TASK 4. (0-7)
Read two texts connected with obeying social norms. For questions 4.1.-4.7., choose
the answer that best matches the text and circle the appropriate letter (A, B, C or D).
Text 1
AN EVENING AT THE OPERA
On a January evening in the early seventies, Christine Nilsson was singing in Faust at
the Academy of Music in New York. It was Madame Nilsson’s first appearance that winter, and
what the daily press described as “an exceptionally brilliant audience” had gathered to hear
her.
Though there was already talk of the erection of a new Opera House which would compete in
costliness and splendour with those of the great European capitals, the world of fashion was
still content to reassemble every winter in the shabby red and gold boxes of the sociable old
Academy. Conservatives cherished it for being small and inconvenient, and thus keeping out
the “new people” whom they were beginning to dread and yet be drawn to; the sentimental
clung to it for its historic associations, and the musical for its acoustics, always so problematic
a quality in halls built for the hearing of music.
When Newland Archer opened the door at the back of the club box, the curtain had just gone
up on the garden scene. There was no reason why the young man should not have come
earlier, for he had dined at seven, alone with his mother and sister, and had lingered afterward
over a cigar in the Gothic library with glazed black-walnut bookcases and ornately carved
chairs. But New York was a metropolis, and he was perfectly aware that in metropolises it was
“not the thing” for a man of his standing to arrive early at the opera; and what was or was not
“the thing” played a part as important in Newland Archer’s New York as the inscrutable totem
terrors that had ruled the destinies of his forefathers thousands of years ago.
Newland was one of those people for whom thinking about a pleasure to come provided
a subtler satisfaction than its realisation. This was especially the case when the pleasure was
a delicate one, and on this occasion, the moment he looked forward to was particularly rare
and exquisite in quality. If he had timed his arrival in accord with the prima donna’s stage
manager he could not have entered the Academy at a more significant moment than just as
she was singing: “He loves me--he loves me not--HE LOVES ME!--” and sprinkling the falling
daisy petals with notes as clear as dew.
She sang, of course, “M’ama!” and not “he loves me,” since an unalterable and unquestioned
law of the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish
artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking
audiences. This seemed as natural to Newland Archer as all the other conventions on which
his life was moulded: such as the duty of using two silver-backed brushes with his monogram
in blue enamel to part his hair, and of never appearing in society without a flower (preferably
a gardenia) in his buttonhole.
adapted from The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
EJAA-D0-100
4.1. Which of the following sentences is NOT true?
A. There was a general consensus that opera needed a more prestigious venue than
the Academy.
B. Regular operagoers still delighted in the familiar atmosphere of the Academy.
C. The Academy concert hall was appreciated by some for its acoustics.
D. Conservatives had ambivalent feelings about the “new people”.
4.2. Why did Newland Archer arrive late at the opera house?
A. A family dinner he had attended coincided with the beginning of the performance.
B. He wanted to manifest his lack of regard for Madame Nilsson.
C. Engrossed in a book, he had lost track of time in the library.
D. In his social circle it was considered appropriate.
4.3.
She sang, of course, “M’ama!” and not “he loves me,” since an unalterable and unquestioned
law of the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish
artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking
audiences.
The above sentence is an example of the narrator’s
A. prejudice.
B. sense of humour.
C. anxiety.
D. lack of knowledge.
EJAA-D0-100
Text 2
WATCHING THE ENGLISH
I am sitting in a café near Paddington station, drinking a delicious espresso. The coffee is
a real reward because I have just spent the whole morning accidentally-on-purpose bumping
into people and counting the number of those who said “Sorry”. This time I gave up my usual
method of getting an inconspicuous research assistant to break sacred social rules while
I watch the result from a safe distance. I have bravely decided that I must be my own guinea
pig. I don’t feel brave. I feel scared and exhausted. I want to abandon the whole “Englishness”
project here and now, go home and lead a normal life. Why am I doing this? Good question.
Perhaps I’d better explain. I am an anthropologist.
