2020-10-11
159
LISTENING
Time: 20 minutes (14 points)
Task 1
| You will hear an interview with an Australian girl called Verity, who has recently been on a student exchange programme. For each question 1-6, choose the correct answer A, B or C. |
1. Verity chose the Netherlands for her exchange programme because
A. a friend had recommended it.
B. one of her relatives was from there.
C. she had always wanted to go there.
2. What did Verity find difficult about living in the Netherlands at first?
A. sharing a bedroom
B. getting up early
C. cycling to school
3. What did Verity immediately notice about the Netherlands?
A. The countryside was more varied than Australia.
B. The buildings were how she’d imagined them.
C. The weather was much colder than she’d expected.
4. What was different about the school in the Netherlands?
A. It had better facilities.
B. There was a wider range of subjects.
C. The class size was much bigger.
5. Verity was surprised that students in the Netherlands
A. knew very little about Australia.
B. had never considered doing an exchange programme.
C. had travelled to a lot of countries.
6. Verity recommends that students on an exchange programme should
A. go to a place where they can speak the language.
B. stay for six months.
C. ask their parents to visit.
Task 2
| You will hear a boy called Jake talking to his classmates about a diving trip he recently did with his family. For each sentence 7‐14, fill in the missing information in the numbered space. Write only one word in each gap |
The healthy eating project
DIVING TRIP
The trip was very exciting because Jake was diving in (7) ………….. water for the first time.
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Jake’s only previous diving experience was training in a (8) …………...
Jake went for his first sea dive off the coast of (9) …………...
Jake’s (10) ………….. went into the water with him.
Jake says the best thing he saw under the water was a (11) …………...
While they were swimming, Jake was afraid that there might be some (12) ………….. nearby.
However, he discovered that the big creatures he saw were (13) …………...
Jake managed to do (14) ………….. dives in total.
| Transfer your answers to the answer sheet! |
READING
Time: 30 minutes (15 points)
Task 1
| Read the text and do the tasks after it. |
The Development of Museums
(1) The conviction that historical relics reflect real life of the past is rooted in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when science was regarded as objective and free of human attitudes. As one writer observes: ‘Although it is now evident that material objects are as easily changed as chronicles, public belief in their authenticity is still very strong: a tangible relic seems real.’ Such conviction was, until recently, reflected in museum displays. Museums used to look – and some still do – much like storage rooms of objects packed together in showcases: good for scholars who wanted to study the subtle differences in design, but not for the ordinary visitor, to whom it all looked alike. Similarly, the information accompanying the objects often made little sense to the general public. The content and format of explanations dated back to a time when the museum was the exclusive domain of the scientific researcher.
(2) Recently, however, attitudes towards history and the way it should be presented have changed. The key word in heritage display is now ‘experience’, the more exciting the better and, if possible, involving all the senses. Good examples of this approach in the UK are the Jorvik Centre in York; the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford; and the Imperial War Museum in London. In the US the trend emerged much earlier: Williamsburg has been a prototype for many heritage developments in other parts of the world. No one can predict where the process will end. On so-called heritage sites the re-enactment of historical events is increasingly popular, and computers will soon provide virtual reality experiences, which will present visitors with a vivid image of the period of their choice, in which they themselves can act as if part of the historical environment. Such developments have been criticized as vulgar, but the success of many historical theme parks and similar locations suggests that the majority of the public does not share this opinion.
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(3) In a related development, the sharp distinction between museum and heritage sites on the one hand, and theme parks on the other, is gradually evaporating. They already borrow ideas and concepts from one another. For example, museums have adopted story lines for exhibitions, sites have accepted ‘theming’ as a relevant tool, and theme parks are moving towards more authenticity and research-based presentations. Similarly, animals in zoos are no longer kept in cages, but in great spaces, either in the open air or in enormous greenhouses, such as the jungle and desert environments in Burgers’ Zoo in Holland. This particular trend is regarded as one of the major developments in the presentation of natural history in the twentieth century.
(4) Theme parks are undergoing other changes, too, as they try to present more serious social and cultural issues, and move away from fantasy. This development is a response to market forces and, although museums and heritage sites have a special, rather distinct, role to fulfil, they are also operating in a very competitive environment, where visitors make choice on how and where to spend their free time. Heritage and museum experts do not have to invent stories and recreate historical environments to attract their visitors: their assets are already in place. However, exhibits must be both based on objects and facts as we know them, and attractively presented. Those who are professionally engaged in the art of interpreting history are thus in a difficult position, as they must steer a narrow course between the demands of ‘evidence’ and ‘attractiveness’, especially given the increasing need in the heritage industry for money-generating activities.
