SECTION III. READING (6.

0 POINTS)
Part 1. For questions 46-55. (1.0 point - 0.1/each)

Read the text below and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits each gap. Write your answers in
the corresponding numbered boxes provided.

To paraphrase the dilemma of Pericles, he needed a wife. A symbol of the sympathetic companion, a
(46)_______of light and love, a photogenic beauty, a (47)_______of virtue - in short his antithesis. To
attract such a woman he needed a new image. Sporting a monocle and piloting a monoplane, his
peripatetic (48)_______took him all over Greece until he met fair Aspasia. His friends noticed the
metamorphosis and (49)_______ at the (50)_______ of Pericles entering into a dialogue with someone,
instead of his usual monologue, and without his usual (51)_______ . Soon they married - he for love, she
for social respectability. They were (52)_______ opposed and presently she became tired of the way he
monopolised their monotonous lives. She murdered him cleverly by putting antifreeze into his amphora of
(53)_______. She microwaved his remains and buried them in the garden. Luckily, he was (54)_______
biodegradable and disintegrated without delay. A cruel murder - but surely a symptom of our (55)_______
times.

46. A. monogyny B. whiz C. wastrel D. symphony

47. A. frenum B. epitaph C. caitiff D. paragon
48. A. odyssey B. ventricle C. harbinger D. buxom
49. A. disbursed over B. chuckled at C. perjured in D. glammed on
50. A. sirocco B. paradox C. potpourri D. blanche
51. A. palpability B. quagmire C. antagonism D. paranoia
52. A. balefully B. narcissistically C. diametrically D. tumultuously
53. A. retsina B. lupin C. mudlark D. geode
54. A. obligingly B. delphicly C. flippingly D. flirtatously
55. A. endemic B. barbarous C. prosthetic D. apocyyphal

Part 2. For questions 56-65. (1.0 point – 0.1/each)

Fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE suitable word and write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided.

Not long ago, if you were a young, brash technologist with a world-conquering start-up idea, there
was a good chance you spent much of your walking (56)__________ working toward a single
business milestone: taking your company public. Though luminaries of the tech industry have always
expressed skepticism and even hostility toward the finance industry, tech's dirty secret was that it
looked to Wall Street and the ritual of a public offering for affirmation- not to mention wealth. But
something strange has happened in the last couple of years: the initial public offering of stock has
become dexterous . For start-up entrepreneurs and their employees across Silicon Valley, an initial
public offering is no longer a main goal. Instead, many founders talk about going (57)_________
as a necessary evil to be postponed as long as possible because it comes with more problems than
benefits. Silicon Valley's sudden distaste for the I.P.O- (58)________ in part in Wall Street's
skepticism of new tech stocks- may be the single most important psychological shift underlying the
current tech boom. Staying private affords start-up executives the luxury of not worrying what
outsiders think and helps them avoid the quarterly earnings treadmill.
A recent report suggests that despite all the (59)__________start-ups have received in recent years,
tech stocks are not seeing usually high valuations. In fact, their (60)__________of overall market has
remained stable for 14 years, and far off the peak of the late 1990s. That willingness to cut much
slack to young tech companies limits risk for regular investors. If the bubble pops, the unwashed
masses, if that's what we are, aren't as likely to get (61)____ out . Private investors, on the other
hand, are making big (62)_________ on so-called unicorns- the Silicon Valley (63)_____ for start-up
companies valued at more than a billion dollars. If many of those unicorns flop, most Americans will
escape unharmed, because losses will be confined to venture capitalists and hedge (64)________that
have begun to (65)_________ into tech start-ups, as well as tech founders and their employees.

56/ life/hours (used to refer to a period of time or an experience during which you are awake.) ( tỉnh
ngộ, nhận ra)
Children are in school for 15 percent of their waking hours/life between birth and the age of 16.
57/ public
Go public - một thuật ngữ được sử dụng trong lĩnh vực kinh doanh.1. Các hành động của một công
ty đi từ riêng đến tình trạng công cộng, do đó cho phép cổ phiếu của mình để được mua và thương
mại trên trao đổi công nhận.
-> cổ phần hoá (một công ty)
58/ rooted (be rooted in: originate in or stem from something)
59/ attention
60/ share
61/ washed
62/ bets ( make big bets on: đặt cược lớn vào)
Big bets are being made on technology to save civilization.
63/ jargon (biệt ngữ: tức là các từ ngữ mang tính đặc thù và chuyên môn của lĩnh vực nào đó và
những người không trong ngành đó khó có thể hiểu được)
64/ funds (hedge funds: quỹ phòng hộ)
65/ buy (into): nghĩa là hoàn toàn tin tưởng)

Part 3. For questions 66-65:

Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.

