Reading passage 1

A. Thanks to the rise of the literary festival, writers are now forced to get out and about, meeting readers, making new ones, fielding questions. There are two kinds of question you can rely on: about ideaswhere do they come from?and about method. Do you use a pen or pencil, do you write early or late in the day, do you change much as you go along or depend on revisions? Its easy to sound blas about this. When Philip Larkin was interviewed for the Paris Review, he was asked how he came up with the image of a toad to represent work, and he replied: Sheer genius! But the fact is that both readers and writers are intrigued by the most primitive details of how things get written. Readers because the mystery of being a writer is deepened by its close proximity to ordinary practice (writing everyday letters, writing memos at work, or, now, writing e-mails), and writers because most are narcissists to a greater or lesser degree, and they want to establish a dependable procedure which will produce the goods on a daily basis. B. Manuscripts are the quiet theatres in which these dramas are performed and preserved. My own fascination with them began when I began writing myself, as a teenager, about 40 years ago. My mentor was Geoffrey Keynes, the surgeon and brother of Maynard, whose extraordinary library at his house near Cambridge included manuscripts that he would hand me with an impressive mixture of reverence and familiarity. C. I remember in particular the manuscript of Virginia Woolfs essay On Being Ill, which her husband Leonard had given Geoffrey as a thank-you for helping her survive one of her bouts of self-destruction. The fluent script, the purple ink, the flying revisions: all these were absolutely compelling. But what struck me more powerfully than anything was the simple fact of the thing. It was irrefutable proof that something astonishing in its intelligence and association had been produced by a human being who sat down one day, unscrewed her pen-top, and simply went to work. D. This was my first important lesson in the power of manuscriptsand in how their value depends on a mixture of things, what Larkin once called the meaningful and the magical. By meaningful, he meant the way manuscripts tell us about dating and timing and speed of production, and about the power of second thoughts (or tenth). All the things, in fact, that are indispensable to scholars, and compelling for fans. By magical, he meant the gut-amazement of thinking, wow, Keats (or Tennyson, or Wilde, or Hardy) had this piece of this paper when it was a blank sheet, their hand touched it, their breath swarmed all over it, and they made something immortal out of nothing. E. My second lesson was more remote, yet even more decisive. As I began to write poems in my teens, I also began buying them. One of the first books I owned was the Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen, edited by Cecil Day Lewis, with a memoir of Owen by Edmund Blunden. I got it because wed been doing Owen in English, and for the first time poetry had grabbed me. (My family were country people, not in the least bookish. My mum read a bit of Iris Murdoch, that sort of thing; my dad claimed to have read half a book in his lifeThe Lonely Skier by Hammond Innes.) F. In an appendix to Owens poems was a photocopy of his great sonnet Anthem for Doomed Youth, showing not only the corrections that Owen himself had made to his first draft, but

those added by his friend Siegfried Sassoon. (Owen had shown him the poem at Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh in 1917, when they were both recovering from shellshock.) The lesson for a tyro poet was unmistakable: take advice from people who know more than you do, dont trust the authority of first thoughts, mix inspiration with perspiration. G. When I left school and went to read English at Oxford, the effect of these early encounters was continually reinforced, as the Bodleian Library put on regular shows of manuscripts in its collection. There was a draft of Shelleys Ode to the West Wind, in which his spidery brownish script hurtled across the page as though the wind itself were sweeping it onwardsbefore ending with a date, October 25th, that rooted it in a very particular moment. Source: Time Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 to 14 which are based on Reading Passage 1 Questions 1 to 7 Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A G. From the list of headings below, choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph. Write the appropriate numbers I ix in boxes 1 7 on your answer sheet.

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix.

The manuscripts. Owens poems. The literary festival. Virginia Woolfs essay. The second lesson. Regular shows of manuscripts. The difference in enthusiasm. First important lesson. The manuscript writing.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Paragraph A Paragraph B Paragraph C Paragraph D Paragraph E Paragraph F Paragraph G

Questions 8 10 Choose the correct letters, A, B, C or D Write your answers in boxes 8 10 on your answer sheet. 8 The lesson for a tyro poet was A. B. C. D. 9 A. B. C. D. 10 A. B. C. D. Unmistakable. Unthinkable. Unnecessary. Unpredictable. Manuscripts are the quiet theatres in which these dramas are Performed and distributed. Performed and preserved. Presented and preserved. Enacted and conserved. Geoffrey Keynes was the surgeon and brother of Nimrod. Murdoch. Owen. Maynard.

Questions 11 14 Complete each of the following statements (questions 11 14) with the best endings A G from the box below Write the appropriate letters A G in boxes 11 14 on your answer sheet. 11 My mum read a bit of Iris Murdoch, that sort of thing; my dad claimed 12 Their value depends on a mixture of things, what Larkin once called 13 The Bodleian Library put on regular 14 As I began to write poems in my teens,

A B C D E F G

Crossing the magic halfway. To have read half a book in his life. I also began buying them. The meaningful and the magical. Is not going to win the game for them. Shows of manuscripts in its collection. Recitation competitions.

