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05.04.09 sundayherald
ENGLISH
STANDARDGRADE : READING (2007 PAPER)
In this passage Kathleen Jamie describes a visit to Maes Howe, one of the most important
archaeological sites on Orkney. Her visit takes place in December, just before the winter
solstice—the shortest day of the year.
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The building nowadays known as Maes Howe is a Neolithic chambered cairn, a
tomb where, 5000 years ago, they interred the bones of the dead. In its long, long
existence it has been more forgotten about than known, but in our era it is open to the
public, with tickets and guides and explanatory booklets. It stands, a mere grassy
hump in a field, in the central plain of Mainland Orkney. There is a startling
collection of other Neolithic sites nearby.
To reach Maes Howe I took the road that passes over a thin isthmus between two
lochs. On the west side is a huge brooding stone circle, the Ring of Brodgar. On the
east, like three elegant women conversing at a cocktail party, are the Standing Stones
of Stenness. The purpose of these may be mysterious, but a short seven miles away
is the Neolithic village called Skara Brae. There is preserved a huddle of roofless
huts, dug half underground into midden and sand dune. There, you can marvel at
the domestic normality, that late Stone Age people had beds and cupboards and
neighbours and beads. You can feel both their presence, their day-to-day lives, and
their utter absence. It’s a good place to go. It re-calibrates your sense of time.
Two men were standing at the car park at Maes Howe. The taller, older man was
wearing a white shirt and improbable tartan trousers. As I stepped out of the car, he
shook his head sadly. The younger man was dressed for outdoors, somewhat like a
traffic warden, with a woollen hat pulled down to his eyes and a navy-blue coat. For
a moment we all looked at each other. The taller man spoke first.
“Not looking good, I’m afraid.”
The timing was right, the sun was setting, but . . .
“Cloud,” said the tall man.
“Can’t be helped,” I replied.
“Will you go in, anyway? You can’t always tell, you just need a moment when the
cloud breaks . . .”
Alan, an Englishman in Historic Scotland tartan trousers, led me into a little shop
to issue a ticket. The shop was housed in an old water mill, some distance from the
tomb, and sold guidebooks and fridge magnets and tea towels. From the window you
could see over the main road to the tomb.
“Tell you what,” he said. “I’ll give you a ticket so you can come back tomorrow,
if you like, but I can’t give you one for the actual solstice, Saturday. We start selling
them at two-thirty on the actual solstice. It’s first come, first served.”
“How many people come?”
“Well, we can accommodate 25, at a pinch.”
But today there was only myself.
The young guide, Rob, was waiting outside. A workman’s van hurtled past, then
we crossed the road, entered through a wicket gate and followed a path across the
field. We were walking toward the tomb by an indirect route that respected the wide
ditch around the site. Sheep were grazing the field, and a heron was standing with its
aristocratic back to us. There was a breeze, and the shivery call of a curlew
descending. On all sides there are low hills, holding the plain between them. To the
south, the skyline is dominated by two much bigger, more distant hills, a peak and a
plateau. Though you wouldn’t know it from here, they belong to another island, to
Hoy. Above these dark hills, in horizontal bars, were the offending clouds.
*
*
*
You enter into the inner chamber of the tomb by a low passageway more than 25
feet long. It’s more of a journey than a gateway. You don’t have to crawl on hands
and knees, but neither can you walk upright. The stone roof bears down on your
spine; a single enormous slab of stone forms the wall you brush with your left
shoulder. You must walk in that stooped position just a moment too long, so when
you’re admitted to the cairn two sensations come at once: you’re glad to stand, and
the other is a sudden appreciation of stone. You are admitted into a solemn place.
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You are standing in a high, dim stone vault. There is a thick soundlessness, like a
recording studio, or a strongroom. A moment ago, you were in the middle of a field,
with the wind and curlews calling. That world has been taken away, and the world
you have entered into is not like a cave, but a place of artifice, of skill. Yes, that’s it,
what you notice when you stand and look around is cool, dry, applied skill. Across
five thousand years you can still feel their self-assurance.
