Università degli Studi di Napoli. Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature Straniere Lingua e linguistica inglese 1° Lauree Magistrali Mock exam total mark: /100

1. 
   Open writing comprehension questions (8 %)
   
2. 
   Summary writing (22 %)
   

Before the glory that was Greece and Rome, ¹⁾.…………………………… before the first cities of Mesopotamia or temples along the Nile, there lived in the Lower Danube Valley and the Balkan foothills people who were ahead of their time in art, technology and long-distance trade.

For 1,500 years, starting earlier than 5000 B.C., they farmed and built sizable towns, a few with as many ²⁾.………………..………. 2,000 dwellings. They mastered large-scale copper smelting, the new technology of the age. Their graves held an impressive array of exquisite headdresses and necklaces and, in one cemetery, the earliest major assemblage of gold artefacts to be found ³⁾.……………………..……….. in the world.

The striking designs of their pottery speak of the refinement of the culture’s visual language. Until recent discoveries, the ⁴⁾ …………………… intriguing artefacts were the ubiquitous terracotta “goddess” figurines, originally interpreted as evidence of the spiritual and political power of women ⁵⁾.……………….…………. society.

New research, archaeologists and historians say, ⁶⁾.…………………….…….. broadened understanding of this long overlooked culture, which seemed to have approached the threshold of “civilization” status. Writing had ⁷⁾…………….. to be invented, and so no one knows what the people called themselves. To some scholars, the people and the region are simply Old Europe.

The little-known culture is being rescued from obscurity in an ⁸⁾………………………..….…….., “The Lost World of Old Europe: the Danube Valley, 5000-3500 B.C.,” which opened last month at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. More than 250 artefacts from museums in Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania are on ⁹⁾.…………………………………… for the first time in the United States. The show will run through April 25.

At its peak, around 4500 B.C., said David W. Anthony, the exhibition’s guest curator, “Old Europe was ¹⁰⁾ ……………………………….. the most sophisticated and technologically advanced places in the world” and was developing “many of the political, technological and ideological signs of civilization.”
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1.B. Word Formation in textual context. Read the text below. Use the word in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the space in the same line. There is an example at the beginning. (1 pt each = 10 pts)

A Musical Genius For many people Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is the		Write the word below in CAPITALS:
most (0) ………………figure in the history of western classical	INFLUENCE	0. influential
music. His (1) ..... talent was already clearly evident as a	ORDINARY	1.
young man, (2) ..... surviving a somewhat unconventional	MERCY	2.
(3) ..... during which his eccentric father would often force	BRING	3.
him to take music lessons in the middle of the night.
The young Beethoven's ability won him the admiration of the
leading contemporary musical figures. Throughout the 1790s
he worked hard to secure the interest of wealthy patrons.
Such patronage (4) ..... him to concentrate on becoming a	ABLE	4.
successful composer.
Whatever his awe-inspiring musical (5) ....., however, his	ACHIEVE	5.
personal life was something of a disaster. His day-to-day
(6) ..... with people invariably turned out to be rather	RELATE	6.
turbulent. Although he apparently fell in love with a number
of society women, the identity of the girl who lay closest to
his heart remains (7) ..... to this day.	ELUDE	7.
However, just at the point when Beethoven was beginning
to reap the rewards of his early endeavours, he had to come
to terms with the crushing (8) ..... that his increasing	REALISE	8.
deafness was (9) ..... . From that point on, his music	CURE	9.
displayed a (10) ..... change in style, becoming both heavier	STRIKE	10.
in tone and larger in scale.

…./10

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Part 2: Single item focus in sentences:
2.A. Identify and correct the errors in the sentences below (the errors could concern grammar, lexis, punctuation, spelling, etc.):

Ring the (one) error in each sentence, and write your correction on the line provided by each sentence (1 pt each = 5 pts)

1. 
   I was in the dephts of despair before I heard the good news. ………………………………
   

2.She lives in a small town in the north of england. ………………………………

…………………………….

5. There's no point in trying to wade across the river; the current is far too fast.
……………………………….

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2.B. Multiple choice (grammar /lexis) (1 pt each= 15 pts)

(Write the correct alternative out in full in the space in the sentence)

1. Sorry we’re late, we……………………………………..…………………….….. the wrong turning.

a. had taken b. were taking c. took d. are taking
2. I …………………………………….………. with the performance but I got flu the day before.

a. was to have helped b. was helping c. was to help d. had helped

a. made some researches b. did some researches c. made some research d. did some research

a. molest b. interfere c. bother d. intrude

a. away with b. off by c. out for d. over from

1. 
   hadn’t b. wouldn’t c. didn’t d. shouldn’t
   

7. When I first came to Britain it took me a long time to……………………………..……….….. on the left.

1. 
   get used to drive b. get used to driving c. be used to drive d. be used to driving
   

8. …………………………………….…. he should have spent all the weekend preparing for his exam, he in fact just stayed in bed watching videos.

