IMPORTANT - MLI 3 / MAGISTRALE 1 -LESSONS CANCELLED

lessons and ricevimento  are cancelled on Friday, 29th  November

Magistrale 1 - Material for 26th November

Print off  for the next lesson.

 PAPER 1

Part 1  - Reading  Comprehension

Read the text below and answer the questions that  follow.

 Daniel’s Mum came. She was not unexpected; she had been  coming for months. They had moved from a council flat, Daniel’s home of choice, to this partially renovated artisan’s cottage to  make space for her when  she was sufficiently better from her fall and fractured hip. They decorated the third little bedroom for her before they  finished their own, putting up  a sprigged paper, installing a fat  armchair, a fringed  (5)table lamp, a satiny quilt and a dressing-table with  a glass top, all  fetched by Daniel  from the relinquished Sheffield house. Visiting his mother in  hospital  made Daniel  morose  and gloomy which  Stefanie noticed but did not ask  about. He remarked that  he had almost certainly brought the wrong objects , except the dressing –table , which  was alone of its kind. And it was fifty-fifty, he said, that  that  would be said to  be too  big, which  it was,  of course, in that  room, taking up  far too much  space . But it (10) had been  the same in the Sheffield house.

The day  she came , Stefanie went up and put flowers on the dressing-table, a potted cyclamen, almost maroon in its dark red-purple,  a crystal  vase,  a wedding present,  containing asters,  violet,  cherry-pink, shell pink. Brave and graceful  flowers. When  Daniel  was at  the station  she remembered that  the lamp had flickered alarmingly. She tried it and it flickered. She went downstairs , fetched fuse wire and (15)screwdriver,  went upstairs changed the fuse. She was beginning to  tire on the stairs. As she worked a hand, or a foot, hard, protruding , worked its way under her skin, outside her rib-cage. When  she heard the front door bell she was momentarily unable to  stand, the baby was moving about inside her so  much. She had meant to  open  the door, welcoming. Daniel’s mother’s voice came in, small, plaintive, continuous, carrying.

(20) “ …. Last time I ever go anywhere on them British  Railways. Any road, you’ll  have to  carry me out feet first I reckon.”

Stephanie came down. Mrs Orton spread like many heaped and plumped cushions in Daniel’s armchair. Her clothes, her face, her hands, her glistening rounded legs were  many shades of what  Stephanie later learned to  call ‘mohve’*, like, yet,  unlike, the innocent bright asters and cyclamen , which  now in  (25)Stephanie’s mind  resembled bruised flesh. She wore a moulded oval  felt hat , with  various sheep-like curls of iron- grey soft hair, with  a purplish  cast, perhaps simply  a glow reflected from the shining expanse of floral  artificial  silk  below. Stephanie, bumping her stomach against the chair arm, bent to  kiss the isolated,  over-defined crimson apple- round of the cheek. She offered tea.

“No thanks , pet. I was just telling our Daniel, I was right put off by what  passes for tea on t’railways these (30) days. I couldn’t stomach  no  more. “

                                                                                                             A.S. Byatt, Still Life

*mauve

1) What   do  we learn  about the physical condition of Daniel’s mother and of Stephanie ?

2) What  is Daniel’s attitude to  his mother?

3) What length of time is covered by

  a) Lines 1- 10

  b) Lines 11- 19

  c) Lines 20 – 30 ?

4)  In what  way do  the bedroom  furnishings and the furniture reflect character?

5)  What  impression are we given of Mrs Orton through  the description of her clothes and overall appearance ?

6)  Mrs Orton’s character is also  expressed through the use if direct speech. How?

7)  What  are the difference between  Mrs Orton and her daughter- in-law?

8)  What expectations for further developments are created in  the reader’s mind? 

   

Part 2 – Essay  

Write an  academic essay on the following title ( approx. 400 words):

Use the empty space below for rough  work.