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The walls are of red sandstone, dressed into long rectangles, with a tall sentry-like
buttress in each corner to support the corbelled roof. The passage to the outside
world is at the base of one wall. Set waist-high into the other three are square
openings into cells which disappear into the thickness of the walls. That’s where they
laid the dead, once the bones had been cleaned of flesh by weather and birds. The
stone blocks which would once have sealed these graves lie on the gravel floor. And
the point is, the ancients who built this tomb lined it up precisely: the long
passageway faces exactly the setting midwinter sun. Consequently, for the few days
around the winter solstice a beam of the setting sun shines along the passage, and
onto the tomb’s back wall. In recent years, people have crept along the passageway
at midwinter to witness this. Some, apparently, find it overwhelming.
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*
*
*
*
We crossed the field. The heron took to the air. I dawdled behind. My guide, the
young Rob, was waiting at the entrance, which is just a low square opening at the
bottom of the mound. I glanced back at the outside world, the road, the clouded sky
over Hoy’s hills, which did not look promising; then we crept inside and for a long
minute walked doubled over, until Rob stood and I followed.
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Inside was bright as a tube train, and the effect was brutal. I’d expected not utter
darkness, but perhaps a dullish red. Rob was carrying a torch but this light revealed
every crack, every joint and fissure in the ancient stonework. At once a man’s voice
said, “Sorry, I’ll switch it off,” but the moment was lost and, anyway, I’d been
forewarned. As he sold me the ticket, Alan had told me that surveyors were inside
the cairn, with all their equipment. “A bit of a problem”, was how he’d put it. And
here they were. We entered the tomb and, in that fierce white light, it was like that
moment which can occur in midlife, when you look at your mother and realise with a
shock that she is old.
The surveyors were doing a project that involved laser-scanning, photogrammetry,
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and pulse-radar inspection. They were working inside the tomb, and had been for
days. A huge implement, I couldn’t tell if it was a torch or a camera, lay on a
schoolroom chair. There was a telephone in one of the grave-cells. There were two
surveyors. One was folded, foetus-like, into the little cell in the back wall. I could
see only his legs. He grunted as he shifted position.
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DARKNESS AND LIGHT
*
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“Strange place to spend your working day,” I remarked.
“You’re not wrong,” he replied, sourly.
His older colleague seemed glad for a break. He stood, a portly man in a black
tracksuit and fleece jacket, and stretched his back. Somehow he dimmed the light
and the tomb settled back into restful gloom. The outside world was a square at the
far end of the long passageway. There would be no sunset.
“Too bad,” the surveyor said. “Oh, well.”
Rob, hunched in his woolly hat, drew breath and raised his torch as though to
begin the guided tour, but he paused.
“Been here before?” he asked me.
“Several times.”
He said, “We’re on the Web now, y’know,” and gestured with the torch to a camera
mounted on the Neolithic wall. “Live. Don’t go picking your nose.”
“Watch your eyes!” said the voice from the grave-chamber, then came a detonating
flash.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Reading – Extract is adapted from Findings by Kathleen Jamie ISBN 0 9542217 4 5.
Published by Sort of Books. Permission sought from Sort of Books.
QUESTIONS
Write your answers in the spaces provided.
Look at Paragraphs 1 and 2.
1. Give the meaning of “interred” and show how the context helped you to arrive at
that meaning.
2. Write down two examples of the writer’s use of contrast from Paragraph 1.
3. “a thin isthmus” (Paragraph 2)
Tick the box beside the best definition of “isthmus”.
area of land
strip of land with water on each side
stretch of moorland
bridge connecting two islands
4. Identify the figure of speech used by the writer to describe the Standing Stones of
Stenness. What does it suggest about the stones?
5. In your own words, explain what the writer finds to “marvel at” in the village of
Skara Brae.
