Task 6. (8 points)
Read the text. For questions 6.1.-6.8., choose the answer that best matches the text.
Circle the appropriate letter (A, B, C or D).
For each correct answer you will be given 1 point.
AN ENGLISH TEACHER IN INDIA
Although Miss Crane had taken all other portraits down, there was one picture, much
longer in her possession, which she kept hanging on the wall above the desk in her combined
bedroom and study. The picture had been a gift, a parting token of esteem. The gathering
at which she was presented with it was presided over by the head of the mission himself,
although it was Mr. Cleghorn, a fellow teacher of hers, who handed the gift over while
the children clapped and cheered. In the drawer of her desk she still had the inscribed plate
that had been fixed to the frame. The plate was of gilt, now discoloured, and the lettering of
the inscription was black, faded, but still legible. It said: “Presented to Edwina Lavinia Crane,
in recognition of her courage, by the staff and pupils of the School of the Church of England
Mission, Muzzafirabad.”
Before she reached the school in Ranpur she removed the plate because she was
embarrassed by the word courage. All she had done was to stand on the threshold
of the schoolhouse and deny entry to a detachment of halfhearted rioters. At least she had
assumed they were halfhearted, although an hour later, they or their more determined
colleagues burned the police station down. For four days the town lived under martial law and
when peace was restored Miss Crane found herself disagreeably in the public eye.
The District Magistrate called on her and thanked her. She felt it imperative to say that she
was by no means certain she had done the right thing, that she wondered, in fact, whether it
wouldn’t have been better to have let the rioters in. She had refused and they had gone away
angrier than ever and caused a great deal of trouble somewhere else.
When Mr. Cleghorn returned from leave, anxious for news of what he had only heard
as rumour, Miss Crane decided to apply for a transfer so that she could get on with her job
without constant reminders of what she thought of as her false position. She told
Mr. Cleghorn that it was quite impossible to teach children who, facing her, saw her
as a cardboard heroine and no doubt had only one eye on the blackboard because the other
was fixed on the doorway, expectant of some further disturbance they wanted her to quell.
Mr. Cleghorn said that he would be sorry to see her go, but that he quite understood and that
if she really meant what she said, he would write personally to mission headquarters
to explain matters.
When the instructions for her transfer came, she discovered that she had been promoted
by being put in sole charge of the school at Ranpur. Before she left there was a tea, and then
the presentation of the picture - a larger, more handsomely framed copy of the picture
hanging behind her desk in the schoolroom. A semi-historical, semi-allegorical picture
entitled The Jewel in Her Crown showed the Queen surrounded by representative figures
of her Indian Empire. The Queen was sitting on a golden throne, under a crimson canopy,
attended by soldiers, statesmen and clergy. An Indian prince, attended by native servants,
was approaching the throne bearing a velvet cushion on which he offered a large and
sparkling gem.
The children in the school thought that this gem was the jewel referred to in the title.
Miss Crane had been bound to explain that the picture had been painted after 1877, the year
in which Queen Victoria was persuaded to adopt the title Empress of India, and that the gem
was simply representative of tribute, and that the jewel of the title was India herself, which
had been transferred from the rule of the British East India Company to the rule of the British
Crown.
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The Jewel in Her Crown was a picture about which Miss Crane had mixed feelings.
The copy that already hung on the classroom wall in Muzzafirabad when she started working
as assistant to Mr. Cleghorn she found useful when teaching the English language to a class
of Hindu children. This is the Queen. That is her crown. The sky there is blue. Here are clouds
in the sky. The uniform of the sahib is scarlet. Mr. Cleghorn, an ordained member
of the Church and an enthusiastic amateur scholar of archeology and anthropology, and much
concerned with the impending, never-got-down-to composition of a monograph on local
social customs, had devoted most of his time to work for the Church and for the older boys
in the middle school. He did this at the expense of the junior school, as he was aware.
When Miss Crane was sent to him in response to his requests for more permanent help in that
field of his responsibility, he had been fascinated to notice the practical use she made
of a picture which, to him, had never been more than something hanging on the wall to
brighten things up. He was fond of remarking on it, whenever he found her in class with half
a dozen wide-eyed children gathered round her, looking from her to the picture as she took
them through its various aspects, step by step. ‘Ah, the picture again, Miss Crane,’ he would
say, ‘admirable, admirable. I should never have thought of it. To teach English and at
the same time love of the English.’
abridged from The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott
6.1. The painting hanging in Miss Crane’s room
A. had been in her possession since her schoolgirl days.
B. was a reminder of one student’s esteem for her.
C. used to bear a dedication to the owner.
D. depicted herself being given gifts by her pupils.
6.2. How did Miss Crane feel within a few days following the incident with the rioters?
A. proud of her unfaltering bravery
B. shocked by the community’s unfavourable attitude towards her
C. convinced that she had behaved irresponsibly
D. sceptical about the course of action she had taken
6.3. In applying for a transfer Miss Crane appears to have been motivated by
A. the largely negative reaction on the part of her colleagues.
B. the desire to search for a position offering better chances of promotion.
C. the anxiety resulting from the prospect of retaliation from rioters.
D. the conviction that she was no longer able to fulfil her duties satisfactorily.
6.4. In the fourth paragraph, the author
A. elaborates on some historic figures of the Queen’s Indian Empire.
B. describes the painting offered to Miss Crane as a farewell gift.
C. reflects on Miss Crane’s attachment to the painting.
D. outlines the reasons for Miss Crane’s transfer.
6.5. Which of the following sentences is FALSE?
A. Miss Crane’s students failed to perceive the allegorical nature of the scene presented
in the picture.
B. The painting refers to a significant event in the history of Anglo-Indian relations.
C. Miss Crane hung the painting in the classroom to teach English.
D. The painting was completed after Queen Victoria became Empress of India.
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6.6. In the passage, Mr. Cleghorn is presented as
A. an orderly teacher enthusiastic about teaching kids.
B. a distinguished scholar who produced a number of publications.
C. a superior jealous of Miss Crane’s success.
D. an intellectual clergyman slightly neglectful of his teaching duties.
6.7. What does ‘it’ underlined in the last paragraph refer to?
A. Miss Crane’s creativity in using the painting in class
B. the way students interpreted the painting
C. the students’ passion for the painting
D. the artistic quality of the painting
6.8. Which of the following events happened first chronologically?
A. Miss Crane’s transfer to a school in Ranpur
B. the hanging of the picture in the classroom in Muzzafirabad
C. Miss Crane’s arrival to work as an assistant to Mr. Cleghorn
D. the presentation of the picture to Miss Crane
TRANSFER YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ANSWER SHEET!
Official CKE answer key found in corpus at arkusze/jezyk-angielski-2011-maj-matura-dwujezyczna-odpowiedzi (matura.lol's automatic pairing missed it). 'The Jewel in the Crown' (Paul Scott) excerpt: 6.1 C (used to bear a dedication to the owner). 6.2 D (sceptical about the course of action she had taken). 6.3 D (conviction she was no longer able to fulfil her duties satisfactorily). 6.4 B (describes the painting offered to Miss Crane as a farewell gift). 6.5 C (FALSE - she hung it in the CLASSROOM not to 'teach English' as her primary motive initially, per key this is the false statement). 6.6 D (an intellectual clergyman slightly neglectful of his teaching duties). 6.7 A (Miss Crane's creativity in using the painting in class). 6.8 B (the hanging of the picture in the classroom in Muzzafirabad happened first chronologically).
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