1

2    

3    To what  extent has the traditional  female role changed in  the last twenty years?

  PAPER 2

Translate the text below into  Italian. Use the empty space  below for rough  work.

 Il giudice Maye, di cui, negli ambienti giudiziari londinesi, si loda il «divino distacco e la diabolica perspicacia» è in servizio da vent’anni presso la litigiosa Sezione Famiglia dell’Alta Corte. Un luogo in cui si combattono “battaglie feroci per l’affidamento di figli non più condivisi, baruffe patrimoniali, esplosioni d’irrazionalità cui il giudice Maye oppone un paziente esercizio di misura e sobrietà nella convinzione di poter restituire ragionevolezza a situazioni senza speranza”

Quando deve affrontare il caso di Adam Henry, un bel ragazzo di diciassette anni che, sostenuto dalla famiglia e dalla comunità dei Testimoni di Geova, cui appartiene, si rifiuta di accettare una trasfusione di sangue che potrebbe salvargli la vita, il giudice impone tutto il potere razionale del suo ruolo e del suo sistema di valori, per “preservare il benessere del minore” come suggerisce il Children Act. Anche contro la volontà del minore stesso e della sua famiglia. Fiona, in deroga all’etica professionale, ha deciso di cercare un contatto diretto con il ragazzo e – complice anche la fragilità della sua situazione sentimentale – si fa coinvolgere. Ma solo fino a un certo punto. Oltre il quale il ragazzo, ora maggiorenne, dovrà fare le proprie scelte da solo, nel più aspro dei modi.

ML1 3 Material for 26th November

Complete the test below :

A.       Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence,  using the word given. DO NOT CHANGE THE WORD.

1)      The government is going ahead with  tax reforms even if the E.U. has criticized them. DESPITE

              ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2)      They believe the findings of the study will further medical  research. THOUGHT

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

3)      The minister believes unemployment is responsible for  the high  crime rate, not immigration. IT

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4)      The last time the weather was so  bad was five years ago. HASN’T

       …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

5)      I regret not having done more to  help  her.   WISH

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………     

A.       Complete  the text below by filling the gaps with  ONE word only

Iceland’s Christmas campaign has been banned (1) ……………….. TV because it has been deemed to breach political advertising rules. (2)    ……………. part of its festive campaign the supermarket struck a deal with Greenpeace to rebadge an animated short film featuring an orangutan and the destruction of (3) …………… rainforest habitat at the hands of palm oil growers. Earlier this year, Iceland became the first major UK supermarket to pledge to remove palm oil from its own-brand foods. Habitat loss in countries (4) …………… as Malaysia – a major producer of palm oil – has contributed to the orangutan now (5) …………… classified as critically endangered. Clearcast, the body responsible  (6) ……………vetting ads before they are broadcast to the public, said it was in breach of rules banning political advertising laid down(7) …………… the 2003 Communications Act.“ (8) …………… was a film that Greenpeace made with a voice over by Emma Thompson,” said Iceland’s founder, Malcolm Walker. “We got permission to use it and take off the Greenpeace logo and use it as the Iceland Christmas ad. It (9) …………… have blown the John Lewis ad out of the window. It was so emotional.”

One of the stipulations enshrined in the broadcast code for advertising practice (BCAP), is (10) …………… an ad is prohibited if it is “directed towards a political end”.“Clearcast and the broadcasters have to date been unable to clear (11) …………… Iceland ad because we  are concerned that it doesn’t comply with the political rules of the BCAP code,” said a spokeswoman for Clearcast. “The creative submitted to us is linked to another organisation who have not (12) …………… been able to demonstrate compliance in this area.”

Iceland (13) ……………still be placing TV ads, but only 10-second clips that will highlight palm oil-free products.“We wanted [the Greenpeace film] (14) ……………  be our signature campaign,” said Richard Walker, Malcolm’s son, who has led Iceland’s switch (15) …………… environmental campaigning. “We have said repeatedly we are not anti-palm oil, we are anti-deforestation.“We think this is a huge story that needs to (16) …………… told. We always knew there was a risk the clip(17) …………… not be cleared for TV (18) …………… we gave it our best shot.”       