6. What do you think the writer means when she says Skara Brae “re-calibrates your
sense of time”?
Look at Paragraphs 3 to 8.
7. Why do you think the writer uses “improbable” to describe the older man’s tartan
trousers?
8. Why does the man shake his head sadly as the writer steps out of her car?
Look at Paragraphs 9 to 14.
9. Give three pieces of evidence which suggest that Maes Howe is just like any other
tourist attraction.
sundayherald 05.04.09
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10. In your own words, give two reasons why the writer cannot buy a ticket in advance
for the solstice.
11. Comment on the writer’s use of word choice and sentence structure in her
description of the clouds in the final sentence of Paragraph 14.
Look at Paragraphs 15 and 16.
12. In what way is entry to the inner chamber “more of a journey than a gateway”?
13. In your own words, describe two sensations which might be felt by someone
entering the cairn.
14. What does a visitor notice and feel about the builders of Maes Howe? Answer in
your own words.
15. (a)
(b)
What style does the writer adopt in Paragraphs 15 and 16?
Support your answer with two pieces of evidence.
ANSWERS
1.Meaning:buried
Context:ref.tochamberedcairn/tomb/bones
ofthedead
•shop
•guides/guidebook/uniform
•teatowels/fridgemagnets/souvenirs
2.Anytwofrom:
•“forgotten”v.“known”/“opentothepublic”
•“mere”v.“startling”
•“Neolithic”/“5000yearsago”v.“ourera”/
“nowadays”
10.Anytwofrom:
•notonsaleuntilSaturday/dayofsolstice
•givenouttothoseattheheadofthequeue
(glossof“firstcome,firstserved”)
•limitednumber/spaceavailable
•againsttherules
3.stripoflandwithwateroneachside
4.simileorfullquotationofsimile(ie“like
threeelegantwomenconversingatacocktail
party)”
closetogether/ina(tight)group/
stylish/attractive
5.ordinary/everydaythingsinthehouses
(glossof“domesticnormality”)
orcondensedanswer:livedverylikeus
6.changes/alters/redefines(orsimilaridea)
yourideasofpastandpresent/ofhistory(or
similaridea),ieref.tochange,ref.to
perceptionoftime
7.findsthemamusing/odd/surprising/outof
place/unusual/garish(orsimilar)
ORtosuggestherdisapproval/toamusethe
reader
8.ref.tocloud/unsuitableweather
9.Anythreefrom:
•tickets
11.(a)“offending”suggestscloudsaredoing
somethingwrong/blockingthelightOR
“horizontalbars”suggestsimageof
restricting
thelight
(b)inversionref.tocloudsatendofsentence
OR
parenthesis
12.ref.tolength/25feetofpassageway
orideaofmetaphoricaljourney
13.•pleasedtobeupright(glossof“gladto
stand”)
•awarenessof/beingconsciousofstone
(glossof
“appreciationofstone”)
14.confidence(1)intheirabilities(1)(glossof
“skill”and“self-assurance”)
15.(a)informal/direct(toreader)/reflective
(b)Anytwoappropriateexamples,e.g.
“Yes,that’sit...”/useofsecondperson/
contractions/tensechange
HIGHER:
CLOSEREADING
(2007 PAPER)
DESPITE GOOGLE, WE STILL NEED GOOD LIBRARIES
The internet search engine Google, with whom I spend more time than with my
loved ones, is planning to put the contents of the world’s greatest university libraries
online, including the Bodleian in Oxford and those of Harvard and Stanford in
America. Part of me is ecstatic at the thought of all that information at my
5 fingertips; another part of me is nostalgic, because I think physical libraries, booklined and cathedral-quiet, are a cherished part of civilisation we lose at our cultural
peril.
My love affair with libraries started early, in the Drumchapel housing scheme in the
Fifties. For the 60,000 exiles packed off from slum housing to the city’s outer
10 fringe, Glasgow Council neglected the shops and amenities but somehow
remembered to put in a public library—actually, a wooden shed. That library was
split into two—an adult section and a children’s section. This was an early taste of
forbidden fruit. Much useful human reproductive knowledge was gained from
certain books examined surreptitiously in the adult biology section.
