Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”

Dipartimento di Studi letterari, linguistici e comparati

Corso di laurea in “Lingue, letterature e culture dell’Europa e delle Americhe”
(prof. A. Ferrillo, K. Russo)

Prova Scritta Lingua e linguistica inglese III 14 June 2013

COGNOME……………..…..…………………………………………Nome………………………………………………. MATR……………………

Part 1:
Reading Comprehension
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions.

The world's melting pot: London has always been a multicultural metropolis

When I was a kid just after the War, there lived along the street a lady called Mrs London. We made a
schoolboy joke out of it - Mrs London living in London, she'd never get lost. She was your typical
working-class south Londoner: chatty, homely, a bit Cockney but respectable, utterly English, and White.
Everyone down the street was like that.
What a change today, what a mosaic of peoples, races, colours, languages, faiths, cultures the capital
has become. Of its inhabitants at the 1981 census, more than one in six were born outside the UK - the
breakdown was over a third of a million born in Europe, about 300,000 in Asia, around 170,000 in Africa
and the Caribbean respectively, and lesser numbers from the other corners of the globe. All these different
peoples have intermarried, with each other and with traditional Londoners. This internationalisation
provokes different responses. The British National Party foments race hatred and its thugs beat up
Bengalis. Statesmen preach tolerance. Others are positively enthusiastic - massive immigration has given
the metropolis just the vital spark it needed, bringing new life styles, foods, music.
However a lot of English-born whites, especially older people, find the cheek-by-jowl mixing of ethnic
groups jarring and hard to accept. It wasn't like that when they were young; isn't such a new development
a recipe for disaster?
The truth is it isn't new at all. London always was a city of foreigners. For much of its history the
percentage of Londoners born outside the capital was actually far higher than today. In a remarkable
book, A City Full of People, the historian Peter Earle establishes that around 1700, when Samuel Pepys
was an old man, Daniel Defoe in his prime and William Hogarth but a boy, a clear majority of Londoners
had not been born in the capital. Many had come from overseas: Huguenots from France, Jews from
Spain and Eastern Europe, Scandinavians and Germans, Moors and other Mediterranean types. And there
are flocks of Welsh, Scots, Irish, and people from the ends of England. Cumbrians and Cornishmen might
not seem 'foreigners' to us, but that's how they were perceived at the time, with their different ways and
dialects.
A hundred and fifty years later, under Queen Victoria, things were much the same. Between 1841 and
1851, a third of a million streamed into the capital, representing a staggering 17 per cent of London's total
population. Similar numbers arrived in the 1850s and 1860s. The majority of these came from a few
ethnic groups. Nearly 50,000 arrived from Ireland in the 1840s alone, fleeing the famine. By 1850,
London's Jewish population had increased to about 20,000, and in the following fifty years, as refugees
deluged in from central Europe, Poland and Russia, it had leapt to 120,000.
The city always had pockets of more exotic sorts. By 1800 there were several thousand Black
Africans, mostly servants and sailors but also a few musicians, prize-fighters, gigolos and writers.
Lascar sailors settled from South East Asia, and the city was acquiring its Chinese community. This
ceaseless flow of migration shouldn't surprise us for a second. After all, Londinium was founded by
the Romans, conquered by Saxons and Normans and developed as a commercial centre by Italian,
Flemish and Baltic traders.
If the streets were not paved with gold, the capital always had work, and wages were good. So
people poured into what an 18th-century commentator called ‘that great and famous city’. Without
migrants London would never have been famous for silks and watches (made by French
craftsmen); it would have lacked ice-cream (made by Italians living in Finsbury) to say nothing of
the music of Handel.
True, by the lifetime of my neighbour, Mrs London, newcomers had grown much less
conspicuous, but that was just a lull; over the centuries the tide of migration has never stopped.
And so today's fears of a multicultural capital are myopic, because that is exactly what London
always was, during the centuries of greatness when it became the top city in the world. What we
need to fear is not the pot-pourri of peoples but the lack of the conditions that have enabled
multiculturalism to thrive: jobs, homes, education, opportunities - all those elements that ensure
integration into the wider community.
Over the centuries London has been pretty successful at avoiding serious racial tension and violence.
However, multiculturalism requires a metropolis where prosperity is a prospect for all. And that requires
urgent action.