  A.      Analyze one of the following slogans.

1)      Jaguar – “Grace, Space, Pace” ( Jaguar cars)

2)      Think  Different ( Apple )

3)      Live in  your world. Play in ours. ( Playstation)

4)      Impossible is nothing ( Adidas)

                      5)    Buy it. Sell it. Love it. ( Ebay)     

   A.      Put the following text into  English

Un ragazzino riceve un bellissimo regalo di Natale : un pianoforte e proprio quel regalo di quel Natale di tanti anni fa gli cambia la vita. Infatti quel ragazzino si chiama Elton John, un genio della musica pop. E il protagonista dello spot del negozio inglese John Lewis è proprio Elton John in diverse epoche della sua vita che canta «Your song». Le immagini provengono dal film autobiografico «Rocket Man» che uscirà nelle sale cinematografiche nel 2019. Il musicista ha commentato la sua partecipazione allo spot dicendo: «È stata un’occasione importante per me per riflettere sulla mia vita e sulla mia carriera, cominciando da quando iniziai a suonare il pianoforte che mi regalò mia madre. All’epoca  non mi rendevo conto  di  quanto  sarebbe stato importante quel  regalo.». Il messaggio dello spot è: «Alcuni regali non sono mai solo dei regali». Come dice la canzone, “Avrei potuto essere uno scultore o un uomo che prepara pozioni magiche, ma non sono nulla di tutto questo” – però è diventato Elton John grazie al regalo di sua madre… Perciò, dice apertamente il testo “il mio regalo è la mia canzone”.

                                                                                                  

Important Magistrale 1 / MLI 3 - lessons and ricevimento cancelled

Lessons and ricevimento  are cancelled on Friday, 22nd November.

MAGISTRALE 1 - Material for 19th November

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the linguistic theory that the semantic structure of a language shapes or limits the ways in which a speaker forms conceptions of the world. It came about in 1929. The theory is named after the American anthropological linguist Edward Sapir (1884–1939) and his student Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941). It is also known as the theory of linguistic relativity, linguistic relativism, linguistic determinism, Whorfian hypothesis, and Whorfianism.

History of the Theory

The idea that a person's native language determines how he or she thinks was popular among behavorists of the 1930s and on until cognitive psychology theories came about, beginning in the 1950s and increasing in influence in the 1960s. (Behaviorism taught that behavior is a result of external conditioning and doesn't take feelings, emotions, and thoughts into account as affecting behavior. Cognitive psychology studies mental processes such as creative thinking, problem-solving, and attention.) 

Author Lera Boroditsky gave some background on ideas about the connections between languages and thought: 

"The question of whether languages shape the way we think goes back centuries; Charlemagne proclaimed that 'to have a second language is to have a second soul.' But the idea went out of favor with scientists when Noam Chomsky's theories of language gained popularity in the 1960s and '70s. Dr. Chomsky proposed that there is a universal grammar for all human languages—essentially, that languages don't really differ from one another in significant ways...." ("Lost in Translation." "The Wall Street Journal," July 30, 2010)

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was taught in courses through the early 1970s and had become widely accepted as truth, but then it fell out of favor. By the 1990s, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was left for dead, author Steven Pinker wrote. "The cognitive revolution in psychology, which made the study of pure thought possible, and a number of studies showing meager effects of language on concepts, appeared to kill the concept in the 1990s....But recently it has been resurrected, and 'neo-Whorfianism' is now an active research topic in psycholinguistics." ("The Stuff of Thought. "Viking, 2007)

Neo-Whorfianism is essentially a weaker version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and says that language influences a speaker's view of the world but does not inescapably determine it. 

