made

3. In the third paragraph, "They blew it" means "They _____ the money".

1. hid
2. spent
3. made
4. saved

4. Which statement would David Moore probably agree with?

1. Many pirates had a difficult life and porbably died young.
2. The appearance of movie pirates is very different from reality.
3. A pirate's life wasn't as dangerous as we see in the movies.
4. Many pirates were friendlier than we see in the movies.

5. According to the passage, pirates believed wearing earrings _____.

1. was fashionable
2. stopped illness
3. brought good luck
4. was only for women

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