On a busy suburban▼ street in Sydney, Australia, there is a shop that people don't see very often nowadays. The shop, Doll Hospital, will happily repair dolls, teddy bears, and any other toy brought in to be given a new lease▼ on life. The shop was opened in 1913 by Harold Chapman, Sr., and it has passed down through the family to Geoff Chapman, Harold's grandson. So far, Doll Hospital has repaired more than three million toys. In the beginning, Harold Chapman, Sr. had no plans to open a toy repair shop. He ran a small gift shop. Then a shipment▼ of dolls for his shop was damaged on its way from Japan. He fixed them himself and discovered there was much demand for toy repair services, so he expanded his business. In the 1930s, his son Harold Chapman Jr. took over the shop and relocated▼ it to its current location. When World War II broke out, their repair business skyrocketed▼ . Due to wartime restrictions, it became very difficult to get new toys into Australia. People turned to repair shops like Doll Hospital to fix cherished▼ toys that had been broken. At its height, the shop had six workshops and 70 people working there. Today, Doll Hospital has fallen on hard times. Modern consumers are more likely to buy a new doll when the old one wears out. Most of Doll Hospital's customers these days are adults, often elderly people, who are restoring a beloved▼ childhood toy. The toys are often family heirlooms▼ to pass down to a younger generation. This makes Geoff Chapman one of the few shop owners who can be proud of making his customers cry, which they often do when reunited with their childhood toy before passing it on. 1. Which of the following is NOT true about Doll Hospital? (A) It's a family-run business. (B) It only repairs dolls. (C) The shop is over 100 years old. (D) The shop has done over three million repairs. 2. What made Harold Chapman, Sr. open Doll Hospital? (A) His neighbors kept asking him to fix their toys. (B) His daughter broke her favorite doll, so he fixed it. (C) The toy repair services were much in demand. (D) A Japanese company offered to become a business partner. 3. Why was business so good during World War II? (A) It wasn't easy to get new toys during the war. (B) Soldiers sent dolls from abroad. (C) Australia became wealthier during the war. (D) The shop moved to a new location. 4. Why isn't Doll Hospital doing well anymore? (A) Nobody buys toys anymore. (B) There are fewer people living in Sydney. (C) Geoff Chapman has retired. (D) People buy new toys instead of fixing old ones. |
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