XIII. GIMNAZIJA

Avenija V. Holjevca 17

ZAGREB

MATURA

Šk. god. 2003./2004.

ENGLESKI JEZIK

STUDENT: ______

CLASS: ______

DATE: ______

PART I – READING COMPREHENSION (20)______

PART II – USE OF ENGLISH (60)______

PART III – WRITING (20)______

TOTAL: ______

GRADE:______

PART I - Reading and comprehension

Read the following text and answer the questions:

A NEW GENIUS?

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This artist had some difficulty pointing out the features of his 3-metre-wide painting, which had just been sold for $19,000 to an adoring crowd at the opening night in Beverly Hills – perhaps he is only one m 40 cms tall.

THE ART WORD’S LATEST CHILD PRODIGY, ten-year-old Beso Kazaishvili from the Republic of Georgia, looked resplendent in traditional costume: a belted cream wool tunic with sewn-in gunpowder tubes and a sinister curved dagger. He was “very happy” about the sale but emphasised: “Money is not everything”.

Beso has burst upon the art scene two years after the Romanian-born Alexandra Nechita was hailed as a genius at the age of ten. She has now made $10 million from her paintings. Her family has moved from a cramped bungalow by a Los Angeles freeway to a $1 million mansion. Alexandra began in California and made a successful European tour. Beso began with some success in London, where his family stayed with the Georgian ambassador, and he is now touring the United States. His work is mostly in oils of human figures and faces, executed in a lively way in bright, sometimes almost garish, colours. Many tell stories with symbolic themes of good and evil, death and time, and all are executed remarkably quickly. Ink drawings, which sold for 200 pounds in London, are fetching up to $3,000 in Beverly Hills, where they are highly thought of.

Beso and Alexandra are managed by the Californian art publisher Ben Valenty. Beso has signed a contract in the “mid-six figures”. Mr Valenty always takes half but pays all expenses. It is good money for both sides – Beso’s sales hit $30,000 in an hour in the USA. Cynics like myself may question a second genius arriving so soon, but Mr Valenty argues that there are probably half a dozen or more in the world. He adds: “No sooner had I discovered Alexandra than parents from all over the world began sending me their kids’ work. Yet nonemeasured up to Beso, and I went to see him. Lightning can strike twice. Beso’s work is deeper. After Alexandra the door is open. People believe a child’s art is worthy of serious consideration, so Beso won’t meet the earlier scepticism. I believe he’s a genius and I’m prepared for the verdict of time.”

Mr Valenty and his colleague Rick Lombardo, a television producer preparing a documentary on child prodiges, cheerfully admit that sales of the children’s works are market driven. “If Beso makes $19,000 in half an hour, it’s because people want his work. Dozens of other youngsters haven’t made that mark. Well, that’s the market. Who knows what will happen next?”

Beso’s parents, Badri an engineer, and Irma, a schoolteacher, believe their son’s work was influenced by Georgia’s civil war of 1993-1995. They were often without water and electricity, and food was scarce. Short of money to buy paper, Beso made a drawing on the blank side of a card from his mother’s stockings packet. “That one is priceless and not for sale,” said Mr Valenty, who acknowledges that Beso’s “story” helps sales. “He’s not like other kids,” Mr Lombardo says. “He’s structured. Sure, he’ll watch television, play baseball, do his homework, but then start painting. He’s never distracted from that. We’re only just beginning to find out about these kids. Nobody studied it before. Who knows what Picasso was like at 11? We don’t know.”

Answer the following questions: (20 points)

1. Beso and Alexandra both

A come from the same country in Europe.

B are American citizens now.

C paint similar kinds of pictures.

D have an unusual gift.

2. What do we find out about Beso’s painting?

A He enjoys doing portraits.

B He spends time getting the details right.

C He prefers using subtle colours.

D He uses ideas from famous fairy tales.

3.What does Mr Valenty say about child artists?

A He knows at least six possible geniuses at the moment.

B He wants to meet as many as possible.

CHe believes that their work will be easier to sell in the future.

DTheir work improves as they get older.

4. What do you think “measured up to” means?

A had the same height.

B was the same standard.

C was the same age.

D had the same experience.

5. What does Mr Valenty say about the money that Beso earns?

A Beso could earn much more when he is older.

B It’s hard to put price on Beso’s works.

CHe only earns what people are prepared to pay.

D It’s crazy to pay so much for a child’s work.

6. What do we find out about Beso from the article?

A His only interest is painting.

B He is a good student.

C He is surprised that he is making so much money.

D He loves being in the USA.

7.What does it at the end refer to?

A the subject of young artists

B the particular style of painting

Cthe way Picasso painted when young

Dhow history can affect young people

8. How do you think the writer feels about Beso and his paintings?

A He was impressed by how good the paintings are.

B He isn’t sure that Beso is really as good as Alexandra.

C He’s not convinced about child geniuses.

D He thinks that money is Beso’s real motive.