Continental drift Until the 1960s the most widely accepted geological explanation for the shape of the crust or
surface of the Earth was the so-called rigid Earth theory. This holds that the landscape of the Earth, with its
oceans and continents, has been fixed throughout its history. As the Earth has cooled after the first fluid eras
of its existence, the only change has been the formation of mountains due to the contractions caused by
cooling. In the 1950s a rather different theory began to take hold. In this explanation the Earth is plastic, the
continents drifting plates in a state of perpetual motion over a vast sea, their movement caused by the action of
extremely slow thermal convection currents originating in the Earth's core. In 1961 the theory of continental
drift first appeared in high school textbooks, and by 1966 the theory had gained widespread credibility. In
1963, the journal Scientific American published an article by the eminent geophysicist Professor J.Tuzo
Wilson, in part of which he summarized new evidence for the theory of continental drift: Convection currents
in the mantle now play the leading role in every discussion of the large-scale and long-term processes that go
on in the Earth. It is true that the evidence for their existence is indirect; the currents flow too deep in the
Earth and too slowly—a few centimeters a year—for direct observation. Nonetheless, their presence is
supported by an increasing body of independently established evidence and by a more rigorous statement of
the theory of their behavior. Recently, for example, S. K. Runcorn of Durham University has shown that to
stop convection, the mantle material would have to be 10,000 times more viscous than the rate of postglacial
recoil indicates. It is, therefore, highly probable that convection currents are flowing in the Earth.Perhaps the
strongest confirmation has come with the discovery of the regions where these currents appear to ascend
toward the Earth s surface. This is the major discovery of the recent period of extraordinary progress in the
exploration of the ocean bottom, and it involves a feature of the Earth's topography as grand in scale as the
continents themselves. Across the floors of all the oceans, for a distance of 40,000 miles, there runs a
continuous system of ridges. Over long stretches, as in the mid-Atlantic, the ridge is faulted and rifted under
the tension of forces acting at right angles to the axis of the ridge. Measurements first undertaken by Sir
Edward Bullard of the University of Cambridge show that the flow of heat is unusually great along these
ridges, exceeding by two to eight times the average flow of a millionth of a calorie per square ce ntimeter per
second observed on the continents and elsewhere on the ocean floor. Such measurements also show that the
flow of heat in the trenches, as in the Acapulco Trench off the Pacific coast of Central America, falls to as
little as a tenth of the average. Most oceanographers now agree that the ridges form where convection currents
rise in the Earth's mantle add that the trenches are pulled down by the descent of these currents into the
mantle. The possibility of lateral movement of the currents in between is supported by evidence for a slightly
plastic layer—called: the asthenosphere—below the brittle shell of the Earth. Seismic observations show that
the speed of sound in this layer suddenly becomes slower, indicating that the rock is less dense, hotter and
more plastic. These observations have also yielded evidence that the asthenosphere is a few hundred
kilometers thick, somewhat thicker than the crust, and that below it the viscosity increases again. Here, then,
is a mechanism, in harmony with physical theory and much geologic and geophysical observation that
provides a means for disrupting and moving continents. It is easy to believe that where the convection currents
rise and separate, the surface rocks are broken by tension and pulled apart, the rift being filled by the altered
top of the mantle and by the flow of basalt lavas. In contrast to earlier theories of continental drift that
required the continents to be driven through the crust like ships through a frozen sea, this mechanism conveys
them passively by the lateral movement of the crust from the source of a convection current to its sink. The
continents, having been built up by the accumulation of lighter and more siliceous materials brought up from
below, are not dragged down at the trenches where the currents descend but pile up there in mountains. The
ocean floor, being essentially altered mantle, can be carried downward; such sediments as have accumulated
in the trenches descend also and, by complicated processes, may add new mountains to the continents. Since
the material near the surface is chilled and brittle, it fractures, causing earthquakes until it is heated by its
descent. From the physical point of view, the convection cells in the mantle that drive these currents can
assume a variety of sizes and configurations, starting up and slowing down from time to time, expanding and
contracting. The flow of the currents on the world map may therefore follow a single pattern for a time, but
the pattern should also change occasionally because of changes in the output and transfer of heat from within.
It is thus possible to explain the periodicity of mountain-building, the random and asymmetric distribution of
the continents and the abrupt breakup of an ancient continent. Effects of convection currents, schematized in
the two illustrations on this page, provide one possible means of accounting for the formation of median
ridges, lateral ridges, mountain ranges and earthquake belts. Rising and separating currents could break the
crustal rock and pull it apart; the rift would be filled by altered mantle material and lava flows, forming a
median ridge. Sinking currents could pull the ocean floor down. Drifting continent may be piled up, where it
meets sinking currents, to form mountains like those of the Andes. Since continents are lighter than the mantle
material of the ocean floor, they cannot sink but tend to be pushed over sinking currents, marked by deep
earth quakes. Volcanoes continue to form over rising currents, but drift may carry these volcanic piles away to
either side of the ridge. Separated from their source, the inactive cones form one or two lateral ridges.
QUESTIONS 66-72
Complete this summary by choosing the correct phrase from the list in the box below. There are more phrases
in the list than you need. You will see that there is an example which has been done for you. Mark your
answers on the separate answer sheet.
A. dilation in the Earth’s mantle
B. mid-ocean ridges and trenches
C. continental drift
D. lava and altered surface substances
E. the appearance of the Earth.
F. a mercurial existence
G. the propulsion of the currents in the same area
H. shrinkage in the cooling procedure
I. a scorching and whimsical nature
J. a unyielding pattern at an early date.
K. the gradual drop in temperatures and formation of the continents
L. the rigidity of the continents
M. soar of the currents to the surface
N. the cascade of the currents down into the Earth’s core
O. faulted and rifted forces

