FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN
FU BERLIN
ZE Sprachenzentrum
Hinweise für Studienbewerber/innen zum
Sprachtest Englisch
für das Studium der Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden
Literaturwissenschaft (AVL)
Der Test ist ein reiner Leseverständnistest von 45 Minuten Länge. Er besteht aus 6 –
8 Texten mit insgesamt ca. 25 Multiple-Choice-Fragen. Die folgenden Beispiele (zwei
Texte, vier Fragen) können nur bedingt den Schwierigkeitsgrad des gesamten Tests
wiedergeben und sollen in erster Linie eine gewisse Vorstellung von der Art der
Texte und der Fragen geben.
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English Language Test
of
READING COMPREHENSION
This test booklet contains short text passages which are followed by multiple-choice
comprehension questions. Read each passage carefully. Then decide on the correct answers
to the questions which follow. There is only ONE correct answer to each question.
Mark the correct answer, A, B or C, on your ANSWER SHEET by putting a X over it.
If you make a mistake, block out your first answer and put a X over the answer you think is
right.
I do not mean to suggest that national narratives are common in the ancient world.
Israel's preoccupation with its reason for being is exceptional in the ancient Near East. No
Near Eastern analogues to a national literature like the Bible have been found. In Greek and
particularly in Roman literary tradition, however, the situation is different; narratives
concerning national origins are just as important. Eric Gruen provides an insightful analysis of
the formation of Roman national identity against the background of Greek culture, examining
such key cultural developments as the choice to adopt the legend of Troy as a legend of origin.
"It enabled Rome to associate itself with the rich and complex fabric of Hellenic tradition. But
at the same time, it also announced Rome's distinctiveness from that world". Israel's story
bears a resemblance to the Roman one. It too involves a divine promise, individuation from a
major civilization, a quest for lost roots, a long journey to what is construed as the land of the
forefathers, and a gory conquest.
1.
From the passage we learn that
a)
most nations in the ancient world felt it was important to have national
narratives explaining their existence
b)
while national narratives were necessary to ancient Israel, comparable concern
about a means to explain origins was not found in Greece and Rome
c)
Greek literary tradition played an important role for the Romans when
establishing their national identity
2.
The passage is an extract from a book review about
a)
the development of a Roman national identity from its Greek roots
b)
the beginnings of ancient Israel
c)
the ancient Near East in general
Other novelists, however, do not have to grow up in public. Apprentice works they
produce in their twenties do not find their way into print, nor do the uneven gems they
discharge in their early thirties. Instead, in solitude, absent editorial encouragement, denied
the typically small but no less sustaining perks of publication (a reading here, a notice there),
they nonetheless continue to burrow inward and invest further in their creations. Most of
these investors yield nothing and are never heard from, an uncountable many. Some, though,
with fortitude and luck, continue to confront themselves daily, second-guessing and redrafting
through the years. And then, pale and pushing middle age, they emerge from the darkness of
basement apartments bearing, of all things, masterpieces, in manuscript boxes – suggesting
that the gift of early publication can be the most mixed of blessings.
3.
The author’s aim in the passage is to
a)
explain the career development of some of those writers who achieve success
after working alone for a long time
b)
compare and contrast the development of two kinds of novelist
c)
argue that a literary masterpiece is the product of a developmental process
which cannot be rushed
4.
The author of the passage suggests that
a)
only novelists who publish when young will have continued success
b)
early publishing success may not always be advantantageous to a novelist
c)
middle-aged novelists are most likely to produce masterpieces