15 At university, I discovered the wonder of the library as a physical space. Glasgow
University has a skyscraper library, built around a vast atrium stretching up through
the various floors. Each floor was devoted to a different subject classification.
Working away on the economics floor, I could see other students above or
below—chatting, flirting, doodling, panicking—all cocooned in their own separate
20 worlds of knowledge. Intrigued, I soon took to exploring what was on these other
planets: science, architecture, even a whole floor of novels. The unique aspect of a
physical library is that you can discover knowledge by accident. There are things
you know you don’t know, but there are also things you never imagined you did not
know.
25 There is a stock response to my love affair with libraries: that I am being too
nostalgic. That the multi-tasking, MTV generation can access information from a
computer, get cheap books from the supermarket and still chatter to each
other at a thousand decibels. Who needs old-fashioned library buildings? And
why should councils subsidise what Google will provide for free?
30 There is some proof for this line of argument. The number of people in Scotland
using their local public library falls every year, with just under a quarter of Scots
now borrowing books (admittedly, that was 34 million books). As a result, local
authorities have reduced their funding for new books by 30 per cent. Of course,
fewer new books mean fewer library users, so guaranteeing the downward spiral.
35 It may well be that public demand and technical change mean we no longer need the
dense neighbourhood network of local libraries of yore. But our culture, local and
universal, does demand strategically situated libraries where one can find the
material that is too expensive for the ordinary person to buy, or too complex to find
online. Such facilities are worth funding publicly because the return in informed
40 citizenship and civic pride is far in excess of the money spent.
Libraries also have that undervalued resource—the trained librarian. The ultimate
Achilles’ heel of the internet is that it presents every page of information as being
equally valid, which is of course nonsense. The internet is cluttered with false
information, or just plain junk. The library, with its collection honed and developed
45 by experts, is a guarantee of the quality and veracity of the information contained
therein, something that Google can never provide.
Libraries have another function still, which the internet cannot fulfil. Libraries, like
museums, are custodians of knowledge—and should be funded as such. It has
become the fashion in recent decades to turn our great national libraries and
50 museums into entertainment centres, with audio-visuals, interactive displays and
gimmicks. While I have some enthusiasm for popularising esoteric knowledge, it
cannot always be reduced to the level of a child’s view of the universe. We have a
duty to future generations to invest in the custodians of our culture, in particular its
literature and manuscripts.
55 Of course, I can’t wait for Google to get online with the Bodleian Library’s one
million books. Yet here’s one other thing I learned from a physical library space:
the daunting scale of human knowledge and our inability to truly comprehend even
a fraction of it. On arriving at Glasgow University library, I did a quick calculation
of how many economics books there were on the shelves and realised that I could
60 not read them all. Ever. From which realisation comes the beginning of
wisdom—and that is very different from merely imbibing information.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Close Reading Passage 1 – Article is adapted from “Despite Goo
libraries” by George Kerevan, taken from The Scotsman, 15 Decem
by permission of The Scotsman Publications Limited.
QUESTIONS
Questions on Passage 1
MARKS
1. Read lines 1–7.
(a) What two contrasting emotions does the writer have about the plan to put
the great university libraries online? Use your own words in your answer.
(b) How does the writer’s word choice in these lines help to convey his view
of the importance of “physical libraries” (line 5)? Refer to two examples
in your answer.
2
U
2
A
4
05.04.09 sundayherald
2. In your opinion, does the writer think Glasgow Council gave the library in
Drumchapel a high priority? Justify your answer by close reference to lines
8–14.
2 U/
3. Show how the writer uses imagery and word choice in lines 15–24 to convey
the “wonder of the library as a physical space”.