As far as the obsolete hypothesis is concerned, (66)______________of the Earth was discernible and
(67)____________was thought to sow the seeds of mountains. In another attempt to expound the contours of
the continents, due to the dissipation of Earth’s fluid nature and subsequently the rise of its cooling process,
this has resulted in (68)_____________. When it comes to the standpoint of continental drift, the
(69)_____________have attested the support for the Earth as (70)_____________with constant cycles of
regions colliding, breaking up and reuniting. According to the theory, the rise of currents to the surface
engenders the formation of ridges, at which points the crust is dismantled while the gap is
progressivelyimpregnated with (71)__________ so as to generate the ridge. Eventually, the trenches are
created given (72)_____________.
QUESTIONS 73-78
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? Write TRUE if the
statement is true FALSE if the statement is false NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
73. The cascade of the convection current precipitates the lowering of the continents at the point called the
ocean trench.
74. The subsidence of convection currents will instigate the incident of earthquakes
75. The far- flung location of lava flows from their provenance can be ascribed to the influence of convection
currents on continents.
76. Many people believe that the tendency of developing the process of the Earth’s surfaces’ raised part could
become known publicly.
77. The cracks separated by currents are always filled with mantle material and lava flows
78. continents are usually pulled down by the effects of currents.

66J, 67H, 68L, 69B, 70F, 71D (See the description of illustration 1), 72N
73F- paragraph 5 and the description of illustration 2
74T- the description of illustration 2
75T- the description of illustration 2 –
76T
77T
78NG
Part 4. For questions 79-88. (1.0 point – 0.1/each)
Read the passage and choose the best answer for each of the questions that follow it
At the end of what seemed a tedious while, I had managed to pack my head full of islands,
towns, bars, 'points' and bends; and a curiously inanimate mass of lumber it was, too. However,
inasmuch as l could shut my eyes and reel off a good long string of these names without leaving
out more than ten miles of river in every fifty, I began to feel that I could take a boat down to
New Orleans if I could make her skip those little gaps. But of course my complacency could
hardly get start enough to lift my nose a trifle into the air, before Mr Bixby would think of
something to fetch it down again. One doy he turned on me suddenly with this settler: 'What is
the shape of Walnut Bend?' He might as well have asked me my grandmother's opinion of
protoplasm. I reflected respectfully, and then said I didn't know it had any particular shape. My
gun-powdery chief went off with a bang, of course, and then went on loading and firing until he
was out of adjectives.
I had learned long ago that he only carried just so many rounds of ammunition and was sure to
subside into a very placable and even remorseful old smoothbore as soon as they were all
gone. That word ’old’ is merely affectionate; he was not more than thirty-four. I waited. By and
by he said: ‘My boy. you've got to know the shape of the river perfectly. It is all there is left to
steer by on a very dark night. Everything else is very blotted out and gone. But, mind you, it
hasn’t the same shape in the night that it has in the daytime’
'How on earth am I ever going to learn it then?’ 'How do you follow a hall at home in the dark?
Because you know the shape of it You can't see it.' ‘ Do you mean to say that I’ve got to know
all the million trifling variations of shape in the banks of this endless river as well as I know the
shape of the front hall at home?’
‘On my honour, you’ve got to know them better than any man ever did know the shapes of the
halls in my own house.’
‘I wish I was dead!’
‘Now I don’t want to discourage you, but_’
‘Well, pile it on me; I might as well have it now as another time.’
