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.