(5) It can be said that in order to make everything in heritage more ‘real’, historical accuracy must be more and more adapted to today’s reality. For example, Pithecanthropus erectus is depicted in an Indonesian museum with Malay facial features, because this corresponds to public perceptions. Similarly, in the Museum of Natural History in Washington, Neanderthal man is shown making a dominant gesture to his wife. Such presentations tell us more about contemporary perceptions of the world than about our ancestors. There is one compensation, however, for the professionals who make these interpretations: if they did not provide the interpretation, visitors would do it for themselves, based on their own ideas, misconceptions and prejudices. And no matter how exciting the result, it would contain a lot more bias, or lack of objectivity, than the presentations provided by experts.
(6) Human bias is inevitable, but another source of bias in the representation of history has to do with the transitory nature of the materials themselves. The simple fact is that not everything from history survives the historical process. Castles, palaces and cathedrals have a longer lifespan than the dwellings of ordinary people. The same applies to the furnishings and other contents of the premises. In a town like Leyden in Holland, which in the seventeenth century was occupied by approximately the same number of inhabitants as today, people lived within the walled town, an area more than five times smaller than modern Leyden. In most of the houses several families lived together in circumstances beyond our imagination. Yet in museums, fine period rooms give only an image of the lifestyle of the upper class of that era. No wonder that people who stroll around exhibitions are filled with nostalgia; the evidence in museums indicates that life was so much better in the past. This notion is caused by the bias in its representation in museums and heritage centres.
Task 1.
Questions 15-20.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?
In boxes 15-20 on your answer sheet, circle:
A (TRUE) if the statement agrees with the information;
B (FALSE) if the statement contradicts the information;
C (NOT STATED) if there is no information on this.
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Many people believe that material objects kept in museums are true relics of the past.
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More people visit museums in the UK than in the US.
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In zoos, animals are kept in the environments similar to their natural habitats.
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Today theme parks tend to avoid serious issues.
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Stories about historical events are specially written by experts in order to attract tourists.
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The boundaries of Leyden have changed little since the seventeenth century.
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Museums can give a wrong impression of what life was like in the past.
| Transfer your answers to the answer sheet! |
Task 2.
Questions 22-29.
Choose option A, B, C or D which best fits according to the text. Circle the correct letter in boxes 22-29 on your answer sheet.
22. The author begins by comparing today’s museums with those of the past and says that the latter
A did not present history in a detailed way.
B were not primarily intended for the public.
C were more clearly organized.
D preserved items with greater care.
23. According to the second paragraph, current trends in the heritage industry
A emphasise personal involvement.
B have their origins in York and London.
C rely on computer images.
D reflect minority tastes.
24. What process is meant in the sentence 'No one can predict where the process will end' in the second paragraph?
A Vulgarisation of historical events.
B Turning traditional museums into theme parks and heritage sites.
C Computerisation of museums.
D Further involvement of scientists into creating new museums.
25. In the third paragraph, the writer says that museums, heritage sites and theme parks
A often work in close partnership.
B try to preserve separate identities.
C have similar exhibits.
D are less easy to distinguish than before.
26. The writer concludes the forth paragraph by saying that in preparing exhibits for museums, experts
A should pursue a single objective.
B have to do a certain amount of language translation.
C should be free from commercial constraints.
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D have to balance conflicting priorities.
27. In the fifth paragraph, the writer suggests that some museums
A fail to match visitors’ expectations.
B are based on the false assumptions of professionals.
C reveal more about present beliefs than about the past.
D allow visitors to make more use of their imagination.
28. Historians interpret past events when presenting them in the museums because
A historians don’t want visitors to make wrong assumptions.
B facts can never be presented without judgments.
C historians also have misconceptions and prejudices.
D historians can be legally prosecuted for wrong interpretations.
29. In the last paragraph, the writer notes that our view of history is biased because
A we fail to use our imagination.
B only very durable objects remain from the past.
C we tend to ignore things that displease us.
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USE OF ENGLISH