'You see, this has got to be learned; there isn't any getting around it. A clear starlit night throws
such heavy shadows that, if you didn’t know the shape of a shore perfectly, you would claw
away from every bunch of timber, because you would take the black shadow of it for a solid
cape; and you set you would be getting scared to death every fifteen minutes by the watch. You
would be fifty yards from shore all the time when you ought to be within fifty feet of it. You
can't see a snag in one of those shadows, but you know exactly where it is, and the shape of the
river tells you when you are coming to it. Then there's your pitch-dark night; the river is a very
different shape on a pitch-dark night from what it is on a starlit night. All shores seen to be
straight lines, then, and mighty dim ones, too, and you’d run them for straight lines, only yon
know better. You boldly drive your boat right into what seems to be a solid, straight wall (you’re
knowing very well that in reality there is a curve there), and that wall falls back and makes way
for you. Then there’s your gray mist. You take a night when there's one of these abominable,
drizzly, gray mists and then there isn’t any particular shape to a shore. A gray mist would tangle
the head of the oldest man that ever lived. Well, then, different kinds of moonlight change the
shape of the river in different ways. You see__’
‘Oh, don't say any more, please! Have I got to lean the shape of the river according to all these
five hundred thousand different ways? if I tried to carry all that cargo in my head it would make
me stoop-shouldered.'
‘No! you only learn the shape of the river; and you learn it with such absolute certainty that you
can always steer by the shape that's in your head, and never mind the one that's before your eyes’
79.When the narrator felt able to take a boat down to New Orleans, he___________ .
A was interrupted by Mr Bixby
B was asked what the shape of Walnut Bend was
C. was reminded of his limitations
D .describe that Mr Bixby should bring it back
80. The word “inanimate” in line 2 in the passage is closest in meaning to __________ .
A. insensible B. insatiable C. immiscible D. insentient
81. The phrasal verb “ reel off “ line 3 in the passage is closest in meaning to _________.
A. say a long list of things quickly and without stopping
B. remember a long list of things
C. recall a brief list of things quickly
D. forget a short list of things quickly
82. What did the narrator do when Mr Bixby asked him about the shape of Walnut Bend?
A. He thought of his relative's opinion of protoplasm.
B. He asked respectfully for some appropriate adjectives.
C. He simply stated that he had no idea.
D. He tried describing the shape using as many adjectives as possible.
83. The word “ remorseful “ in line 13 in the passage is closest in meaning to __________ .
A. piffling B. contrite C. fraternal D. pestilential
84. When the narrator asked how he could possibly learn the river's shape, Mr Bixby________ .
A. gave an analogy
B. explained that it was easier to learn in the dark
C. explained that it would be like knowing his own house
D. stated that the narrator's honour depended on learning it
85. Immediately before Mr Bixby described the different types of night, the narrator _________ .
A. felt suicidal.
B. accepted that he would have to learn the shape of the river.
C. understood that it was impossible to learn all the variations in the river's shape.
D. was too disheartened to try to learn the shape of the river.
86. According to Mr Bixby, during a clear starlit night_____________ .
A. you may go further from the shore than appropriate
B. you are likely to be closer to the shore than its safe
C. There is a greater chance of coming close to death than in other conditions
D. There are many light shadows which distort reality
87. The word “ abominable” in line 38 in the passage is closest in meaning to _________ .
A. caviling B. peevish C. odious D. surly
88.What do we learn about steering on a pitch-dark night?
A. The boat should not go in straight lines.
B. You should aim the boat for the shore.
C. Curves always appear straight.
D. It is best to steer without relying on vision.