(Article by Roy Porter, Adapted from The Independent, Wednesday 18 May 1994)

A. Answer the following questions related to the text above:

1. Why does the writer refer to London as a “mosaic”?

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2. “Others are positively enthusiastic” says the writer, referring to the fact that many people love the
multicultural nature of London. However, he also refers to those who are not in favour of this
“internationalization”. Who are they?

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

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3. Why might “people from the ends of England” have been perceived as “foreigners” in London in
the 18th century?

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4. The writer claims that the lack of “newcomers” in London “by the lifetime of my neighbour, Mrs
London” was “just a lull”. What does he mean?

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5. According to the writer, what conditions are essential in order for multiculturalism to “thrive”?

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B. Translate into Italian the parts in bold in the above Reading Comprehension. You should
translate the title too.

C. Cloze Test: Fill in the blanks and insert the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE
word in each space.

Answers

People of the olden days seldom had feet problems. This may be due to the fact that their shoes
were more comfortable. They were made from animal skin which did not harm the feet. Foot sores
became more/very common with the discovery of wooden and cloth shoes. No account was
taken of the anatomy of the right or left foot in the making of wooden shoes. They were made
clumsily or hastily. Because of this, shoes caused more harm than good. Friction between the feet
and the inner lining of the shoes created painful corns and bunions which sometimes resulted in
deformed feet.

---------------------------------------------

Many of us are still unaware of or are indifferent to the need to preserve rare species. Some people
argue that species have been dying out since life began. "So why should we worry about them
now ?" they ask. They calmly believe that others would take their place. What these people do not
realize is that it will take millions of years before a set of species is evolved to replace those we are
rapidly losing. These species are our national heritage. We should not let themdie off. They should
be preserved for our descendants.
 ---------------------------------------------
The cobra is not swift in attacking as one is led to believe. It first erects the hood and then flattens
the neck. A characteristic marking, just like a pair of spectacles, appears on the neck. As the cobra
raises its hood, it also sways from side to side in a slow rhythmic manner. After several seconds or
minutes of this,it strikes by darting its head forward and downwards and the fangs sink
into theflesh of the victim. The teeth hold on to the prey until it dies of the venom. The venom can
kill in a few minutes.
Read the following passages carefully and then fill in the blanks with onecorrect or best answer.

Singapore grows only 4 percent of the vegetables it consumes. The ___1___ and all of the fruits we
eat ___2___ from abroad. Currently, the United States is our third ___3___ fruit and vegetable
supplier, accounting for nearly 15 percent ___4___ imports. The first officially Alar-free harvest of
Washington State ___5___ came to supermarkets here some time ago. These apples may ___6___
look as red as before but the color ___7___ will hardly be noticeable.

Apart from the United States, ___8___ buys from over 45 other countries which ___9___ varying
levels of pesticides. Not long ago, our largest ___10___ of fruits and vegetablesa exported
vegetables ___11___ with excessive pesticides that made over 130 people ___12___ after eating it.
After that incident, the Ministry of the Environment ___13___ its assurance that it enforces strict
laws on ___14___ levels. It also conducts daily checks on imports.

Singapore, meanwhile, ___15___ to grow more vegetables at home. The key ___16___ in
hydroponics which allows plants to be grown ___17___ nutrified water. Hydroponic farmers have
more control because ___18___ can regulate and sterilize this nutrified water to ___19___ most
favorable condition possible for their plants. Some ___20___ farms have become so successful that
their products are exported.

Sponsored Links

Answers

Singapore grows only 4 percent of the vegetables it consumes. The rest and all of the fruits we
eat come from abroad. Currently, the United States is our thirdbiggest fruit and vegetable supplier,
accounting for nearly 15 percent of imports. The first officially Alar-free harvest of Washington
State apples came to supermarkets here some time ago. These apples may not look as red as before
but the color change will hardly be noticeable.

Apart from the United States, Singapore buys from over 45 other countries which use varying
levels of pesticides. Not long ago, our largest supplier of fruits and vegetables exported
vegetables contaminated with excessive pesticides that made over 130 people sick after eating it.
After that incident, the Ministry of the Environment gave its assurance that it enforces strict laws
on pesticides levels. It also conducts daily checks on imports.

Singapore, meanwhile, intends to grow more vegetables at home. The key liesin hydroponics which
allows plants to be grown in nutrified water. Hydroponic farmers have more control
because they can regulate and sterilize this nutrified water to the most favorable condition possible
for their plants. Some local farms have become so successful that their products are exported.