9. What do you find out about the sales of his works?

A He earned $ 10 million from his paintings.

B He earns $19,000 in an hour.

C His manager takes half of all sales.

D His paintings are sold for $3,000 in London.

10. What does the word features in the introduction mean?

A parts of the face

B characteristics or striking parts

C full-length film in a cinema programme

D subjects in a newspaper

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11. Write in the following synonyms near the words from the text: motorway, insufficient, empty,confused, knife, small, very bright, overcoloured, yellowish-white, extremely talented

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a) resplendent ______

b) cream ______

c) cramped ______

d) dagger ______

e) freeway ______

f) garish ______

g) prodigy ______

h) blank ______

i) distracted ______

j) scarce ______

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PARTII. Language in use

a) Vocabulary

Read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the space in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Pablo Picasso was born in Spain. As a child he was very (0) talented. TALENT

At the age of 19, he went to Paris and experimented with (1) ______DIFFER

styles, from sad paintings in blue, to more (2) ______ones of circuses CHEER

in reds and pinks. Picasso very quickly became (3) ______. He was SUCCEED

constantly looking for new (4) ______. INSPIRE

He became interested in (5) ______masks, which were being shown in AFRICA

Europe for the first time. He particularly liked the simple but (6) ______EXPRESSION

way they distorted the human face. He began to use (7) ______ANGLE

shapes to build up an image – this was the (8) ______of cubism. Even BEGIN

though his cubist pictures are (9) ______we still understand what REALISM

they are supposed to be (10) ______. SYMBOL

10 points

The following words (in italic) are easily confused in English language.

Underline the correct word or phrase and cross the one that is incorrect.

1. My sister spent so long talking on the phone every day that at the end / in the end my parents bought her a mobile phone.

2. My next door neighbour’s help has been invaluable / priceless while my mother was in hospital.

3. You don’t see many people smoking nowadays / actually.

4. Prices of impressionist paintings have raised / risen a great deal in the last few years.

5. Lie / lay down on the bed and have a rest.

6. Tell / say me a story about how you met Monet.

7. My mother is an excellent cook / cooker.

8. I damaged / injured the piano when I tried to move it.

9. The watch I got for my birthday was very priceless / valuable.

10. Jean is so sensible / sensitive that he cries whenever she watches a sad film.

5 points

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate expression:

1. The wedding ______in an old country church.

a) took part b) took place c) put off

2. My boss has been ______a lot of pressure on me to finish that project.

a) putting b) taking c) placing

3. His business ______. He is now really successful.

a) put off b) took off c) put down

4. He always enjoys ______his grandmother talking about her childhood.

a) to listen to b) listening c) to hear

2 points

Paraphrasing: finish the sentence in such a way that it means the same:

1. I am sure that they are very rich. They must ______

2. It was not a good idea to meet there. We shouldn’t ______

3. I get so nervous before exams. I wish I ______

3 points

b) Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense:

  1. As I ______(cross) the road I ______(step) on a banana skin and ______(fall) heavily. I ______still ______(lie) on the road when I (see) a lorry approaching. Luckily the driver saw me and stopped the lorry in time.

2. Tom never ______(do) any work in the garden; he always ______(work) onhis car. – What ______he ______(do) to his car now? – I ______(think) he ______(polish) it.

3. I’ve planned my future for the next ten years. – That’s very clever of you. what ______you ______do when you finish university?

4. Will you lend me your season ticket?

– No, I ______(not lend) it to you. It’s against the law.

5. I______(polish) this table all the morning and she isn’t satisfied with it yet.

6. He ______(be) Minister of Education since 2002.

7. He gave me back the book and thanked me for lending it to him, but I knew he ______(not read) it because mot of the pages were still uncut.

14 points

c) Reported speech - rewrite the following sentences:

  1. Peter asked: “Have you enrolled for more than one class?”

Peter asked ______

  1. “Don’t believe everything you hear!”

My mother warned me______

  1. “I’ll come with you as soon as I am ready.”

She replied ______

  1. “I don’t think your father likes me,” said the young wife.

The young wife said ______

  1. “What platform does the train leave from?”

Ann asked ______

10 points

d) Conditional clauses: choose the correct form of the verb to make a conditional clause

  1. I could get a job easily if I ______(have) a degree.
  2. If you come late, they ______(not let) you in.
  3. If he______(not go) away, I’ll call the police.
  4. If you ______(speak) more slowly, he might have understood you.
  5. I______(offer) to help him if I had realized that he was ill.
  6. If you ______(see) someone drowning, what would you do?

