Task 6. (9 points)
Read the text below. For questions 6.1. - 6.9., choose the answer that best matches
the text by circling the appropriate letter (A, B, C or D).
For each correct answer you will be given 1 point.
Being English used to be so easy. They were one of the most easily identified peoples
on earth, recognized by their language, their manners, their clothes and the fact that they
drank tea by the bucketload.
It is all so much more complicated now. When, occasionally, we come across someone
whose stiff upper lip, sensible shoes or tweedy manner identifies them as English, we react
in amusement: the conventions that defined the English are dead and the country’s
ambassadors are more likely to be singers or writers than diplomats or politicians.
The imperial English may have carried British passports - as did the Scots, Welsh,
and some of the Irish - but they really didn’t need to think too hard about whether being
‘English’ was the same as being ‘British’: the terms were virtually interchangeable.
Nowadays nothing will so infuriate a Scot as to confuse the terms English and British.
Elections in May 1999 to the new Scottish parliament and Welsh Assembly were, predictably,
trumpeted by the Labour party (which had invented the whole idea of devolved
governments) as strengthening the Union. Perhaps so. But it is unquestionably changed.
Scotland, at least, has always been a nation, with its own legal and educational system,
and civic and intellectual tradition. Now it has its own government and it is hard to think
of political institutions which, once given power, have not sought more of it. The language
has begun to reflect this changed relationship. Where a year or two ago events in Scotland
were talked of as regional, they are increasingly spoken about as ‘national’. The BBC has
even issued instructions to its staff on the unacceptability of any longer talking of Wales
as a ‘Principality’.
Then there is the problem of Europe. Who knows how the collective ambition or delusion
that has gripped the European political élite will end up? If it is successful, a United States
of Europe will make the United Kingdom redundant.
But then there is the corrosive awareness that neither Britain, nor any other nation,
can single-handedly control the tides of capital that determine whether individual citizens will
eat or starve. Increasingly, the main business of national governments is the culture of their
citizens.
These four elements - the end of empire, the cracks opening in the so-called United
Kingdom, the pressures for the English to plunge into Europe, and the uncontrollability
of international business - set me wondering. What did it mean to be English?
Although these are political questions, this is not a political work in the narrow sense
of the word. I set out to try to discover the roots of the present English anxiety
about themselves by travelling back into the past, to the things that created that instantly
recognizable ideal Englishman and Englishwoman who carried the flag across the world.
And then I tried to find out what had become of them.
Some of these influences were relatively easy to spot. Obviously the fact that they were
born on an island rather than living on a continental landmass had had an effect. They came
from a country where Protestant reformation had put the church firmly in its place. They had
inherited a deep belief in individual liberty.
Others were more opaque. Why, for example, do the English seem to enjoy feeling
so persecuted? What is behind the English obsession with games? How did they acquire their
odd attitudes to sex and food? Where did they get their extraordinary capacity for hypocrisy?
I sought answers to the questions through travelling, talking and reading. Several years
later, I am a bit the wiser and have a different set of questions.
And now I have just noticed that I am writing of the English as ‘they’, when I have always
thought myself one of them. They remain elusive to the last.
Adapted from: Paxman, Jeremy; The English
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6.1. The traditional image of an English person
A. has disappeared completely.
B. was built around clothes.
C. has become a mild caricature.
D. was created by politicians.
6.2. In the author’s opinion, Scotland is likely to
A. demand more independence.
B. create its own government.
C. help consolidate the Union.
D. support the Labour Party.
6.3. The fact that ‘British’ is no longer equivalent to ‘English’ can be observed in
A. the BBC.
B. the Scottish legal system.
C. Wales.
D. the English language.
6.4. Discussing the idea of a United States of Europe, the author
A. is perfectly convinced of its success.
B. is truly enthusiastic about its elitism.
C. reluctantly admits its economic necessity.
D. genuinely admires its ambitious scheme.
6.5. The task the author undertook was
A. to identify the main reasons for the English self-consciousness.
B. to pinpoint the very essence of being English.
C. to study English people’s concern about the past.
D. to examine the past and present political situation of the English.
6.6. Judging from the language used in paragraph 9, the author’s attitude to his topic can be
described as
A. fairly positive.
B. mildly ironic.
C. highly critical.
D. decidedly hostile.
6.7. The author’s research
A. was a failure since its subject is too abstract.
B. ended up with his contempt for the English.
C. helped him finally identify with the English.
D. was successful but aroused further interest.
6.8. The word trumpeted in paragraph 3 means
A. ridiculed.
B. criticised.
C. advertised.
D. anticipated.
6.9. The word opaque in paragraph 9 means
A. vague.
B. transparent.
C. obvious.
D. definite.
TRANSFER YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ANSWER SHEET!
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Official CKE answer key found in corpus at arkusze/jezyk-angielski-2005-maj-matura-dwujezyczna-odpowiedzi-2 (matura.lol's automatic pairing missed it). 'The English' (Jeremy Paxman) reading comprehension: 6.1 C (has become a mild caricature). 6.2 A (demand more independence). 6.3 D (the English language - talk of Scotland as 'national' not 'regional'). 6.4 C (reluctantly admits its economic necessity). 6.5 B (pinpoint the very essence of being English). 6.6 B (mildly ironic). 6.7 D (was successful but aroused further interest). 6.8 C 'trumpeted' means advertised. 6.9 A 'opaque' means vague.
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