Swimming with Dolphins

Imagine this : You're in the ___1___, with a mask and snorkel, surrounded by spinner dolphins as
they go about their ___2___ activities. They swim and play, and at times, do a spin for you !

This was what my family and I did on a recent trip to the ___3___ west shore of Oahu, in Hawaii. It
is well ___4___ for having the calmest and clearest waters around the island. It is ___5___ to
spinner dolphins and those mighty winter mammal visitors, the humpback ___6___.

The trip started in the wee hours of the ___7___, at 6.30 a.m 34 of us, all bleary-eyed, were
___8___ up at the hotel and taken to the harbor, where we ___9___ a catamaran. The boat was
about 25 meters long, and had ample seats and space to move around. on the trip out, we sang
___10___, played games and were served a delicious breakfast of fresh fruits and pastries.

Finally, we ___11___ the location. Before we ___12___ the water, our guides instructed us that we
should ___13___ chase the dolphins as we ran the risk of disturbing their activities such as feeding,
courtship and nursing.

It was very exciting to swim with the dolphins. One of the young dolphins swam towards me, and
began twisting and spiraling ___14___ me. I tried to swim like it, mermaid style, but still could not
swim as fast or gracefully as the dolphin.

We enjoyed ourselves ___15___ and what was actually two hours seemed like two minutes. as the
catamaran headed towards the harbor, I knew that I had an unforgettable experience to remember
for the rest of my life.

Sponsored Links

Answers

Imagine this : You're in the water/sea, with a mask and snorkel, surrounded by spinner dolphins as
they go about their everyday/usual activities. They swim and play, and at times, do a spin for you !

This was what my family and I did on a recent trip to the remote west shore of Oahu, in Hawaii. It
is well known for having the calmest and clearest waters around the island. It is home to spinner
dolphins and those mighty winter mammal visitors, the humpback whales.

The trip started in the wee hours of the morning, at 6.30 a.m. 34 of us, all bleary-eyed,
were picked up at the hotel and taken to the harbor, where weboarded a catamaran. The boat was
about 25 meters long, and had ample seats and space to move around. on the trip out, we
sang songs, played games and were served a delicious breakfast of fresh fruits and pastries.

Finally, we reached the location. Before we entered the water, our guides instructed us that we
should never chase the dolphins as we ran the risk of disturbing their activities such as feeding,
courtship and nursing.

It was very exciting to swim with the dolphins. One of the young dolphins swam towards me, and
began twisting and spiraling around me. I tried to swim like it, mermaid style, but still could not
swim as fast or gracefully as the dolphin.

We enjoyed ourselves immensely/tremendously and what was actually two hours seemed like two
minutes. as the catamaran headed towards the harbor, I knew that I had an unforgettable experience
to remember for the rest of my life
Sharks
Sharks are amazing fish that have ___1___ for over 350 million years, and they were around 100
years before the dinosaurs evolved. ___2___ bony fish, sharks have no bones; their skeleton is
made of cartilage, which is a tough, fibrous substance, not nearly as ___3___ as bone. Sharks also
have no swim bladder ( like bony fish do ).

Sharks live in oceans and seas ___4___ over the world, and even in some rivers and lakes,
especially in warmer waters. Some sharks live ___5___ the surface, some live deep in the water,
and others live on or near the ___6___ floor. Pelagic sharks ( sharks living in the open ocean )
include the Great White Shark and the Basking Shark. Benthic Sharks, or ___7___ living at the
bottom, include the Zebra Horn Shark and the Angelshark, which usually have flattened
camouflaged bodies that let them ___8___ in the seabed. Some sharks even venture many miles up
into the fresh water of ___9___ like the Mississippi in the United States and the Amazon in Brazil.

Some sharks live in relatively warm ___10___, and these include Hammerheads, Bull Sharks and
Tiger Sharks. Other sharks, such as the Thresher, Mako, Basking and Blue Shark, live in temperate
water which is neither ___11___ nor cold. Others, including the Dogfish, Greenland and Goblin,
live in cool waters. some sharks stay in the ___12___ region their entire lives ___13___ others
travel across oceans.

___14___, the largest sharks are ___15___ in numbers around the world because they are being
hunted by people. The numbers of Great White Shark, the Basking Shark and the Whale Shark are
all waning.