Part 4. For questions 89-98. (1.0 point - 0.1/each)

You are going to read an extract from an article about where the novel meets the comic
magazine . For questions 89-98, choose from the sections (A-E). The sections may be chosen more
than once.

WHERE THE NOVEL MEETS THE COMIC MAGAZINE

A.
The recent blockbuster film Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, concludes
with a 45 minute setpiece in which Leonardo DiCaprio's team of brain-hopping idea thieves
descends through nested dreams, in each of which time runs more slowly than In any previous
layer. Any graphic novel tans in the audience would have watched this complex sequence with
nods of recognition. But perhaps with sighs of exasperation too: the trim’s showpiece effect-
creating the illusion of relative time, of events happening simultaneously but being experienced
at different paces - is much easier to achieve in the world of graphic novels. Years of
experimentation, combined with certain defining features of the form, have resulted in a
complex medium that excels at portraying multiple time schemes and shifting conceptions of
reality. Three new works bear testimony to this.
B.
Air by G Willow Wilson is a love story in a breathless narrative of industrial espionage. Its
protagonist, Blythe, is plunged into a world of dizzy reversals, in which the only constant is the
philosophical notion that by redrawing our Impressions of the world we can remake it for
ourselves. Character and motivation are almost absent as Wilson's hapless heroine is dragged
from pillar to post by an arbitrary narrative fuelled by fitful quips. More seriously, the layout
and structure show a distinct lack of invention. Just as hope is flagging, however, Wilson pulls
out of the dive, and Air becomes both stranger and more interesting in concept and execution.
One extended chapter consists of a sequence of flashbacks in a plane diving towards the
ground, as Blythe finds herself simultaneously inhabiting the memories of her lover. Drawings
of a falling, entwined couple are interleaved with the panels, a kind of metaphor for the
movements of the plane.
C.
Matt Kindt’s graphic novel Revolver is an interesting addition to the genre in that it works
around a single, but effective, manipulation of narrative time. Each morning its protagonist
Sam finds himself waking up either in his everyday life, in which he edits pictures for a
newspaper, or in an America under siege, where he is forced to fight for his life. Drawn by its
author in a scrappy, offhand style that belies a deft grasp of form and scenic arrangement,
Kindt s novel still ultimately feels like less than the sum of its parts. Although attractively
realized, the basic set-up, in which the audience is encouraged to wonder whether a troubled
man is hallucinating or not, is becoming something of a familiar trope after Fight Club.
Memento and others. Where Revolver succeeds is in the quiet suggestiveness with which his
arrangement of panels blurs our perspective on the action.
D.
Last and strangest, is Charles Burns’s X'ed Out, the first of a projected series of graphic novels
by this idiosyncratic writer-illustrator. Burns is revered in comic circles for Black Hole, a
surrealist saga. Grotesque but compelling. Burns’s drawings told the story of a group of teens
who contract a disease that turns them into mutants and social outcasts. The author’s
subsequent contention that the book was a metaphor for adolescence came nowhere near to
explaining the work’s dark and haunting depths. X’ed Out is designed in full colour but its
seamless and troubling transitions between its teenage protagonist’s dreams and waking
moments show that Burns has lost none of his touch. He withholds many of the traditional
devices used within the genre to shape a reader's idea of t me and causality, such as sound
effects, motion blurs, panel comments and the like. The effect is highly unsettling.
E.
Graphic novels are good at representing complicated sequences in time, and contemporary
creators seem particularly interested in constructing stories that place this at the centre. We can
posit reasons - pandering to copular clichés of ‘comic-book' entertainment, generalised
discontent with Hollywood five-act stories, or simple celebration of a medium so suited to non-
straightforward entertainment. Whatever its origin, a complex interest in (me extends
throughout the medium. Even the latest addition to the new Barman series, written by Grant
Morrison, skips wildly across the epochs of human history, following a Caped Crusader who
has come adrift in time. As the medium continues to evolve, this abiding formal interest in a
largely unconscious process of perception may come to seem its most defining feature.
In which section are following mentioned? Your answers
89.mentions individual bits of a work being better than the overall effect 86.
it has on the reader?

90. mentions an author improving on an earlier weakness?

91. suggests that an author’s newest work is as good as the previous one?