4
A
4. Read lines 25–34.
(a) Show how the writer’s language in lines 25–29 conveys his attitude to the
“MTV generation”. You should refer in your answer to such features as
sentence structure, word choice, tone . . .
(b) Explain the “downward spiral” (line 34) to which the writer refers.
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1
A
U
4
U
2
A
1
U
2
A
3
(26)
E
5. (a) In your own words as far as possible, give four reasons the writer presents
in lines 35–46 in favour of maintaining traditional public libraries.
(b) Show how the writer’s word choice in lines 41–46 emphasises the contrast
between his attitude to libraries and his attitude to the internet.
6. Read lines 47–54.
(a) Twice in this paragraph the writer refers to libraries as “custodians”.
What does this word mean?
(b) Show how the language of lines 47–54 suggests that the writer has some
reservations about the entertainment aspect of present day libraries and
museums.
7. How effective do you find the ideas and/or language of the final paragraph
(lines 55–61) as a conclusion to the passage as a whole?
ANSWERS
1.(a)Acceptableglosson‘ecstatic’:e.g.joyous,
thrilled,excited,delighted…;‘happy’byitself
isnotacceptable:theremustbesomeideaof
intensity
Acceptableglosson‘nostalgic’:e.g.looking
backfondly,wistful,regretful,reflective,…
‘sad/unhappy’byitselfnotacceptable:there
mustbesomeideaofsomethingconnected
with
pastORtheideathatheisapprehensive,
fearful
(atpossibleloss/demiseoflibraries)
(b)Possibleanswers:
1.‘book-lined’suggestslargenumber/areaof
books,implyingorganised,impressive
nature…
2.‘cathedral-quiet’hasconnotationsof
solemnity,reverence,devotion,large
hushedspace…
3.‘cherished’suggestscaredforemotionally
(ratherthanjustpractically),warmth…
4.‘civilisation’hasconnotationsofthat
whichmarksusoutfromlesssophisticated
societies
5.‘lose’hasasenseofbeingdeprived,
bereft…
6.‘cultural’suggeststraditions,heritage,
civilisedsociety,…
7.‘peril’suggeststhreat,risk,menace,danger
(tosomethingprecious)
2.Possibleanswers:
‘Highpriority’:
1.Useof‘remembered’suggeststhatthe
library,althoughinitiallyoverlooked,was
indeedapriority.
2.Despitethefactthey‘neglectedshopsand
amenities’,theystillputinalibrary,which
suggeststhatitwasconsideredmore
importantthanthese.
‘Lowpriority’:
3.Thehighnumber(60,000)ofpotential
userscontrastedwiththesmallnessofthe
facility(a‘shed’)suggestsinadequacy.
4.Useof‘remembered’suggestsitwasan
afterthought,alast-minuteidea.
5.Thefactitwasa‘woodenshed’suggestsit
wasbasic,cheap,unsophisticated,
temporaryandthereforeconsideredof
littleimportance.
6.Theuseof‘somehow’indicatesthat
nobodywassurewhythedecisionhad
beentaken;itjusthappened.
7.Thetoneof‘–actually,awoodenshed’as
ifaratheramused,sarcasticasidesuggests
anafterthought,awryadmissionofits
inadequacies.
