Part A: Reading Comprehension
Try to see how much of the text you can understand in detail before answering the
questions that follow. If you need to check some ideas, please only make use of a
monolingual English dictionary.
THE QUEEN OF VEGETABLES
Zoe Bradbury has recently become an asparagus farmer in England and
reports below on her experiences.
5
I had my first official asparagus harvest this week and it was mesmeris-
ing. Cutting those spears one by one, down each row and back up the
next with a sharp knife, I felt like a gleeful little kid on an Easter egg
hunt; every asparagus a surprise and a treasure.
10
They are an amazing, mysterious vegetable, a pure life force in spring
thrusting out of the ground towards the April sky. A quick glance and
you wouldn’t even know they are there – no leaves, no fanfare, just long
rows of single, slender stalks defying gravity in the race to become an
asparagus fern. They are all muscle. Name any other vegetable that can
grow 20 centimetres in one day, emerging fearlessly from cold, wet spring
soil. If there were such a thing as Vegetable Olympics, these babies
would walk off with lots of medals.
15
20
25
It’s been a long time getting to this stage. You can’t grow this vegetable
on any soil. It requires a high pH value of about 7.0 and although it pre-
fers sandy soil any additional organic material such as compost or
manure brings benefits. You must choose a well-drained spot in full sun
since these plants hate getting their feet wet. Patience is a virtue and I
needed that because it takes three years after planting before you can
begin on your first harvest. And it’s a long-term commitment in so many
ways. There was a little part of me that doubted if my 2,600 crowns
would ever grow successfully, and whether I could defy the odds and the
statistics and muscle my way up as a young female asparagus farmer. Of
course asparagus needs looking after, it hates weeds and there are pests
and diseases that must be prevented, but with care each crown will last
for up to twenty years. Perhaps that’s not so surprising when you con-
sider that in deep soils, roots can often reach three metres in depth.
That’s not bad as a long-term investment.© Fernstudienzentrum Hamburg
2
Comprehension 1
Look at the following italicised phrases from the text and explain what they mean
in each context, using your own words as far as possible.
1. like a gleeful little kid on an Easter egg hunt (line 5/6)
2. pure life force in spring (line 7)
3. They are all muscle (line 11)
4. these plants hate getting their feet wet (line 19)
5. a long-term commitment (line 21)
6. Contrary to popular belief (line 39)
7. all the back-breaking work (line 49/50)
Comprehension 2
Please answer the following questions using your own words as far as possible.
Write complete sentences.
1. What point is Zoe making about the asparagus when she refers to the “Vege-
table Olympics”?
2. What “benefits” are implied by the addition of compost or manure to the soil?
3. How does Zoe describe the three years before her first harvest?
30
35
I forget now when I first became interested in this vegetable. I’d read
about its origins, dating back to about 200 B.C. when the Macedonians
first domesticated it. In Victorian England people already knew that it
was an aphrodisiac, and so just before wedding ceremonies the bride-
groom used to be fed three courses with asparagus. Whatever people
think now, it’s actually a very healthy vegetable: it has no fat, no choles-
terol and is low in sodium. No wonder that when the season gets going
we in Britain eat an average of five million spears a day.
40
45
It’s certainly popular all over the world, although it’s not always grown
in the same way. Contrary to popular belief, white asparagus is not a
separate variety. It is simply asparagus spears grown in the absence of
sunlight so that chlorophyll does not develop. White asparagus does have
a slightly sweeter taste and less fibre than green asparagus. In countries
like Germany and the Netherlands this is the primary way that aspara-
gus is grown and consumed, but outside of Europe this is regarded more
as a curiosity.
50
Now that we’ve reached the moment when we can harvest, I’m so
excited. When the asparagus comes, it has to be harvested immediately,
otherwise you might as well chuck it away. Without the help of all my
migrant workers who mostly come from eastern Europe and who do all
the back-breaking work, I wouldn’t be able to keep up. I’ve learned that
in this kind of business there is always an opportunity for an ulcer, but
I knew that was part of the deal I signed up for. It’s the baseline stress
that is easing up – that back-of-the-head curiosity about whether or not
I would be able to pull this whole thing off.© Fernstudienzentrum Hamburg
3
4. What are the three ways in which white asparagus differs from green aspar-
agus?
5. What do you think Zoe means when she says “there is always an opportunity
for an ulcer”?
Part B: Grammar
For each of the gaps in the sentences below provide the most appropriate future
forms for the verbs in the infinitive.