92. mentions the confusion of a main character in a world which lacks

stability and permanence

93. mentions the possibility that graphic novel authors are influenced by
a desire to give readers what they expect?

94. suggests that the hurried, imperfect look of an author’s drawings is a

deliberate effect?

95. contains a suggestion that a work is more complex than its author
 claims'?

96.mentions those familiar with the genre experiencing a mixed reaction?

97.contains a suggestion that the unoriginal nature of a work’s central

theme may be a problem?

98. mentions images from a character’s past serving as a visual symbol

for what is happening in the present

89.C 90. B 91. D 92.B 93.E 94.C 95.D 96.A 97.C 98.B

Part 6. For questions 99 – 105. (0.7 point - 0.1/ each)

Read the article below. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the
paragraphs A-H below the one which fits each gap (99-105). There is one extra paragraph which
you do not need to use
The beginnings of his professional career were played out by Balotelli at Lumezzane in the
2005/2006 season. Often subjected to racist taunts and provocation from fans of the opposing
teams, this did little to stem the emerging volatility in his character; a temperamental Balotelli
was soon known as much for his explosive outbursts and often times odd behavior off the pitch
as he was for his prolific talent on. But despite his capriciousness and penchant for the bizarre,
the Italian giant, Inter Milan, was prepared to roll the dice and take a chance on him, banking
on that prodigious talent more than compensating for probable off-field shenanigans and
devilment.
99.___________________________________________________
It wasn't long before Mancini was back in football however, and, with Mourinho and Balotelli
frequently clashing both on and off the field, the possibility of a reunion, first sounded out by
representatives of the owners of Manchester City (Mancini’s new club) during the latter half of
the 2009-2010 season, seemed more and more likely. In die end, Balotelli had little option but
to look towards pastures new; not only had his manager grown tired of his antics, but so too, it
seemed, had the tans, a number of whom even got into a physical confrontation with him after a
match: so much had feelings between them and the player disintegrated.
100.__________________________________________________

That Balotelli was a loose cannon was never denied by Mancini, who is quoted as saying. 'He's
crazy ___ but I love him because he's a good guy’. Besides, loose cannons, while capable of
inflicting minor injuries on those fuelling them also have the capacity, if properly deployed to
deliver a terminal blow to the opposition- so long as the PR damage Balotelli caused to his club
was more than compensated for
by his exploits with the football, neither Mancini nor the Board of Directors of Manchester
City Football Club would have too many qualms about keeping him on their books.
101.___________________________________________________
Thjs much is clear when it comes to Balotelli; he has an aura bout him that few footballers, past
or present, have ever had. He is magnetic and when he walks into a room, he soon has its
occupants rapt; there is something endearing about his unrefined persona. And perhaps this is
what attracts young people to hint. Mario Balotelli leaves it all out there; he is an open book,
but not one which will gather dust on the coffee table for weeks; his is the kind the pages of
which you cannot stop turning once you’ve begun to read.
102.___________________________________________________

The loyalty aside though, serious doubts remain about whether Balotelli will be the author of
his own great des tiny, or whether he is penning a tale of self-inflicted doom. His club has just
won an historic league championship for the first time in a generation, and the Italian national
team in which he featured prominently also gave an excellent account of itself on the European
stage, beating the mighty Germans 2-0, courtesy of two Balotelli specials, before falling at the
final hurdle to the Spanish, who, as a team collective, are arguably the greatest unit European
football has ever produced. There can be no doubt about it; for now, at least. Balotelli is riding
high and his stock is on the up and up
103.___________________________________________________
It is , in many respects, refreshing to see a player in the glare of the media so confidently cast
off the veil of machismo that so many of his peers permanently wear and hide behind, and it
makes it, perhaps, all the easier to empathise with the man when we see this vulnerable,
emotional, human side to him. This type of behaviour only cements his place in the hearts of
fans and wins him new ones.
104.___________________________________________________
Silvia nursed him back to health and although Mario remained in contact with his birth
siblings, Abigail, Enoch and Angel, he became estranged from his real parents, never, it seems,
able to bring himself to forgive them for giving him up. Aged 11, when he first signed for
Lumezzane, Mario refused to play under the Barwuah name. Seven years on, he obtained his
Italian citizenship , flanked by Silvia and her husband, Francesco. The first the Barwuahs
heard about this was when an article appeared in a local newspaper the next day.
105.___________________________________________________
Nevertheless, however much we can empathise with the little boy hart, and his tomfoolery, he
remains somewhat of a liability as long as it continues, and how those unwritten chapters will
read is far from dear. At only 21, he has, really, his whole life ahead of him, and the world is
his proverbial oyster. His friends and family must, hope that his antics will mellow in time.

