1992 C1-13
Part I Reading
1. Why is English Literature in the news?.
C. It may be taken off the examination syllabus.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| Eng. Lit course might disappear as a single subject at O-level, the Sunday heavies have weighted in with articles in its defence (lines 1-2) | The writer clearly states the purpose of writing in the first paragraph. |
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2. When the writer mention `the alternatives' in line 7, what is he referring to?
D. television and other forms of entertainment.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
They have grown up in an era when 15-year-old students spend as much time watching television as they do at school. (lines 5-6) ¡@ In line 7, the writer writes: If we are really to show people literature matters in age when the alternatives are so readily available and appealing. |
The alternatives definitely refers to watching television. | Identifying anaphoric reference |
3. How much contemporary literature is incorporated into English Literature classes?
C. very little
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| Contemporary literature, where it is acknowledged at all, barely merits a passing nod . (line 14) | `Barely merits' suggests ` very little'. |
An imagery |
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4. The writer feels that the explicit language in some of todays' books
C. is a realistic part of contemporary literature.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| Some die-hards argue that much contemporary literature is not appropriate for classroom study; firstly, they maintain that the -admittedly at times very explicit - language in many of today's books is simply not suitable for young people to read. Yet surely to exclude books on the grounds of crude language is to give a distorted view both of the world and of literature! (lines 15-18) | The last sentence, beginning with `yet' gives a contrast view of the writer that to exclude the crude language distorted the view of literature and the world. In other words, the explicit language is the realistic part of contemporary literature. | Tone of the speaker |
5. What does the writer suggest is one of the problems with selecting contemporary books for A-level study?
A. some of them will not last.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| It is probable that a good deal of
even serious contemporary writing will not make it through to the next century. (lines 18-19) |
These lines suggest the literature does not last for a century. |
The imagery. |
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6. In line 20, the phrase `falling over themselves' means
A. competing with each other.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| Critics were falling over themselves in the race to compare sb. (line 20) | Once the candidates understand the phrase `in the race', the answer `competing' should collocate with `the race'. | guessing the meaning of a phrase based on the understanding of the passage. |
7. Why are some teachers rather frightened of contemporary literature?
A. Few critical works have been written about the authors.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| There are no well-accepted critical analysis that can be studied and offered as self-evident literary truths. This might leave some teachers feeling vulnerable. (lines 23-4) | These lines suggest `no well-accepted critical analysis', implying, few, are accepted as truth in literary fields that makes teachers frightened. | Reading for specific information |
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8. The writer suggests that one of the best ways to appreciate an author is to
B. read his work and then try to write in the same style.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| We need to balance the judgmental bias of most essay writing by an apprenticeship approach which encourages student to explore texts through imitation. (lines 27-8) | `The apprenticeship approach' and `to explore texts through imitation' suggests to read and then write in the same style. |
Reading for specific information |
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9. What does an author want a reader to get from his book?
D. a personal reaction to what the author was writing about.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| What an author wants to hear from a
reader is more straightforward. It is simply: Yes -- I have feel that. (lines 38-9) |
`I have feel that' reflects a personal feeling of the reader. |
Reading for inference |
10. Concerning suggestion three, what does the writer feel about current A-level courses?
B. There is not enough emphasis on the personal- reaction side.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| A-level invariably squeezes out
this personal element in favor of a highly impersonal, judgement approach (lines 39-40) |
These lines convey the tone of the speaker that he or she is not in favor impersonal tone to literary criticism, but personal response after reading literature. | Tone of the speaker |
11. The word `I' (line 38) refers to
B. a reader
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| What an author wants to hear from a
reader is more straightforward. It is simply: Yes -- I have feel that. (lines 38-9) |
`I have feel that' reflects a personal feeling of the reader. Therefore, `I' refers to a reader. | the anaphoric reference |
12. The word `invariably' (line 39) could best be replaced by
D. always.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| A-level invariably squeezes out this personal element in favour of a highly impersonal, judgmental approach (line 39) | Invariably' suggest `not change' implying `adverb of frequency :always'. | Guessing the meaning of a word to fit to the tone of the speaker |
This question tests the candidates' ability of. `
13. In this article, the writer suggests that
B. students will be reluctant to study English Literature until the syllabus is changed.
| Quotation | Explanation | Skills tested |
| Clearly something has got to
change. Otherwise we will simply end up discouraging students from reading good books by
confirming them to uninspiring literature classes. (lines 41-2) |
The purpose of writing this article is to bring the English Literature up to date. Therefore, the personal approach or the syllabus has to change, otherwise, students are discouraged to study English Literature. | Tone of the speaker |
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