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.
When the porter’s wife, who used to answer the house-bell, announced ‘A gentleman
and a lady, sir,’ I had, as I often had in those days - the wish being father to the thought -
an immediate vision of sitters. Sitters my visitors in this case proved to be; but not in
the sense I should have preferred. There was nothing at first however to indicate that they
mightn’t have come for a portrait. The gentleman, a man of fifty, very high and very straight,
with a moustache slightly grizzled and a dark grey walking-coat admirably fitted, both of which
I noted professionally - I don’t mean as a barber or yet as a tailor - would have struck me as
a celebrity if celebrities often were striking. It was a truth of which I had for some time been
conscious that a figure with a good deal of frontage was, as one might say, almost never
a public institution. A glance at the lady helped to remind me of this paradoxical law: she also
looked too distinguished to be a ‘personality’. Moreover one would scarcely come across two
variations together.
Neither of the pair immediately spoke - they only prolonged the preliminary gaze
suggesting that each wished to give the other a chance. They were visibly shy; they stood there
letting me take them in - which, as I afterwards perceived, was the most practical thing they
could have done. In this way their embarrassment served their cause. I had seen people painfully
reluctant to mention that they desired anything so gross as to be represented on canvas; but the
scruples of my new friends appeared almost insurmountable. Yet the gentleman might have said
‘I should like a portrait of my wife,’ and the lady might have said ‘I should like a portrait of my
husband.’ Perhaps they weren’t husband and wife - this naturally would make the matter more
delicate. Perhaps they wished to be done together - in which case they ought to have brought
a third person to break the news.
‘We come from Mr Rivet,’ the lady finally said with a dim smile that had the effect of
a moist sponge passed over a ‘sunk’ piece of painting, as well as of a vague allusion
to vanished beauty. She was as tall and straight, in her degree, as her companion, and with ten
years less to carry. She looked as sad as a woman could look whose face was not charged with
expression; that is her tinted oval mask showed waste as an exposed surface shows friction.
The hand of time had played over her freely, but to an effect of elimination. She was slim and
stiff, and so well-dressed, in dark blue cloth, with lappets and pockets and buttons, that it was
clear she employed the same tailor as her husband. The couple had an indefinable air of
prosperous thrift - they evidently got a good deal of luxury for their money. If I was to be one
of their luxuries it would be necessary for me to consider my terms.
Adapted from The Real Thing by Henry James
Część II
5
6.1. At the very beginning the narrator thinks that the visitors
A. are probably going to be his customers.
B.
are well-known personalities.
C. have come for unknown reason.
D. are the people he doesn’t want to see.
6.2. In the context of the text, ‘a sitter’ means
A. a companion.
B.
a chaperone.
C. a child-minder.
D. a model.
6.3. The narrator is most probably
A. a tailor.
B.
a painter.
C. a barber.
D. a sculptor.
6.4. According to the narrator, celebrities
A. are often striking in appearance.
B.
are often public institution.
C. don’t often look glamorous.
D. look exactly like the couple.
6.5. The couple behave as if they were
A. too shy to look at each other.
B.
very eager to state their business.
C. business-oriented.
D. unwilling to say what they want.
6.6. To say that someone’s scruples are insurmountable means that they
A. are not very strong.
B.
did not appear suddenly.
C. cannot be easily overcome.
D. appeared instinctively.
6.7. The woman’s appearance indicates that she
A. used to be attractive.
B.
used to play a lot.
C. is about the man’s age.
D. is older than her companion.
6.8. Looking at the woman’s face the narrator thinks that it
A. is devoid of wrinkles.
B.
shows little emotion.
C. shows too much colour.
D. is out of shape.
6.9. The last paragraph shows that the narrator’s attitude towards the couple is
A. sympathetic.
B.
respectful.
C. money-oriented.
D. hostile.
TRANSFER YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ANSWER SHEET!
Część II
6
Official CKE answer key found in corpus at arkusze/jezyk-angielski-2007-maj-matura-dwujezyczna-odpowiedzi-2 (matura.lol's automatic pairing missed it). 'The Real Thing' (Henry James) excerpt: 6.1 A (are probably going to be his customers/sitters). 6.2 D ('a sitter' means a model). 6.3 B (the narrator is most probably a painter). 6.4 C (celebrities don't often look glamorous - 'almost never a public institution'). 6.5 D (unwilling to say what they want). 6.6 C ('insurmountable' means cannot be easily overcome). 6.7 A (the woman's appearance indicates she used to be attractive). 6.8 B (her face shows little emotion). 6.9 C (the narrator's attitude is money-oriented - 'it would be necessary for me to consider my terms').
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