1. 
   Instead b. nevertheless c. despite d. whereas
   

9. Only on very rare occasions……………………………………..…………..….. an appearance before midday.

1. 
   the old lady would make b. would the old lady make c. would make the old lady d. the old lady make would
   

10. By the time you’re my age, you………………………………………………………………………….……. your mind.

1. 
   will probably change b. will probably have changed
   

a. I know b. who I know c. whose I know d. which I know

1. 
   alludes b. hints c. cites d. suggests
   

13. They were not in ………………………………………………………….…….. financial position to cut taxes.

a. an enough strong b. a strong enough c. sufficiently strong enough d. the strong
14. …………………………………………………………………….. to popular belief, Pluto is not a planet.

1. 
   opposite b. compared c. contrary d. conversely
   

15. I could ………………………………………………….. much more for the painting, if I’d sold it overseas.

1. 
   have got b. get c. have d. has got.
   

1. 
   Although they were incredibly nervous, their performance was brilliant.
   

……………………………………………………………..………….. performance.

John never……………………………………………………….………………………………… what his children say.

Due to the heavy rain, the teachers ………………………………………………………..……….…….. outside at lunchtime.

She was appointed …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………… job.
5. People legally become adults at the age of eighteen in Britain.

come

In Britain, people don’t ……………………………………………………………………………………………………eighteen.

He never …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. of his friends.

I ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…… anyone.

Julia asked Maria …………………………………………………………………..…….… the Italian restaurant was.

Patrick will …………………………………………………………..…….………………………………………………….….…. more.

……/20 pts
Fac. LLS, L-LIN/12, esame LM 1° anno, Data: ……….May 2010 . Mock exam. (CONT.)…….Partial total:………./40

MARKER’S INIITALS:……………
Cognome…………………………………………… Nome……………………………… Matricola………..…

3.B. Textual completion with missing sentences (2 pts each=10 pts)

Read the following literary text. In each paragraph there is a missing sentence. Choose from the alternatives given below the text. Write out the sentence on the line provided (care in writing is also evaluated).

When the Wind Stops by VERLYN KLINKENBORG

1.This farm lies on an eastward-facing slope, which rises gradually to a thickly wooded ridge in the west. …………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………..…

………………………………………………………………. . Last week, the wind came ripping over the crest, knocking down a couple of fence sections and gnawing at the trees with a suctioning, siphoning sound. All day long, the air boomed and roared.

2. By evening, even the horses were weary. They had been blown about all day as though they weighed a few ounces instead of a thousand pounds apiece. ………………………………………………..…………

………………………………………………… . A whirlwind of leaves twists past, and they race away from it. The corner of a tarp gets loose, and off they go. They transmit this anxious energy to me, undiluted. I prefer the way the pigs and chickens react.

3. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………….. The chickens sit on their perches, knitting and doing their accounts.

4.Sometime during the night, the wind dropped and the next morning was nearly still, smoke rising almost straight up from my chimney and from those down the valley. There was a strange sense of propriety about, a primness in the way every tree had relaxed and, at the same time, come back to attention. In this new silence, the horses seemed enveloped in stillness. …………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……. Their bones and sinews had relaxed.

5. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………. I stood in the sun feeling the strength of its rays now that the wind wasn’t scattering them. When the wind blows, the horses always stand with their heads facing away from it. In the quiet of the morning, they were no longer magnetized. Without a wind, they were free to face in any direction they chose. Without a wind, the day could go any way it wanted.

Place these sentences below in the paragraphs above (There is one extra which does not fit)

a. And I relaxed, too.

b. I was magnetized by the wind.

c. A tree cracks in the distance and they trot, alarmed, across the pasture

d. They were no longer bracing themselves.

e. In a high wind, the pigs snooze together at the back of their house, straw pulled over their heads.

f. I can feel the mass of that hill whenever the sun goes down, and yet, where wind is concerned, there’s very little lee to it.

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Part 4. Open Comprehension Questions and Summary Writing (30pts)

For questions 4.A. 1-4 , on the following texts, answer with a short phrase (8 pts).

For question 4.B. Write a summary (and title) according to the instructions given (22 pts)

(NB: in all the answers, both contents and form are evaluated)
Text 1

Does the thought of making a presentation to a group of peers bring you out in a cold sweat? If so, you're not alone. The mere idea of having to 'stand and deliver' in front of others is enough to strike dread into the heart of the most experienced business person, let alone students. Yet effective spoken communication is an essential skill for career success in today's business and academic environments.

Inexperienced public speakers generally rely too heavily on words, so that they overlook other features which give a successful speaker impact.

(points are awarded for contents and for correctness of form (but you don’t need to use complete sentences)