Matura Test 2
Matura Test 2
ROZUMIENIE ZE SŁUCHU
TASK 1
Track 14 You will hear four people talking about remote working. For questions 1.1.–1.5., choose the right
speaker (A–D) and put a cross (X) in the appropriate column in the table. One speaker must be chosen
twice. You will hear the recording twice.
Which speaker A B C D
1.1. feels insecure because of a reliance on something outside their control?
1.2. found their preconceptions about remote working were proved wrong?
1.3. has needed to make a conscious effort to alter their approach to the working day?
1.4. believes remote working is better suited to their job and their lifestyle?
1.5. mentions how unexpected the move to remote working was?
___ / 5
TASK 2
Track 15 You are going to hear an interview with a writer. For questions 2.1.–2.5., choose the answer
which best matches what you have heard by circling the appropriate letter (A, B, C or D). You will hear
the recording twice.
2.1. What triggered Gillian’s reflections on subcultures?
A Some research she’d done for a book.
B A programme she’d listened to.
C Her experience as a radio presenter.
D Thought-provoking comments someone had written in an article.
2.2. When referring to past subcultures, Gillian maintains that
A people felt that belonging to a group made them stronger.
B rebellious groups passed under the radar.
C members of subcultures had a visible presence.
D people preferred to have individual identities.
2.3. What does Gillian find contradictory?
A The subcultures wanted to be outside the mainstream, but their attitudes often weren’t.
B They followed sets of behavioural rules although they professed to be against regulations.
C Punks and goths had unwritten rules related to appearance, but hipsters didn’t.
D They criticised others, but they objected to criticism of themselves.
2.4. In contrast to previous subcultures, Gillian believes that today people
A want to avoid being labelled and needing to behave accordingly.
B in general have fewer concerns about fitting in with particular groups.
C belong to tribes that do not leave a digital footprint and are less well known.
D can take elements of various subcultures and as a result are more individual.
2.5. At the end of her talk, Gillian is
A unsure how people’s need to fit in will show itself in future.
B confused by the terminology used by online groups today.
C concerned that people are too easily influenced by others online.
D aware that people are becoming more isolated today.
___ / 5
For questions 4.1.–4.4., choose the answer that best matches the text and circle the appropriate letter (A, B,
C or D).
4.1. The narrator’s impression of the girl’s manner is that
A it is surprisingly derisive for a stranger.
B it is typical of someone of a different age and status.
C it implies she is unconcerned about his reaction to her.
D it conveys a hidden familiarity.
4.2. Which reaction is NOT expressed in the narrator’s initial description of the room?
A Admiration and envy at the beautiful things in the room.
B Ignorance of the type of furniture he could see.
C An awareness that the room belonged to a rich person.
D Astonishment at the sight of the woman in the chair.
4.3. The narrator mentions seeing a waxwork of a famous person to
A emphasise the woman’s importance and imposing attitude.
B highlight the lifelessness of the woman’s appearance.
C indicate the advanced age of the woman.
D point out the lack of natural expression on the woman’s face.
4.4. What is implied in the interaction between Miss Havisham and Pip?
A Miss Havisham wants Pip to understand and have compassion for her.
B Miss Havisham hopes to reassure Pip that she is not frightening.
C Miss Havisham prefers conversing with younger people.
D Miss Havisham is enjoying the effect she is having on Pip.
Text 2
A fine adaptation
Estella, the icily flirtatious object of Pip’s affections in Great Expectations, pertly explains her attraction for men
thus: “Moths and all sorts of ugly creatures hover about a lighted candle. Can the candle help it?” Directors,
however, are inexorably drawn to the Dickens novel itself, and – such is its compelling, unmanageable oddity –
they too often run the risk of getting singed.
While David Lean’s 1946 film is generally acknowledged as the classic, Alfonso Cuaron tackled a modern-day
version in 1998, and Mike Newell’s adaptation in 2012, the focus of this review, followed on closely from a BBC
TASK 5
Read the text. For questions 5.1.–5.4., choose the appropriate paragraph and write the corresponding
letter (A–E) in the table. One paragraph does not match any of the questions.