3.Possibleanswers:
Imagery:
1.‘stretching’
givestheimpressionofsomethingbeing
pulledorelongatedwithconnotationsof
never-ending,upwardmovement,aspiring
2.‘cocooned’
aslarvaeareprotectedandself-contained
intheircocoons,soeachfloorinthe
libraryisseparateandsheltersthestudents
withintheirspecialisedknowledgeareas
3.‘worldsofknowledge’
thenumberoffloorsissogreatandthey
aresoseparatethattheyarelikedifferent,
independentplanetarysystems,each
specialisinginaparticularareaof
knowledge
4.‘planets’
theseparationintolarge,distinctlearning
areas,eachself-containedliketheisolation
andindividualismofeachplanetinspace
Wordchoice:
5.‘wonder’
connotationsofawe,freshness,childlike
amazement,admiration…
6.‘skyscraper(library)’
slightlyexaggerateddescriptionsuggests
sizeandmagnificence(besympatheticto
candidateswhochoosetosee‘skyscraper’
asanimage)
7.‘vast’
givestheimpressionofanenormous
extentofspace
8.‘atrium’
ideaoflarge,impressivecentralarea–
withconnotationsofclassicalideas/
learning
9.‘devoted’
connotationsoflove,reverence,dedication
10.‘chatting,flirting,doodling,panicking’
(anyofthese)
suggestionsofhumanfoibles,ordinary
behaviourcontrastedwiththe
extraordinarynatureofthelibrary
11.‘exploring’
suggestsexcitementofnewdiscovery,
senseofquest,hintofsize,…
12.‘unique’
suggestionsofsomethingveryspecial,to
bemarvelledat…
N.B.wordsfrom1–4abovecouldbethe
subjectof
appropriatecommentsaswordchoice.
4.(a)Possibleanswers:
Sentencestructure:
1.Theclimacticnatureofthesecond
sentence:buildsupfromanabruptstartto
thenegativeattitudeby‘chatter…ata
thousanddecibels’or(possibly)presentsa
positiveattitudeinadmiringtheirability
tocommunicateloudlyortheirabilityto
carryoutmorethanonetaskatatime.
4.(a)2.Useofquestionscouldsuggesta
positive
attitudebybackinguptheideathatyoung
peoplearemodernandthattheydonot
approveofsubsidisinglibrariesor
combinedwithamock-scornfultonecould
suggestthathebelievestheanswertothe
questionsisthatwedoneedlibraries
ratherthantheslickmediaworldofthe
MTVgeneration–ieanegativeattitude.
3.Structureofthefirstsentence:acase
mightjustbemadethatthecolonisused
tointroduceademonstrationofthe
writer’sattitudethatheprefersthepastto
thepresentandthereforewillbecriticalof
theMTVgeneration.
Wordchoice:
4.‘multi-tasking’suggestspositiveattitudein
thatthesepeopleareseenastalentedin
theirabilitytoperformseveraltasks
simultaneouslyorsuggestsanegative
attitudeinthatintryingtodosomany
thingsatonce,dueattentionisnotgivento
theimportantmatters.
5.‘cheapbooks’suggestspositiveaspectsin
thatthesebooksarereadilyavailabletoall
withoutrecoursetoalibraryornegatively,
thebooksarecheapinthesenseofnot
worthmuchintellectually.
6.‘chatter’isnegativeinthattheword
suggestsinconsequentialcommunication
orpositiveinthatitsuggestseasypersonal
interaction.
7.‘thousanddecibels’probablynegativein
thatitsuggeststhatthenoiseistooloud
forrealthought.
8.‘old-fashioned’isprobablynegativeinthat
itsuggestshethinkstheMTVgeneration
istooreadilydismissive,ortookeento
believelibrariesareoutdated.
Tone:
9.derogatory(backedupbyanyofthe
commentssuggestedabove)
10.admiring(backedupbyanyofthe
commentssuggestedabove)
11.mock-scornful/sarcastic(backedupbyany
ofthecommentssuggestedabove)
(b)Abasicunderstandingthatdiminishinguse
of
librariesleadstodiminishinglevelsof
provision,whichleadstodiminishinguse…
5.(a)Anyfourofthefollowing:
1.ideaofaccessibility(i.e.acceptablegloss
on‘strategicallysituated’)
2.ideaoffreeaccess(i.e.acceptableglosson
‘tooexpensive…tobuy’)
3.ideathatresourcesaremoresophisticated
(i.e.acceptableglosson‘toocomplexto
findonline’)
4.ideaofsupportingdemocratic
responsibilities(i.e.acceptableglosson
‘informedcitizenship’)
5.ideaofcommunityawareness/cohesion
(i.e.acceptableglosson‘civicpride’)
6.ideaofprofessionalsupport(i.e.acceptable
glosson‘trainedlibrarian’)
7.ideaofinformed/refinedselection(i.e.
