III. You’ve lost your dog and decided to write a notice. Include the following:

1. describe your dog; say where you lost it;

2. give your contact details; promise a reward.

I. Reading 2

Read the text given below. For questions (1–5), choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

There are few visitors to the countryside around Aix-en-Provence who do not see its dramatic forms through the eyes of its most famous inhabitant, Paul Cézanne. Day after day for the last 20 years of his life the artist set up his easel to paint Mont SainteVictoire and the surrounding countryside.

Sadly, Cézanne’s efforts frequently left him dissatisfied as he felt he was not achieving the high artistic goals which he had set himself. Nor was his dedication appreciated by the townspeople of Aix, where Cézanne had been born in 1839.

The painter was very much disliked, and lived alone and isolated – a classic case of the misunderstood, awkward and unconventional artistic genius.

He had retired to Aix partly because he had not done well in the artistic world of Paris. His work took much longer to gain acceptance than that of the Impressionists – an injustice for which Cézanne bitterly resented his former artistic colleagues.

Cézanne had first gone to Paris in 1861. He met Camille Pissarro at the Academie Suisse, and the violent subjects of his early work gave way to the subjects and style of Impressionism. But he soon felt the need to go beyond this, to “make of Impressionism something solid and lasting, like the art of the museums”. He wanted to add intellect to the sensations that lay behind the work of artists like Monet.

Like the Impressionists, Cézanne was part of a movement away from the museums as a source of artistic inspiration and towards the direct observation of nature. “One must make a vision for oneself,” he wrote. “One must see nature as no one has seen it before.”

Cézanne’s efforts lasted a lifetime. “I must carry on – I simply must paint from nature,” he wrote in 1906. By this time, his work was beginning to be recognised. He had had his first successful exhibition in 1895, and was beginning to attract a few young followers. Despite this, his death certificate identifies him as a man of private means and not as an artist.

His works were not shown in the town museum until some years after his death. Aix is now embarrassed by this late acceptance of its artistic son, and today one can get a map which leads one to Cézanne’s favourite places for painting. Although much has changed, you can still see landscapes which are very much the same as those seen in the paintings. You can also visit Cézanne’s studio, where objects made famous in Cézanne’s still lifes are on display.

1. Cézanne was dissatisfied with his work because…

 A it was not popular.  B it was disliked by the people of Aix.

 C it did not satisfy his own ambitions.  D it did not make him much money.

2. The people of Aix…

 A accepted the artist.  B thought he was a genius.

 C behaved awkwardly towards him.  D thought he was odd.

3. Cézanne resented the Impressionists because…

 A they treated him unfairly.  B they did not accept him.

 C their work was more popular than his.  D they did not understand his work.

4. Cézanne was not satisfied with Impressionism because…

 A it dealt only with feelings, not intelligence.  B it was too solid.

 C it was too much like the work in museums.  D it did not inspire him.

5. What did Cézanne have in common with the Impressionists?

 A He worked in museums.  B He painted from nature.

 C He was observant.  D He saw nature as they did.

II. Writing

Choose the correct item to complete the sentence.

1. They ..... my mother for a famous actress.

 A mistook  B confused  C understood  D misinterpreted

2. When she eats strawberries, she comes out in a ..... .

 A bruise  B lump  C rash  D spot

3. The ..... traffic made him late for work.

 A full  B strong  C thick  D heavy

4. She was driving so carelessly that she ..... the car.

 A cracked  B crashed  C hit  D collided

5. Most people ..... Elvis Presley as the “King of Rock and Roll”.

 A believe  B regard  C think  D suppose

6. In the quiet months, owners of holiday apartments ..... them at a cheaper rate.

 A hire  B borrow  C lend  D let

III. You have been ill for a week. Write an email of 50–60 words to your friend asking him for advice on doing your hometasks in school subjects. Explain what difficulties you have faced and ask what you can do to improve the situation.

I. Reading 4

Read the text given below. For questions (1–4), choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

By Oscar Wilde

As soon as it was over, Dorian Gray rushed behind the scenes into the greenroom. When he entered the room, Sibyl Vane looked at him, and an expression of infinite joy came over her. “How badly I acted tonight, Dorian!” she cried.

“Horribly!” he answered, gazing at her in amazement. “Horribly! It was dreadful. Are you ill? You have no idea what I suffered.”

“Dorian,” she answered, “you should have understood. But you understand now, don’t you?”

“Understand what?” he asked, angrily.

“Why I was so bad tonight. Why I shall always be bad. Why I shall never act well again.”

“Dorian,” she cried, “before I knew you, acting was the one reality of my life. It was only in the theatre that I lived. You taught me what reality really is. Tonight, for the first time in my life, I saw through the silliness of the empty theatre in which I had always played. You had made me understand what love really is. Even if I could do it, it would be an offence for me to play at being in love. You have made me see that.”

He threw himself down on the sofa and turned away his face. “You have killed my love,” he muttered. “You used to stir my imagination. Now you don’t even stir my curiosity. I loved you because you were marvellous, because you had genius and intellect. You are nothing to me now. I will never see you again. Without your art you are nothing.”

The girl grew white and trembled. “You are not serious Dorian?” she murmured. “You are acting.”

“Acting! I leave that to you. You do it so well,” he answered bitterly. [...] “I am going,” he said at last in his calm clear voice. “I don’t wish to be unkind, but I can’t see you again.”

He turned and left the room. In a few moments he was out of the theatre.

He hailed a horse carriage and drove home. As he entered his bedroom, his eye fell upon the portrait Basil Hallward had painted of him and he immediately started back as if in surprise. The face appeared to him to be a little changed. He could see the lines of cruelty round the mouth as if he had just done some dreadful thing. He winced and quickly glanced into a mirror. No line like that warped his red lips. What did it mean?

Suddenly there flashed across his mind what he had said in Basil Hallward’s studio the day the picture had been finished. He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain young, and the portrait grow old; that his own beauty might be untarnished, and the face on the canvas bear the burden of his passions and his sins. Surely his wish had not been fulfilled? Such things were impossible. And yet, there was the picture before him, with the touch of cruelty in the mouth.

Cruelty! Had he been cruel? It was the girl’s fault, not his. He had dreamed of her as a great artist, had given his love to her because he had thought her great. Then she had disappointed him.

But the picture? What was he to say of that? It held the secret of his life, and told his story. It had taught him to love his own beauty. Would it teach him to loathe his own soul? Would he ever look at it again?