6 points

e) Passive - rewrite the sentences to get a passive construction:

  1. The organizers will exhibit the paintings till the end of the month.

______

  1. Someone has already told him to report for duty at six.

______

  1. People are spending far more money on food now than they spent 10 years ago.

______

  1. People must not leave bicycles in the hall.

______

  1. He expected us to give him a job.

______

10 points

NEW PART III

Write a composition of 200-250 words about one of the following topics:

Technology hasn't improved the quality of our lives

Young people use their free time in the best possible way

Imagine that you conducted a short debate with your friends. Give some different arguments for and some against. Write your conclusion. Use linking words and organize your paragraphs in the right way.
OLD PART III. Summarise the article in English

(Write about 150 to 200 words). You can also include your own opinion and view. (Total 20 points - 10 for style, 10 for grammar accuracy)

Večernji list, 30. travnja 2004.

Ništa od europskog Babilona: učite engleski!

Babilonski žamor imao bi početi od 1. svibnja 2004. godine u Bruxellessu «i okolo njega»; u Europskoj uniji (njezinim tijelima) predstavnici dvadeset pet zemalja članica moći će govoriti na svih dvadeset službenih jezika. U načelu. U praksi to bi podrazumijevalo čak fantastičnih 380 (tri stotine i osamdeset!!!) kombinacija; prevoditelje s jednog na svih dvadeset ostalih jezika, za što će brinuti nekoliko tisuća (!!!) prevoditelja.

Umberto Eco rekao je da je «pravi europski jezik – prijevod». Ulderico Bernardi pak scientifizira Ecovu metaforu u svojoj futurološkoj studiji «La Babele possibile» (Mogući Babilon). Zauzima se, dakako, za novu «babilonizaciju» Europe, držeći da je i jezik (kao i VW, ćevap, Voltaire, pizza, corida, macho, rock…) bitna sastavnica europskog individualizma, te budućnost vidi u svim jezicima.

U euro-praksi, međutim, od samoga vrha Europske komisije pa naniže, dramatično uzmiče i uporaba velikih jezika, njemačkog, francuskog (od 1997. do danas službene isprave Unije pisane na francuskome pale su sa 40 na 30 posto, primjerice), a babilonski kaos, koji već nastaje s nahrupom predstavnika novih deset članica, njih same primorava na to da se odriču prava govorenja na svome jeziku. Kaos je praktične naravi, a ne majoritarne ili rasističke vrste; mora se govoriti polako da bi bio moguć simultani prijevod. Prijevodi su, nadalje, često loši. Tako da, u pravilu, osobito «novi Europljani» umjesto letonskog ili slovenskoga jezika radije govore engleski. Zapravo euro-english, koji svi razumiju, uključiv Engleze – koji vele da to uopće nije engleski jezik.

Europska unija poduzela je istraživanja iz kojih prenosim neke zanimljivosti. I u starim i u novim članicama EU, recimo, jedva jedan posto (i manje) ljudi govore dva ili više stranih jezika; no zato blizu pedesetak posto govori barem jedan strani jezik.

Na samome vrhu je Malta, gdje sto posto anketiranih govori bar jedan strani jezik; dakako, jer uz domaći malteški ama baš svi govore engleski. Ali na stranu ta bizarnost. Vrlo je poučan podatak da čak 74,7 posto Španjolaca govori jedan strani jezik, ali i 87,8 posto Estonaca – zacijelo je posrijedi finski…

Uz ove ohrabrujuće podatke o narečenoj «poliglotskoj zavjeri» (by Biljana Srbljanović), obeshrabruju podaci o jednojezištvu: 48 posto građana Europske unije ne govori niti jedan strani jezik.

Primjerice, čak 68,7 posto Danaca, oko 55% Talijana, Francuza i Grka. I tu je jedna dramatična bizarnost. Čak 96 posto Iraca ne govori ni jedan strani jezik, ali to ne znači da svi oni govore samo irski, njih je jako malo, nego engleski! Na istoku pak Europe, među novim članicama 85,5 posto Slovaka, 77,9 posto Slovenaca i 69,3 posto Litvanaca ne govori ni jedan strani jezik (!), a najviše Čeha (40 posto) govori jedan strani jezik.

Tako, načela ostaju, dakako, pluralna, ali jezična praksa u Europskoj uniji, osobito nakon širenja, sve se više približava «neizbježnoj» anglizaciji – i tako je «neumitni» engleski već na dobrom putu da postane novodobni «latinski» jezik.

I što reći za kraj?

Vi mladi Hrvati&Citizens-of-Croatia, koji želite 2007. ili godinu kasnije, ili bar 2010., sjediti u Europskom parlamentu – učite engleski.

Moji ga unuci već uče u vrtiću, a uči ga i cijeli vrtić!

MILAN Rakovac, književnik, gost suradnik Večernjeg lista

Keywords:

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Babilon = Babylon

predstavnici zemalja članica = representatives of the member states

službeni jezik = official language

prevoditelj = interpreter

futurološka studija = futurological study

službene isprave = official documents

nahrupiti = rush into

simultan = simultaneous

malteški = Malteze

Španjolac = Spaniard

ohrabrujući podaci = encouraging data

poliglotska zavjera = polyglot plot

neizbježna anglizacija = inevitable use of English language

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