A
But unlike Milan’s blind gamble, Mancini's City was taking a calculated one. After all,
Mancini already knew what would be coming his way, and, more importantly, he had handled,
or, at least, tolerated, the player’s indiscretions before. He was realistic enough not to expect
the circus show to end just like that, but he did expect its star clown to save his best
performances for on the pitch and not to do anything too radical or detrimental off.

B
Just how much the newfound success meant to him on a personal level was plain to see in his
behaviour postmatch after the game against Germany. When the final whistle blew, Balotelli
ran to the side of the pitch, there to be greeted by a mother beaming with pride. The two
embraced in a scene few could fail to be moved by, and Balotelli clearly elated as he spoke to
television crews from across Europe minutes later, went on to dedicate his performance on the
night to his mum Silvia.
C
As things turned out, they needn't have been too concerned anyway. The Balotelli of the north-
England side was a new beast, as breathtakingly brilliant and precocious as ever when he
donned the team jersey, but far more docile than before in his other private and public forays.
Indeed, the fans took him to their hearts at once and he developed somewhat of a cult following
among the City faithful. ‘All the kids want to be him', commented one local football
correspondent - perhaps a slightly worrying if accurate appraisal!
D
It was after the transfer that Balotelli became acquainted with Robert Mancini for the first time,
while the latter was still heading things up at the club prior to his unceremonious sacking in
May 2008. The two formed an unlikely bond, Mancini identifying a goodness of character in
the eccentric and unpredictable Balotelli which he came to admire. But their football
relationship was brought to an end prematurely with the announcement that the cocky little
Portuguese manager, Mourinho, was to replace Mancini - a first blot on the latter's otherwise
immaculate managerial record.
E
In theory, much of the story has yet to be written and his career at City is only the first of many
new chapters that should see him grow and mature into a great club and international striker,
and a sporting superstar, but with Balotelli only one thing is assured; the road will be a bumpy
one and there will be lots of twists and turns along the way. Meanwhile, his fans will continue
to turn the pages as they are written, and Balotelli can rest assured that, whatever happens, his
readership won’t abandon him at least.
F
But, delve deeper, beyond this fleeting show of emotion, and you discover the real story of
Mario Balotelli, and, if empathy is your thing, then it doesn't get much more evocative than
this... For a start you may have noticed (it is hard not to) that Mario and Silvia are not of the
same ethnicity. The contrast between them is stark; she is a pale-faced Italian and he has the
very dark complexion one would if they were of Ghanaian descent, in fact, Silvia is his foster
mum, with whom he lived from the age of three onwards when social services took him away
from his birth parents, Thomas and Rose Barwuah, on account of their cramped living
conditions, which were not suitable for a child such as Mario, suffering from a life-threatening
intestinal condition.
G
Other accounts of his unpredictability are far more endearing, though Balotelli himself has
denied they ever occurred. One such case is the story of a homeless man Balotelli presented
with £1,000. exclaiming,' according to the recipient of the gift, that he liked his ginger
dreadlocks. On another occasion, while signing autographs, he was introduced to a child who
had been bullied at school. He is then alleged to have accompanied the child to his school
grounds to confront the bullies. Imagine what they must have been thinking to themselves as
big Mario came towards them!
H
Some psychologist, believe that Mario, scarred by his early-life experiences, behaves
eccentrically to draw attention to himself in a superficial kind of way; to give journalists the
ammunition they need to write their stories without having to delve deeper into his back-
ground and personal life. The bravado and clowning around, they say, is probably just a
smokescreen. In any case, given the physical powerhouse the man has become, his desire to
forget a weak and vulnerable childhood, if it is that, is entirely understandable. And perhaps he
lives life on the wild side today simply by virtue of the fact that he can, something that was not
always guaranteed while he was growing up. Or perhaps his roguishness is his way of making
the most of life, Balotelli being, one can imagine, far more appreciative of what he has than are
most of his footballing peers.
99.D 100.A 101.C 102.E 103.B 104.F 105. H