Reading passage 2 A. The 1910 Cuba hurricane, popularly known as the Cyclone of the Five Days, was a destructive and unusual tropical cyclone which struck Cuba and the United States in October 1910. It formed in the southern Caribbean on October 9 and intensified as it moved north-westward, becoming a hurricane on October 12. After crossing the western tip of Cuba, it peaked on October 16, corresponding to Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It moved in a counter clockwise loop and hit Cuba again. It then tracked toward Florida, landing near Cape Romano. After moving through the state, it hugged the coast of the South-eastern United States on its way out to sea. B. Due to its unusual loop, initial reports suggested it was two separate storms that developed and hit land in rapid succession. Its track was subject to much debate at the time; eventually, it was identified as a single storm. Analysis of the event gave a greater understanding of weather systems which took similar paths. C. The storm is considered one of the worst natural disasters in Cuban history. Damage was extensive and thousands were left homeless. It also had a widespread impact in Florida, including the destruction of houses and flooding. Although total monetary damage from the storm is unknown, estimates of losses in Havana, Cuba exceed $1 million and in the Florida Keys, $250,000. At least 100 deaths occurred in Cuba alone. D. On October 9, the fifth tropical depression of the 1910 season formed from a tropical disturbance in the extreme southern Caribbean Sea, to the north of Panama. It tracked steadily north-westward and attained tropical storm intensity on October 11. It continued to strengthen, and became a hurricane the next day. On October 13, the storm was observed to the southwest of Cuba. Early on October 14, the hurricane briefly reached an intensity corresponding to Category 3 status on the modern-day Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale before tracking ashore along the western tip of Cuba. However, it weakened somewhat after crossing the island. Upon emerging into the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane slowed considerably. E. Steered by currents from an area of high pressure to the north, the storm began to drift northwestward and rapidly deepen over warm waters of the Gulf. It executed a tight counter clockwise loop, and continued to mature; on October 16 it reached peaked winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) with a minimum barometric pressure of 924 mbar (hPa; 27.29 inHg). The hurricane turned north-eastward, again approaching western Cuba, and began to accelerate towards the Florida Panhandle on October 17. Its centre passed west of Key West and made landfall near Cape Romano. The storm moved due north for a time as it moved inland, and deteriorated into a tropical storm. From north-eastern Florida, the cyclone curved north-eastward and hugged the coast of the Southeast United States before heading out to sea. The storm is estimated to have dissipated on October 23. F. The storm is unusual in that due to its loop near Cuba, initial reports suggested that it was actually two separate cyclones. The Monthly Weather Review describes the event as multiple disturbances and reports that the first hurricane dissipated in the central Gulf of Mexico after crossing Cuba, while the second formed subsequently and hit Florida. At the time, the storm's track was subject to much debate. It was later identified as a single storm, although

observations on the hurricane led to advances in the understanding of tropical cyclones with similar paths. G. On October 19, The Washington Post wrote, "Whether two storms have been raging in Cuban waters within the past week, or whether the same storm has revisited Cuba, traversing southern Florida in its backwards course, remains to be determined. If the later supposition be correct, the recurve of the storm, after its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico, must have been unusually sudden and sharp." Source: The Washington Post Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15 27 which are based on Reading Passage 2 Questions 15 19 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 15 -19 in your answer sheet write TRUE FALSE NOT GIVEN 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. if the statement agrees with the information if the statement contradicts the information if there is no information on this

Hurricane is a very destructive force of nature. France is vulnerable to storms and hurricanes. The storm began to drift north-westward and rapidly deepen over warm waters of the Gulf. On October 9, the sixth tropical depression of the 1910 season formed. It was only one storm that developed and hit land in rapid succession.

Question 20 23 Look at the following places (questions 20 23) and the list of statements below. Match each place to the correct statement. Write the correct letter A G in boxes 1 4 on your answer sheet. 20. Cape Romano 21. Panama 22. Cuba 23. Gulf A B C D E F G It tracked steadily north-westward. Is growing with density and power of destruction. Its centre passed west of Key West and made landfall. Fired Worden for his visionary comment. Moves towards the south. Frequently hit by hurricanes. The first hurricane dissipated.

Questions 24 27 Complete the following statements with the correct alternative from the box. Write the correct letter A F in boxes 24 27 on your answer sheet. 24. 25. 26. 27. The storm is considered one of the The storm is unusual in that due to Its centre passed west of Key West and Due to its unusual loop, initial reports suggested it was two separate storms

A Its loop near Cuba. B Made landfall near Cape Romano. C That developed and hit land in rapid succession. D Worst devastation in Cuban history. E Bringing a long time sufferings. F Worst natural disasters in Cuban history.