1. My flight __________ (leave) in two hours so I need to get to the airport imme-
diately.
2. You look as though you’re hungry. __________ I (bring) you some sandwiches?
3. Oh, do be careful, otherwise you __________ (knock over) that wine bottle.
4. Charles and I have decided that we __________ (reduce) everybody’s travel sub-
sidy by 20 per cent from the start of next month.
5. Next Monday I __________ (see) my bank manager, on Tuesday I __________
(have) an appointment with one estate agent and on Wednesday I __________
(have) another appointment with a second agent. How about that for getting
things organised?
6. If you ask me, Kevin’s horse __________ (win) the next race at 3 o’clock. He’s
the fastest thing on four legs I’ve seen all week.
7. I __________ (take down) those curtains and give them a good wash. I’ve been
meaning to do that for some time.
8. A: Was that the doorbell?
B: Don’t worry, I __________ (go). Just stay where you are.
9. Miranda __________ (to get married) to her childhood sweetheart in September.
10. By the end of the century most of the tropical rainforest __________ (disap-
pear).© Fernstudienzentrum Hamburg
4
11. We __________ (celebrate) Angela’s birthday on Saturday. Would you like to
come?
12. This time next Thursday we __________ (fly) to Bali for our annual holiday.
13. I promise I __________ (take) good care of your Porsche if you let me borrow
it for the weekend.
14. The lights are being dimmed. The film __________ (start).
15. Next time I see Harold I __________ (tell) him what I think of him. He’s once
again failed to deliver the logs for the wood-burner.
Part C: Vocabulary
Exercise 1
In the box below you will find a total of forty words taken from previous reading
texts in this book with which you can form pairs with opposite meanings. For
example: public/private. Write down the twenty pairs that belong together. As they
always say in cases like this one, do the easy questions first!
Exercise 2
At the end of each sentence below you will find a stem word which needs to be
changed in some way so that the new structure fits the gap.
Example: I knew it was a bad idea and he shouldn’t have done it, but for some
strange reason I didn’t want to ______ him. (COURAGE)
discourage
feral elaborate old-fashioned natural
light basic predator latest
partly close occasionally victim
completely confirm mental professional
real physical integrated dummy
separate earliest shade pride
domestic deliberate modern periphery
centre remote permanent obscure
reveal temporary cancel artificial
shame accidental amateur usually© Fernstudienzentrum Hamburg
5
1. Some years ago Mike Powell bought a __________ gravel pit and turned it into
a playground. (USE)
2. On this bus tour I’m going to point out some of the city’s interesting
__________, including the Cathedral and the Royal Palace. (LAND)
3. The temple area consists of __________ villas and bungalows. (NUMBER)
4. In neolithic village society women were traditionally __________. (DOMINATE)
5. The rising waters from the dam project would have __________ everything
from the past. (GULF)
6. The people who buy property on the harbourfront will enjoy the most spectac-
ular __________. (SURROUND)
7. Everybody should have a chance to develop their __________ potential. (CRE-
ATE)
8. There are many __________ species of animals in the developing world that
need protection. (DANGER)
9. An __________ part of good conservation is making sure that the livelihood of
those who live in the Third World is also protected. (ESSENCE)
10. __________ have again been received about noisy neighbours in Rosemount
Avenue. (COMPLAIN)
11. Perhaps we need to look again very __________ at the designs of some of those
buildings. (CRITIC)
12. In the past pigeon feeders were threatened with fines or __________ .
(PRISON)
13. You will need to wear __________ clothing if you want to work on the rice
fields. (PROTECT)© Fernstudienzentrum Hamburg
14. We need to redouble our efforts to show the general public why our __________
programmes need extra support. (CYCLE)
15. Drinking some Voi water after a hard day’s work is very __________ .
(FRESH)
Part D: Comment
Please answer one of the questions below. You should write about 250 words.
1. If you had to move from where you are now living to any major European
city, which one would you choose and why? You should point out as many of
the positive aspects as possible about life in that city.
2. What are the main arguments that are used in favour of living in towns and
living in the country? What are the main disadvantages of life in these places?
On balance, which would you choose and why?
3. Recycling has long been popular in a country like Germany. Imagine you have
a friend who has sent you an email requesting more detailed information
about the different methods of recycling that are used here. You should also
explain why, in your opinion, recycling in the 21st century is absolutely essen-
tial.
2.11
2.11
;)
Bewertungen