The Theory's Flaws

One big problem with the original Sapir-Whorf hypothesis stems from the idea that if a person's language has no word for a particular concept, then that person would not be able to understand that concept, which is untrue. Language doesn't necessarily control humans' ability to reason or have an emotional response to something or some idea. For example, take the German word sturmfrei, which essentially is the feeling when you have the whole house to yourself because your parents or roommates are away. Just because English doesn't have a single word for the idea doesn't mean that Americans can't understand the concept.

There's also the "chicken and egg" problem with the theory. "Languages, of course, are human creations, tools we invent and hone to suit our needs," Boroditsky continued. "Simply showing that speakers of different languages think differently doesn't tell us whether it's language that shapes thought or the other way around." 

MAGISTRALE 1 - resultati esame scritto lettorato d'inglese M-Z

Exam  results,information  regarding oral  exams  and  when unsuccessful candidates may  see their papers can  now be found on  : https://web.uniroma1.it/cla/cel/maria-hillan

MAGISTRALE 1 - Material for 15th November

Put th text below into  Italian

I come home the next night to  the sound of trouble; even  as I’m  putting the key in the lock I can  hear  Tom shouting and Molly crying.

“What’s going on?” David and  the kids are sitting around the kitchen  table , David at  the head,  Molly to  his left, Tom  to  his right. The table has been  cleared of its usual  detritus -  post,  old newspapers, small  plastic models found in  cereal  packets –apparently in the attempt to  create the atmosphere of a conference,“He’s given  my computer away,” says Tom. Tom doesn’t often  cry  but his eyes are glistening, either with  fury or tears, it’s hard to  tell.

“And now I’ve got to  share mine ,”  says Molly,  whose ability to  cry has never been in any doubt , and who  looks as though  she has been  mourning the deaths of her entire family in  a car crash.

“We didn’t need two,” says David. Two  is …Not obscene, exactly. But certainly greedy. They’re never on the things at  the same time.”

“ So  you gave them  away. Without consulting them. Or me.

“ I felt that  consultation would have been  pointless.”

“ You meant that they wouldn’t have wanted you to  do  it?”

“ They  wouldn’t have understood why I wanted to. “

It was David,  of course,  who  insisted on  the kids having a computer each for Christmas last year. I had wanted them  to  share,  not because I’m  mean, but because I was beginning to  worry about spoiling them, and the sight of these two  enormous boxes beside the tree ( they  wouldn’t fit under it) did nothing to  ease my queasiness . This wasn’t the kind of parent I wanted to  be, I remember thinking, as Tom and Mary attacked the acres of wrapping paper with  a violence that  repelled me;  David saw the look on my face and whispered to  me that  I was a typical  joyless liberal, the sort of person  who  would deny their kids everything and themselves nothing, And here I was six months later, outraged that  my son  and daughter aren’t allowed to  keep  what  is theirs, and yet still, somehow, an  agent of the forces of darkness. 

                                                                                           Nick  Hornby, How To  be Good  ( 2001)

MAGISTRALE 1 - material for 12th November.

Translate the text below for 12th November.

Ho visto Lila per l’ultima volta cinque anni fa, nell’inverno del 2005. Stavamo passeggiando di buon mattino lungo lo stradone e, come ormai da anni, non riuscivamo a sentirci a nostro agio. Parlavo solo io, mi ricordo: lei canterellava, salutava gente che nemmeno rispondeva, le rare volte che mi interrompeva pronunciava solo frasi esclamative, senza un nesso evidente con ciò che dicevo. Erano successe negli anni troppe cose brutte, alcune orribili, e per ritrovare la via della confidenza avremmo dovuto dirci pensieri segreti, ma io non avevo la forza di trovare le parole e lei, che forse la forza ce l’aveva, non ne aveva voglia, non ne vedeva l’utilità.