Reading Passage 3 A. The Art of the Moving Picture, as it appeared six years ago, possessed among many elements of beauty at least one peculiarity. It viewed art as a reality, and one of our most familiar and popular realities as an art. This should have made the book either a revelation or utter Greek to most of us, and those who read it probably dropped it easily into one or the other of the two categories. B. For myself, long a propagandist for its doctrines in another but related field, the book came as a great solace. In it I found, not an appeal to have the art museum used--which would have been an old though welcome story--not this, but much to my surprise, the art museum actually at work, one of the very wheels on which our culture rolled forward upon its hopeful way. I saw among other museums the one whose destinies I was tenderly guiding, playing in Lindsay's book the part that is played by the classic myths in Milton, or by the dictionary in the writings of the rest of us. For once the museum and its contents appeared, not as a lovely curiosity, but as one of the basic, and in a sense humble necessities of life. To paraphrase the author's own text, the art museum, like the furniture in a good movie, was actually "in motion"--a character in the play. On this point of view as on a pivot turns the whole book. C. In The Art of the Moving Picture the nature and domain of a new Muse is defined. She is the first legitimate addition to the family since classic times. And as it required trained painters of pictures like Fulton and Morse to visualize the possibility of the steamboat and the telegraph, so the bold seer who perceived the true nature of this new star in our nightly heavens, it should here be recorded, acquired much of the vision of his seeing eye through an early training in art. Vachel Lindsay (as he himself proudly asserts) was a student at the Institute in Chicago for four

D.

E.

F.

G.

years, spent one more at the League and at Chase's in New York, and for four more haunted the Metropolitan Museum, lecturing to his fellows on every art there shown from the Egyptian to that of Arthur B. Davies. Only such a background as this could have evolved the conception of "Architecture, sculpture, and painting in motion" and given authenticity to its presentation. The validity of Lindsay's analysis is attested by Freeburg's helpful characterization, "Composition in fluid forms," which it seems to have suggested. To Lindsay's category one would be tempted to add, "pattern in motion," applying it to such a film as the "Caligari" which he and I have seen together and discussed during these past few days. Pattern in this connection would imply an emphasis on the intrinsic suggestion of the spot and shape apart from their immediate relation to the appearance of natural objects. But this is a digression. It simply serves to show the breadth and adaptability of Lindsay's method. The book was written for a visual-minded public and for those who would be its leaders. A long, long line of picture-readers trailing from the dawn of history, stimulated all the masterpieces of pictorial art from Altamira to Michelangelo. For less than five centuries now Gutenberg has had them scurrying to learn their A, B, C's, but they are drifting back to their old ways again, and nightly are forming themselves in cues at the doorways of the "Isis," the "Tivoli," and the "Riviera," the while it is sadly noted that "'the pictures' are driving literature off the parlour table." With the creative implications of this new pictorial art, with the whole visual-minded race clamouring for more, what may we not dream in the way of a new renaissance? How are we to step in to the possession of such a destiny? Are the institutions with a purely literary theory of life going to meet the need? Are the art schools and the art museums making themselves ready to assimilate a new art form? Or what is the type of institution that will ultimately take the position of leadership in culture through this new universal instrument? What possibilities lie in this art, once it is understood and developed, to plant new conceptions of civic and national idealism? How far may it go in cultivating concerted emotion in the now ungoverned crowd? Such questions as these can be answered only by minds with the imagination to see art as a reality; with faith to visualize for the little mid-western "home town" a new and living Pallas Athena; with courage to raze the very houses of the city to make new and greater forums and "civic centres."

Source: Time Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28 40 which are based on Reading Passage 3. Questions 28 32 The passage has seven paragraphs labelled AG. Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet. NB: You may use any letter more than once. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. The book came as a great solace. In The Art of the Moving Picture the nature and domain of a new Muse is defined. Films like Caligari carry certain artistic grandeur. Pictures like Fulton and Morse visualize the possibility of the steamboat and the telegraph. There are great possibilities in this art, once it is understood and developed.

Questions 33 36 Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 3. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

33. 34. 35. 36.

With courage to raze the very houses of the city to make new and greater forums . A long, long line of picture-readers trailing from the dawn of history stimulated all the masterpieces of pictorial art from . With the creative implications of this new pictorial art, we can dream in the way of . To Lindsay's category one would be tempted to add .

Questions 37 40 Complete the summary of the paragraphs A C below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet. The Art of the Moving Picture, as it appeared six years ago, possessed among many elements of 37 the book provide with the art museum 38 The art museum, like the furniture in a good movie, was 39 The Art of the Moving Picture defines the nature and domain of 40 .