Yesterday evening I attended a meeting of a photography club that I am a member of.

I thought it would be a good example to use for practising your English comprehension (the action or capability of understanding something), so I have included a mini-story about the evening with some questions at the end.

I have also made a mini-vocabulary list for you about some of the words that are in the story. Some of these words have other meanings in English, as well as the meaning I have listed below.

Some vocabulary words (and their definitions based on this example):

• Member – a person that is part of a society, party, community or group.
• Guest – someone who visits and/or participates in a group that they are not a member of
• Membership Fee – a charge or fee for membership, as in a club or organization.
• Chair – the person occupying a seat of office, especially the chairperson of a meeting: The speaker addressed the chair.
• Photography – the art or process of producing images of objects on photosensitive surfaces.
• Photos – a photograph
• Photographers – a person who takes photographs
• Venue –a place for large gatherings

The Mini-Story

The members arrived at 19:30 and signed in at the welcome desk. Then they got a drink from the bar and socialised with other members until the evening officially started. Some people came to the club meeting as a guest. They were not members but they wanted to learn how the club worked and how much the membership fees were.

The evening began with an introduction from the Chair. Then the members split into groups and worked on challenges. Because this is a photography club, all the members are interested in photography, enjoy taking photos and are photographers.

At 9:00p.m. there was a break. During the break the members ate some snacks, drank a few drinks and voted for their favorite photographs for the photography competition.

After the break there was one more challenge for each group to complete and then the winners from the photography competition were announced. When the meeting was finished, several of the members helped to clean up the venue. They put the tables and chairs back to the normal spots, returned used glasses to the bar and picked up any garbage that was left out.

Comprehension Questions

1.  Were all the people at the meeting members of the club?

2. Is it free to be a member of this club?

3.Who officially started the evening?

4. What time was the break?

5. What happened after the meeting was finished?