Exam spot Style extra

In Paper 1, Part 5, you should not only read the text thoroughly but the • The first part of the text associates certain
questions too. Wrong answers are often very close to the text in meaning. animals with Miss Nili. Find these references
and explain their effect.
• Triton describes the taxi as having a butter-
4 Now read the text carefully to answer questions 1–6. coloured top. Why has the writer used this
1 What was Mister Salgado’s state of mind before his first tea- adjective instead of yellow? How does it tie
in with Triton?
party with Miss Nili?
A He felt confident, as it was a role he was accustomed to
performing.
B He appeared relaxed, but inwardly, he was worrying about Vocabulary
the event.
Collocations
C He wished he had told his cook about the visit more in
advance. 5 Explain the precise meaning of the
D He became nervous about his cook’s obvious lack of words in italics below.
experience. I would give her enough time to savour
2 What effect did Miss Nili’s large appetite have on the the aftertaste of the patties …
narrator?
Savour is a verb that is commonly used
A He felt rather sorry for her because she was so hungry.
in other contexts apart from food.
B He suspected that she was hiding some of the food.
Underline the nouns or noun phrases
C He had mixed feelings about her unconventional way of
that collocate with this verb in a–e.
eating.
D He thought she should take more care when she ate. example: At 37, the Oscar-nominated
actress is savouring every
3 Why did the narrator derive so much satisfaction when he
moment of her new status.
heard the phrase ‘Triton made it’?
A It gave him a sense of purpose in his life. a After years in the wilderness, the
B Mister Salgado said the phrase so rarely. band were finally savouring success.
C Miss Nili didn’t believe the cake was home-made. b His father, Pat, should have been
D The words improved the atmosphere at the tea-party. savouring freedom alongside them,
but had died in prison.
4 How did the narrator feel about his taxi ride back to the
c She has decided to retire at 33 and
house?
savour the memories of her career.
A He was annoyed that it was such a slow vehicle.
d Its more recent past can be savoured
B He was concerned about Miss Nili during his absence.
just by wandering aimlessly through
C He appreciated being helped out of the taxi.
the streets.
D He enjoyed the relative luxury of the experience.
e Laurence was now savouring every
5 What do we learn about the narrator in the penultimate word quite as much as the wine.
paragraph?
A His successes in the kitchen dictated his general mood. 6 Identify the collocations by matching
B He thought it reasonable to expect praise for his cooking. each verb to two nouns from the box.
C He knew he would benefit from some help in preparing Write a sentence for each one.
the food. a consume c relish
D His feelings had been hurt by Nili and Mister Salgado. b devour d swallow
6 Which phrase best describes Mister Salgado’s behaviour at books challenge equivalent
subsequent tea-parties? news pill pride
A feverishly eating and drinking quantity thought time
B full of praise for Triton’s wonderful efforts
C slightly incredulous at Nili’s regular presence example consume + equivalent
D nervously monitoring the supply of food Each of us consumes the
equivalent of two trees a year
in paper use alone.

sweet rituals 33
3 Find examples of the following ways of
talking about the past, choosing from
the underlined parts of the text and
completing statements a–d.
a reference to an earlier point in past
time, using the
tense
b two ways of referring to habitual
past action: and
c two examples of speculating about
the past, using
d talking about something that
continues to be true today, using the
tense
Find the following past forms or form
elsewhere in the text and explain the
choice of tense or form.
e one past passive infinitive
f two different past tenses in the
passive
g three different continuous tenses
h four irregular past verb forms in the
active (name their infinitives)
G page 180
Exam spot
Proficiency texts are bound to contain words
you don’t know, so you need to develop ways of
guessing meaning from context clues.
5 Complete these sentences using the verbs in brackets in a
suitable tense. Sometimes you will need to use a passive (P) or
a modal (M).
a In seventeenth century France, a nobleman’s education
(think: P) to be incomplete until he
(master) the art of carving.
b From the sixteenth century, women seem to
(carve) meat at British tables, though by the mid-nineteenth
century, carving at formal meals (carry out:
P) mainly by servants.
c The French (insist + always) that salad
(tear: M + P) rather than cut with a knife,
a rule which probably (arise) in order to
eliminate the taste of metal – lettuce (dress:
P) with oil and vinegar or lemon, which
(react: M) with some metals.
d Arriving in Athens pursued by the Furies because
he (murder) his mother, Orestes
(give: P) dinner, but so horrified were the
other diners that they (eat) in silence and
(drink) from a separate pitcher.
e Although live-in household staff (continue)
to be the norm in America up until the 1920s, their
numbers (start) to decline in Europe much
earlier.
f For the last hundred years, the separate tiers of a British
wedding cake (support: P) by pillars,
although more recently, upturned champagne glasses
(choose: P) by some couples as a variant.
6 The text refers to fork-like implements and fork-wielding
effeminacy. Combining words like this helps to show your
language range. Answer these questions.

4 Line 43 contains the technical term tine. 1 Who or what might be spoon-fed by
Work out its meaning by looking at the a a vet? b an academic? c a manager?
words around it. Which words help you? 2 Why might the following be on a knife-edge?
a a president b the economy c a top athlete
Now explain the meaning of these
3 If a salver is silver-plated, name an object that is
words and phrases.
a copper-plated. b chrome-plated. c gold-plated.
a implements (line 1)
4 Why might each of the following have been foil-wrapped?
b inventory (line 8)
a soft cheese b smoked fish c baked potatoes
c effeminacy (line 14)
d scooping (line 20) 5 Sweets are often sugar-coated. Can you name a food that is
e fastidious (line 26) a vanilla-flavoured? b vitamin-rich? c fat-free?
f transgression (line 29) 6 Who or what would you describe as
g in place (line 32) a flesh-eating? b beer-swilling? c blood-sucking?
h proliferate (line 39) 7 What might be
i in transition (line 44) a oven-proof? b foolproof? c tamper-proof?
j in vogue (line 45) 8 How would someone look or behave if they were
a clown-like? b doll-like? c owl-like?

sweet rituals 35