Sponsored Links

Answers

Sharks are amazing fish that have existed for over 350 million years, and they were around 100
years before the dinosaurs evolved. Unlike bony fish, sharks have no bones; their skeleton is made
of cartilage, which is a tough, fibrous substance, not nearly as hard as bone. Sharks also have no
swim bladder ( like bony fish do ).

Sharks live in oceans and seas all over the world, and even in some rivers and lakes, especially in
warmer waters. Some sharks live near the surface, some live deep in the water, and others live on
or near the ocean floor. Pelagic sharks ( sharks living in the open ocean ) include the Great White
Shark and the Basking Shark. Benthic Sharks, or those living at the bottom, include the Zebra Horn
Shark and the Angelshark, which usually have flattened camouflaged bodies that let them hide in
the seabed. Some sharks even venture many miles up into the fresh water of rivers like the
Mississippi in the United States and the Amazon in Brazil.

Some sharks live in relatively warm waters, and these include Hammerheads, Bull Sharks and
Tiger Sharks. Other sharks, such as the Thresher, Mako, Basking and Blue Shark, live in temperate
water which is neither hot nor cold. Others, including the Dogfish, Greenland and Goblin, live in
cool waters. some sharks stay in the same region their entire lives while others travel across oceans.

Unfortunately, the largest sharks are decreasing in numbers around the world because they are
being hunted by people. The numbers of Great White Shark, the Basking Shark and the Whale
Shark are all waning.

D. Sentence Transformation

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do
not change the word given. You must use between two and five words including the word given.

Mary will only come to the party if Peter is invited.

(Unless...)
U n l es s Pe t e r i s i nv i t e d , Ma r y w il l n o t c o m e to t h e p a r t y.

It took three hours to find a room for the night.

(We spent...)
We sp e n t t h r e e ho u r s l o ok i ng f o r a r o o m .

We really must leave the party now if we are going to catch the bus.
(It's time we...)
I t ' s t i m e w e le f t t h e p a r t y if w e a r e g o i n g to c a tc h t h e bu s .

Oliver doesn't expect to get the job.

(Oliver would be surprised...)
O l iv e r w ou l d b e su r p r i s e d i f h e go t t h e jo b .

These shoes still need repairing.

(These shoes haven't...)
T h e s e sh o es h a v e n' t b e e n r e p a i r e d ye t .

As soon as she arrived home the telephone rang.

(No sooner...)
N o s o on e r ha d s h e a r r iv e d h o m e t h a n t h e t el e p h o n e r a n g .

I prefer staying in to going out.

(I'd rather...)
I ' d r a t h e r s t ay in t h a n g o o ut .

We worked hard so that we would finish quickly.

(We worked hard in order to...)
We w o rk e d h a r d i n o r d e r t o fi n is h q ui ck l y.

Both Mary and Peter prefer jazz to classical music.

(Neither...)
N e i t h e r M a ry n o r P e t e r p r e f e r s cl as si c al m u si c to j az z .

They didn't want to be late for the meeting so they left in plenty of time.
(So as...)
S o as n o t t o be l a t e fo r th e m e t in g , t h ey l e f t in p le n t y o f t i m e .

Ann stayed away from work because she was ill.

(If she...)
I f s he h a d n ' t b ee n i ll , A n n w o ul d n ' t h av e s ta y e d a w ay f r o m w o r k .

1. They think that the exam is very difficult. (THOUGHT)

The exam ______________________________________ very difficult.

2. I don’t want to move house at the moment. (RATHER)

I’d __________________________________________ house at the moment.

3. I haven’t eaten any chocolate since January. (STOPPED)

I _______________________________________________ chocolate in January.

4. We arrived at the cinema too late to get good seats. (ABLE)

Had we arrived at the cinema earlier, we ________________________________________ get

good seats.

5. As well as playing the piano brilliantly, Thomas also plays the clarinet. (BRILLIANT)

Not only ____________________________________________ piano player, he also plays the

clarinet.

6. “If I were you, I wouldn’t take the exam in September,” she said to me. (ADVISED)

She ___________________________________________________ the exam in September.

7. It wasn’t Jane who crashed the car. That’s impossible! (CAN’T)

Jane ____________________________________________ the car.

8. Richard will probably be too late to catch the train. (LIKELY)

Richard _______________________________________________ miss the train.

9. It was necessary to postpone the meeting because the manager was ill. (TO)

The meeting ______________________________________________ postponed because the

manager was ill.
10. Why didn’t you take your mobile phone with you? (SHOULD)

You _______________________________________ your mobile phone with you.