Reading. Use of English 4

Yorkshire’s Robinson Crusoe Found His Paradise

In 1962 Brendon Grimshaw, the Yorkshireman, bought Moyenne — a small island just half a mile wide — in the Seychelles for the princely sum of £8,000, and he has been living there ever since. He spends his days caring for the island’s giant tortoises and birds that also call it home.

Giant tortoises are native to the Seychelles, but have been killed off on most of the other islands. Brendon has been gradually reintroducing them to his corner of the Indian Ocean, painting them with identifying numbers and giving them names such as Alice, Florita and Four Degrees South.

He first arrived there on holiday in the late fifties, restless and seeking adventure after years spent working as a newspaperman in Africa. “I knew the moment I set foot on the island that it was the right place for me”, he said. Brendon hired his own Man Friday, a Seychellois called Rene Lafortune, who helped him transform Moyenne. Together they planted palm trees, mango and paw-paw, saved rainwater and pumped it up the hillside by hand. When he arrived, there were no birds on the island, so he brought ten from a neighbouring island. Brendon started feeding them, and more birds settled on the island.

“But we weren't doing it to make it into a national park or anything like that”, said Brendon. “We were doing it to make it habitable for me.” A Saudi prince once offered him a blank cheque for Moyenne, but Brendon certainly isn’t selling. “The only reason someone would want to buy this island is to build a big hotel”, he said.

Yes, of course he wants to keep his hideaway unspoiled, but perhaps he still has hopes of finding the pirate treasure rumoured to be buried somewhere on the island. After buying the island, Brendon admits he spent much of his spare time searching for the fortune, poring over old maps, hunting for clues and shifting tons of rock at his two excavation sites.

But it’s fair to say Brendon has never been motivated by money. He has worked tirelessly to transform and preserve Moyenne, ensuring that when he finally leaves the island it will be protected and passed to the people of the Seychelles as a national park. “Brendon is the modern Robinson Crusoe,” says Joel Morgan, environment minister for the Seychelles. “He’s a naturalist, a conservationist and a hard worker.”

The island has been Brendon’s life, and as he has struggled to create a spectacular home, it has repaid him by giving him a tonic that no doctor can prescribe: a real sense of purpose and meaning. Out in the Indian Ocean Brendon Grimshaw is still living the dream.

What has Brendon Grimshaw done on the island?   [A, B, C, D]

A He has tamed Seychellois tortoises by giving them names.

B He has increased the population of tortoises on Moyenne.

C He has brought tortoises to the Seychelles from other places.

D He has kept a definite number of tortoises in his nature corner.

Which of the following is TRUE of Moyenne?   [A, B, C, D]

A It is going to become a fashionable resort.

B It gives harbour to international sea pirates.

C It has become a unique habitat for animals.

D It used to be a popular national park.

What does the phrase “A Saudi prince once offered him a blank cheque for Moyenne” in PARAGRAPH 4 mean?   [A, B, C, D]

A A Saudi prince gave him an unlimited freedom of action on Moyenne.

B A Saudi prince wanted to buy the island at any price.

C A Saudi prince attempted to cheat Brendon out of money.

D A Saudi prince confused a bank cheque with a blank sheet of paper.

What does the author state about Brendon Grimshaw?   [A, B, C, D]

A He is an enthusiastic volunteer.

B He is a fortunate treasure hunter.

C He is a hard-working entrepreneur.

D He is a competent geologist.

What can be inferred from the text?   [A, B, C, D]

A Brendon loves being called Robinson Crusoe.

B Moyenne is a site of archaeological diggings.

C Brendon lives on the island on doctors’ advice.

D The Seychellois approve of Brendon’s activities.

Famous Castles

Kronborg Castle   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]

Kronborg Castle, Denmark, has existed at Helsingor (Elsinore) since 1420. It’s been burnt to the ground and rebuilt since, but always maintained its vital position at the head of the Oresund Strait. Ships passing into the Baltic Sea paid tolls at Kronborg Castle and Helsingor was once one of the most important towns in Europe. In 2000, Kronborg Castle became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kronborg is the actual castle that William Shakespeare set Hamlet in! In Hamlet, he called Kronborg Castle Elsinore.