acceptableglosson‘honedanddeveloped
byexperts’)
8.ideaofhighstandardofmaterial(i.e.
acceptableglosson‘quality…of
information’)
9.ideaofauthenticity(i.e.acceptablegloss
on‘veracityofinformation’)
10.ideaofselectivityofinformation(in
contrastwithjunkonline)
(b)Forlibraries,answersshouldmake
acceptablecommentonthepositive
connotationsofanyofthefollowing:
‘trained’;‘honed’;‘developed’;experts’;
‘guarantee’;‘quality’;‘veracity’
Fortheinternet,answersshouldmake
acceptablecommentonthenegative
connotationsofanyofthefollowing:
‘Achilles’heel’;‘(ofcourse)nonsense’;
‘cluttered’;‘false’;‘(plain)junk’;‘never’
6.(a)Anyacceptablegloss,e.g.guardians,
protectors,thosewhokeepsomethingsafe,…
(b)Possibleanswers:
Wordchoice:
1.‘(becomethe)fashion’hasconnotationsof
transience,shallowness,…
2.‘entertainmentcentres’/’audio-visuals’has
connotationsofpanderingtopopulartaste,
lackofseriousness,…
3.‘gimmicks’hasconnotationsofcheap
trickery,merelytocaptureattention,…
4.‘popularising’hasconnotationsof
dumbingdown,aimingforlowestcommon
denominator,…
5.‘reduced’hasconnotationsoflossof
quality,depth,sophistication,…
6.‘child’sview’hasconnotationsofnaiveté,
lackofsophistication,limitedperspective,…
Tone:
7grudging:‘some(enthusiasm)’suggests
reluctancetowelcometheideafully
8scornful:appropriatecommentbasedon
anyof1–6above
9.didactic:appropriatecommentonlines
52–54(‘cannotalwaysbereduced’,‘duty’,
‘futuregenerations’,‘invest’,‘culture’)
Structure:
10.Thelist(‘audio-visuals,interactive
displaysandgimmicks’),endinginthe
anti-climax(‘gimmicks’),reducestheother
itemstomeaninglesstechnicaltricks.
11.Thestructureof‘WhileIhave…universe’
isalimitedconcessionwhichemphasises
thedismissivenessofwhatfollows.
7.Possibleanswers:
Ideas:
1.GoogleandtheBodleianLibraryare
broughttogetheragaininthisparagraph.
2.Theideaoflargenumbers(onemillion
books)onGoogle/thevastnessoflibraries
leadingtoanunderstandingofthe
enormousamountofmaterialwhichcan
neverbeknown.
3.Thedifferentiationbetweeninformation
andwisdomiswhatthepassagehasbeen
leadingupto.
Language:
4.‘Ofcourse’maybeastrategicconcession/
ideaofbringingreaderonside/ofbeing
reasonable–inpreparationforconclusion.
5.‘Yethere’s’conversationaltoneleadsthe
readertocomeonboardandsharehis
ideas.
6.‘daunting’isastrongwordsuggestingthe
enormousandfrighteningamountof
knowledge.
7.‘evenafraction’suggests,incontrast,the
verysmallproportionwithwhichone
personcancometogrips.
8.‘Ever.’Thisemphatic,onewordsentence
closesthedooronthepossibilityof
conqueringallknowledge.
9.‘merelyimbibing’Incontrastwith
wisdom,thissuggeststhatinformation
acquiredsimplyasquantity,without
understandingorcontext,isasmechanical
asdrinking.
10.Wordorderinlastsentence:theinversion
ofnormalorderplacestherealisationvery
closetothe‘ever’whichgivesitmore
impact,andleavestheimportantword
‘wisdom’tofollowitsverbandtakea
centralplaceinthelastsentence