All together now
A
A class at a junior school is giving their term assembly in front of their parents. At the end of their potted
version of Romeo and Juliet, the music teacher plays the piano, and the thirty children begin to sing
Greensleeves. There has been some parental pride in the air during the play, and the children have clearly
enjoyed performing. But now a more profound sensation begins to swirl around the room. The simple refrain
of the song ignites in both singers and listeners a kind of elation. It is almost tangible. Something has elevated
the assembly from an event informed by mild interest and a sense of duty to a moment of sublime happiness.
Without a doubt, it is the music.
B
According to experts, we can now use science to observe what is going on in the brain while we are listening
to music. And what we find is that the old idea that music is a language is now no longer a poetic fiction but
a neurological fact. Recent developments in PET and MRI scanning – the technology used to detect strokes
and tumours – have led to compelling new evidence about the overlap between the way the brain processes
speech and the way it interprets music, but just how listening to music mysteriously brings us joy, is extremely
complicated.
C
As well as happiness, music can give us identity. The auditory system of the brain is the first to function fully.
At sixteen weeks, a foetus has a functioning auditory system. The brain around it functions ten weeks later.
This implies that we are receptive to music before anything else. So as soon as we are born, as dependent
infants, we use music. It's the musicality, the prosody, the vocalisations of mother and baby that create
the emotional bond. They are both necessary to our survival and central to our development as individuals.
TASK 6
Read the article. Four paragraphs have been removed from the text. Complete each gap (6.1.–6.4.)
with the paragraph which fits best and put the appropriate letter (A–E) in each gap. There is one
paragraph you do not need to use.
The Push
If somehow you’ve missed The Push by Ashley Audrain, remedy that immediately and get the novel. It is
a gripping take on the psychological thriller that looks at the often hitherto difficult topic of the desperation
of some mothers who find motherhood bewildering. It also traces the influences of previous generations on
an unborn child. Wherever you stand on the nature versus nurture debate, this story will ensnare you from
the first page, even from the introduction.
6.1. ___
Audrain then takes us back to Blythe’s beginnings as a mother – which, of course, predate her own birth, just
as foetal nutrition depends not only on the health of the mother but the grandmother too. We learn of Etta’s life,
and of Cecilia’s, their stories of trauma interwoven with Blythe’s. “The women in our family, we’re different,”
Blythe says. And yet, like her mother and grandmother before her, she falls in love and gets pregnant – with
a daughter, Violet.
6.2. ___
She finds that she can’t love her daughter, and Violet proves to be a difficult child: contrary, unsettling,
manipulative and eventually frightening. And Blythe has no support from her husband, who finds Violet perhaps
a challenging child but unquestioningly loving. Then Blythe gets pregnant again, with a son, and what began
as anxieties turn into terrors.
6.3. ___
The Push turbo-charges maternal anxieties with a fierce gothic energy that comes in part from the dark stories
of Blythe’s antecedents and in part from the ever-present primal fear of being a Bad Mother. And then there
is Violet: does she represent the newest and perhaps most dangerous manifestation of what begins to feel like
a family curse, or is Blythe projecting all her worst fears about herself onto the innocent child? This is
the tightrope the novel walks, and it is a largely successful balancing act due to the sheer compelling power of its
narrative drive. But it is not a perfect novel.
6.4. ___
This is a novel that will leave its mark on readers and undoubtedly inspire discussion; ideal for a book club list.
And there is no doubt in my mind that this talented writer’s next book will become an instant best-seller.
I, personally, cannot wait to see how she follows up this page-turning debut.
TASK 9
In tasks 9.1.–9.3. write a word next to the task number that correctly completes all the three sentences.
Full spelling correctness of the words entered is required.
9.1. __________
I failed to see the __________ warning drivers not to park for longer than two hours and had a ticket on
the car when I returned.
The student took no __________ of the teacher’s instructions to write no more than 200 words and
ended up with a five hundred word essay.
Two employees handed in their __________ yesterday because of excessive increases in their workload.
9.2. __________
It has been difficult to take on __________ all the new changes to working practice at our company
since the new manager began work.
A football smashed the kitchen window, and Harry had to cover the hole with a __________ until he
could get a new pane glass.
My uncle is on the __________ of directors of the company, so if you have any queries, I can ask him.
___ / 15