Le volevo comunque molto bene e quando venivo a Napoli cercavo sempre di incontrarla, anche se, devo dire, ne avevo un po’ paura. Era cambiata molto. Su entrambe la vecchiaia aveva avuto la meglio, ormai, ma mentre io combattevo contro la tendenza a prendere peso, lei era stabilmente pelle e ossa. Aveva capelli corti che tagliava da sola, bianchissimi non per scelta ma per trascuratezza. Il viso, molto segnato, rimandava sempre più a quello di suo padre. Rideva per il nervoso e parlava a voce troppo alta. Gesticolava di continuo, dando al gesto una tale feroce determinazione che pareva voler tagliare in due le palazzine, la strada, i passanti, me.

Ci trovavamo all’altezza della scuola elementare quando un uomo giovane che non conoscevo gridò che in un’aiuola accanto alla chiesa era stato trovato un cadavere di donna. Ci affrettammo verso i giardinetti. La donna giaceva su un fianco, era straordinariamente grassa, indossava un impermeabile fuori moda di colore verde scuro. Lila la riconobbe subito, io no: era la nostra amica d’infanzia Gigliola Spagnuolo.

                                                                     Elena Ferrante, Storia di chi fugge e di chi resta (adapted )

MLI 3 - Material for 8th November.

Please download/ print off . This will  be done in  class.


I:

Instructions for English  text.

1)Which  of the underlined sentences express a hypothetical  past event and which  express the future in the past ?

2)Pick  out the verb patterns in the highlighted sentences.

3)   Translate both  the highlighted and the underlined sentences.

 Put the text below into English

ROMA - La notizia della morte di Eluana arriva nell' Aula del Senato poco dopo le otto. La annuncia il senatore Villari. Il presidente Schifani invita a osservare un minuto di silenzio. Poi il clima si fa incandescente. «Eluana non è morta, è stata ammazzata», accusa il vice capogruppo del Pdl al Senato, Gaetano Quagliariello. Seguono momenti di tensione, si sfiora il contatto fisico fra i due schieramenti. «Si continua a fare l' ennesimo atto di sciacallaggio politico sulla morte di Eluana», replica il capogruppo del Pd, Anna Finocchiaro, alle parole di Quagliariello. Subito dopo arriva il commento del presidente del Consiglio. Una nota, dettata alle agenzie di stampa da Milano, dove Berlusconi ha trascorso la giornata. Il capo del governo ha appreso «con profondo dolore la notizia della morte di Eluana Englaro  ……… «È grande il rammarico che sia stata resa impossibile l' azione del governo per salvare una vita». La nota del premier appare accusare, fa riferimento all' impotenza del governo ma anche - senza indicare - chi quell' impotenza ha prodotto. Il resto del centrodestra è più esplicito. Gianni Alemanno dice che «questa morte si doveva e si poteva evitare».

Magistrale 1 - Material for Friday 8th November

Please download/ print off the articles by clicking on  the links. Do  not read them  before the lesson.

https://theconversation.com/using-she-and-he-reinforces-gender-roles-and-discrimination-of-women-92998

https://theconversation.com/a-history-of-english-in-five-words-54864

https://theconversation.com/future-tense-how-the-language-you-speak-influences-your-willingness-to-take-climate-action-92587

MAGISTRALE 1 - classwork to complete for 4th November

Module 2

1) Translate the article below.

Eurish – L’inglese Europeo Una Nuova Lingua ?