Neuschwanstein Castle   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany, is a 19th-century palace in Bavaria. It is undoubtedly Germany's best-known and most-visited castle and the one that most often appeared on souvenirs and postcards and even served as a model for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. The construction of the palace was ordered by Ludwig II of Bavaria to hide himself from public life. However, the construction remained unfinished because of the king’s death, and then Neuschwanstein was opened to the public. Every year 1.4 million people stream through rooms that were intended for a single inhabitant.

The Castel Sant’Angelo   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant’Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Rome, Italy. It was initially used by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. Much of its decoration has been lost since the building’s conversion into a military fortress in 401 A.D. The catholic church used Sant'Angelo as a prison. Giordano Bruno was imprisoned there for six years. Now it is a popular museum.

Vianden Castle   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]

In the small European country of Luxembourg, nestled between France, Germany, and Belgium, there is one of the largest fortified castles west ofthe Rhine — Vianden Castle. Even though origins date back to the 10th century, the castle was under construction from the 11th to the 14th century. Just like many other medieval castles, Vianden Castle lies on top of a hill overlooking the town of Vianden.

Until the early 15th century it was the seat of prominent counts of Vianden with close connections to the Royal Family of France and the German Imperial! court.

Malbork Castle   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]

Malbork Castle, also known as Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, is a 13th-century castle and fortress in Northern Poland. According to UNESCO, it is the largest castle in the world measured by land area. Due to a growing number of Teutonic Knights, the castle was expanded several times. At one point, it housed over 3000 knights. Due to its strategic location near the Baltic Sea and the River Vistula, Teutonic Knights were able to collect tolls from trading ships and barges. The castle was heavily damaged during World War II but since has been rebuilt and is open for visitors.

Chateau de Pierrefonds   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]

An exceptional example of defensive medieval military architecture is the Chateau de Pierrefonds in France. It was built in the late 14th and early 15th century. It was later destroyed and remained a ruin for more than two centuries. Napoleon I bought it in 1810 for less than 3,000 francs. Since 1862 it has been a monument of great historical significance 1n France and underwent a major restoration in the late 19th century. Through the years it has been featured in many films and TV series which has made it even more recognizable worldwide.

Which castle ______?

A has been available as a film location

B was protected by its location

C is famous for its greatness

D was chosen by a writer as a scene for his play

E was built for three centuries

F became a museum when its owner died

G was used for different purposes

H displays a collection of jewellery

Mysterious 15th Century Manuscript

Dated to the 15th century, the Voynich manuscript is a hand-written text in an unknown script, (1)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]_____ . Since its discovery in the 19th century, many historians and cryptographers, including code breakers during the Second World War, have attempted to work out its meaning but (2)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]_____ .

Now, computer scientists at the University of Alberta have applied artificial intelligence to the manuscript, with their first goal to establish its language of origin. They used the text from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 380 languages to “train” their system and then ran their algorithms, which determined (3)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]_____ .

Professor Kondrak, who led the research, and his graduate student Bradley Hauer were able to decipher a relatively high number of words using Hebrew as their reference language. “It turned out that over 80 per cent of the words were in a Hebrew dictionary, but we didn't know (4)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]_____ , said Professor Kondrak.

The scientists then used Google Translate (5)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]_____ , Which read: “She made recommendations to the priest, man of the house and me and people.” “It’s a kind of strange sentence to start a manuscript but it definitely makes sense,’ said Professor Kondrak.

The results of this work were published in the journal Transactions of the Association of Computational Linguistics. While fully comprehending the text will require collaboration with historians of ancient Hebrew, Professor Kondrak has great faith in the ability of computers (6)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]_____ and said he is looking forward to applying his techniques to other ancient scripts.

A that the computers decoded other mysterious texts

B accompanied by pictures of plants and astronomical observations

C if these words made sense together

D none have been successful

E that the most likely language for the document was Hebrew

F to help understand human languages

G they make considerable progress in their work

H to convert the first line into English