We are constantly being told that the English have lost their national identity - that there is no
longer such thing as “Englishness”. There has been a spate of books bemoaning this alleged
identity crisis, with titles ranging from the plaintive Anyone for England? to the inconsolable
England: An Elegy. However, having spent much of the past twelve years doing research on
various aspects of English culture and social behaviour - in pubs, at racecourses, on trains
and street corners - I am convinced that “Englishness” is not obsolete. In my book I examine
the hidden, unspoken codes of conduct governing English behaviour which cut across class,
age, sex, region, sub-cultures and other social boundaries.
The aim of my book is to describe a “grammar” of English behaviour. Native speakers can
rarely explain the grammatical rules of their own language. In the same way, those who are
most “fluent” in the rituals, customs and traditions of a particular culture generally lack
the detachment necessary to explain the “grammar” of these practices. This is why we have
anthropologists who can do this in an objective and coherent way.
Most people obey the unwritten rules of their society instinctively, without being conscious of
doing so. For example, you automatically get dressed in the morning without consciously
reminding yourself that there is an unspoken rule of etiquette that prohibits going to work in
one’s pyjamas. But if you had an anthropologist staying with you and studying your behaviour,
you would be asked: “Why are you changing your clothes?” “What would happen if you went
to work in pyjamas?” “What else can’t you wear to work?” And on, and on, until you were
heartily sick of it. Then other people from different groups of society would be watched and
interrogated, and hundreds of nosy questions and observations later, the “grammar” of clothing
and dress in your culture would eventually be deciphered.
The human species is addicted to rule-making. Every human activity, without exception,
including natural biological functions, is hedged about with complex sets of rules and
regulations, dictating precisely when, where, with whom, and in what manner the activity may
be performed. Animals just do things; they eat, mate, or play; humans make an almighty
song and dance about it. This is known as “civilisation”. The rules may vary from culture to
culture, but they are there. Different foods may be prohibited in different societies, but every
society has food taboos. We have rules about everything. My focus on rules is therefore not
some strange personal whim, but the recognition of the importance of rule-making in
the human psyche.
adapted from Watching the English by Kate Fox
EJAA-D0-100
4.4. In the first paragraph, the author
A. comments on her assistant’s reluctance to collect data in this project.
B. explains why a café makes a perfect place for observation.
C. reflects on her personal involvement in a research experiment.
D. questions the reliability of her research assistant’s work.
4.5. In the second paragraph, the author suggests that she wrote the book
A. to analyse the reasons for the loss of national identity.
B. to debunk the social rules that govern English society.
C. to contradict a belief voiced in other publications.
D. to argue that unified codes of conduct no longer exist in England.
4.6. The fourth paragraph predominantly focuses on
A. the technique used by anthropologists in their work.
B. the cultural implications of anthropologists’ work.
C. people’s attitudes to anthropologists’ inquisitiveness.
D. different tricks anthropologists resort to when interviewing people.
4.7. In the context of the last paragraph, the author uses the expression humans make
an almighty song and dance about it to imply that people
A. apply rules from the animal world to their own behaviour.
B. attach exaggerated importance to the rules they have created.
C. appeal to supernatural powers as justification for certain rules.
D. take for granted the superiority of their civilisation over the animal world.
TRANSFER YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ANSWER SHEET!
EJAA-D0-100
element tematu
5.
podsumowanie:
właściwe
i adekwatne
do tematu
zakończenie
wypowiedzi
R
A
L
zakończenie zgodne
z tematem oraz treścią
wypowiedzi; jeżeli zdający
powtarza wstęp - czyni to
innymi słowami
zakończenie nie jest w pełni
poprawne, np. jest zgodne
z tematem ALBO treścią
wypowiedzi; odbiega trochę od
tematu LUB treści wypowiedzi;
zdający stosuje zakończenie
schematyczne (sztampowe) LUB
powtarza wstęp praktycznie tymi
samymi słowami
brak zakończenia LUB
zakończenie nie jest
komunikatywne LUB
zakończenie jest jedynie
luźno związane z tematem
oraz treścią wypowiedzi