I Britannici Non Capiscono l’Inglese Parlato dagli Europei

STRASBURGO – “L’uso del così chiamato Eurish – fusione dell’inglese con le altre lingue europee – all’interno della Ue aliena e confonde la gente”, questo è quanto afferma la scrittrice irlandese Emily O’Reilly. O’Reilly, che è anche difenditrice civica dell’Unione Europea, analizza una serie di espressioni che gli europei traducono letteralmente da francese, tedesco o olandese, e che gli inglesi formulano diversamente. Così i documenti non sono tenuti in ‘file’ ma in ‘dossier’, un lavoro non è ‘assigned’ ma ‘attributed’, le decisioni ‘are not made but adopted’. E aggiunge O’Reilly: “Procedures are not subjected to checks but to ‘controls’”.“Il bizzarro guazzabuglio di Inglese” prosegue la purista, “ora lingua standard all’interno dell’Ue fa grattare la testa ai madrelingua”.
La scrittrice e giornalista è, per mestiere, sensibile ai suoni e ai significati della lingua e afferma la necessità di una campagna di sensibilizzazione per assicurare l’uso dell’Inglese corrente. Questa è la richiesta espressa in una conferenza via video da lei tenuta a Strasburgo ieri (12-02-18, ndr), durante la quale ha appunto analizzato le storture sintattiche e semantiche di questo neonato linguaggio. E quelli che parlano un fluente Euro-Inglese sono rimasti genuinamente sorpresi. Mai si sarebbero aspettati di non essere capiti in una lingua che hanno imparato così bene. Emily O’Reilly però dalla cattedra bacchetta e spiega che “la combinazione di jargon, uso probabilistico dei termini e sequenza inusuale di parole mina il senso di significato comune, che è la caratteristica essenziale del linguaggio corrente”.
Serviranno nuove lezioni British o in Europa sta davvero nascendo una nuova lingua franca?

2) Now read the source text the Italian version  was taken  from. Underline the sections  which  are translated directly from the source text. How similar is your translation to  the original?

Do you speak Eurish? EU has its own language…and it's far too difficult for the rest of us

THE Brussels bubble has become so self-contained that it has developed its own Euro-English jargon that even native English speakers struggle to understand.

The use of so-called 'Eurish' - a fusion of English with other European languages - within the European Union (EU) alienates and confuses people said EU ombudsman Emily O'Reilly.Calling for the overly bureaucratic language to be replaced by plain English, Ms O'Reilly said: "In Euro-English legislation never 'provides' but it 'foresees'; documents are not held on file but on a 'dossier' and work is not assigned to staff but it is 'attributed'."She added: "Procedures are not subjected to checks but to 'controls'; decisions are never made but they are 'adopted'. 

The bizarre hotchpotch of English - now the default EU language - with other European languages, particularly French, has led to many native English speakers scratching their heads. Ms O'Reilly chose "horizontal rules" as her favourite example of baffling EU jargon as she called for a language awareness campaign to ensure the use of plain English. But those fluent in Euro-English were genuinely surprised when they found out native English speakers struggle to understand them.

Ms O'Reilly said: "A senior person never says or states something but he 'emphasises' or 'stresses'; or if those words have already been used you'll find him 'underlining'."In fact, senior EU people 'underline' until they are blue in the face."

Speaking via video link in Strasbourg to a conference about the EU's muddled language in Dublin yesterday, Ms O'Reilly said Eurish was also heavily reliant on the use of the passive voice. Giving examples such as "it must be borne in mind" and "it must be emphasised", she warned that such phrases may seem harmless, but could have negative consequences. She said: "The obvious difficultly is that a native English speaker - and presumably other English speakers who are not part of the 'Brussels bubble' - will find much of this language difficult to understand."Warning that Euro-English risked alienating readers and listeners, Ms O'Reilly said: "In fact, the combination of jargon, odd use of terminology and unusual word sequence undermines the sense of a shared meaning, which is an essential characteristic of plain language." 

The EU has 24 official and working languages, with French, Dutch and German and English among the main languages used.

“ Learning a second language should be obligatory in all  countries.” Discuss ( approx. 400 wds) 

To  be able to  complete this essay  you will  need to  find reliable sources. For the next lesson,  bring along a list of sources you have researched and be ready to  explain why they would be relevant to  the essay  in question.

We will  be doing preparatory work  for the essay in  question, DO NOT begin it yet,