Test 1 – Reading & Writing Part A Page 6

Task One: Paragraph Headings (10 minutes) – Question 1-6

 Read the article and match each paragraph with the appropriate heading.
 There are two paragraph headings which you will not need.
 The first one has been done for you as an example.
 Write your answers on the separate answer sheet.

Paragraph Headings

A. FATHER’S INFLUENCE ON HIS WRITING

B. HIS UNPOPULARITY
C. SOCIAL ISOLATION
D. HIS CAREER
E. FAMILY BACKGROUND EXAMPLE
F. OVERWHELMED BY THE DEMANDS OF LIFE
G. THE INFLUENCE OF A CONTEMPORARY ON HIS
WORK
H. FATHER’S INFLUENCE ON HIS PRIVATE LIFE
I. REBELLION IN YOUTH
Test 1 – Reading & Writing Part A Page 7

Kafka's Life (1883-

Example E
1924 ) against the authoritarian institution
teachers respected him. Inwardly, however, he
revolted
Franz Kafka was born into a middle-class with its emphasis on rote learning and classical
family in Prague. Kafka strongly identified languages. Kafka's opposition to established
with his maternal ancestors because of their society became apparent when he declared
intellectual distinction, melancholy disposition, himself a socialist and an atheist.
and delicate physical and mental constitution.
He was not, however, close to his mother, a 4
simple woman devoted to her children. She
shared with her husband a lack of He was sympathetic to Czech political and
comprehension of their son's dedication to cultural aspirations, but his identification with
"recording of [his] . . . dreamlike inner life." German culture kept even these sympathies
subdued. This rootlessness contributed to
1 Kafka's lifelong personal unhappiness. Kafka
did, however, meet the writer Max Brod who
Kafka's father’s overbearing influence not only became the most intimate of Kafka's friends,
asserted itself on Kafka's work but on every and eventually he emerged as the promoter
aspect of his existence. In the young Kafka’s and interpreter of Kafka's writings as well as
imagination, this coarse, practical, and his biographer.
domineering shopkeeper and patriarch, who
worshiped nothing but material success, was 5
an awesome giant, an admirable, but repulsive
tyrant. In Kafka's most important attempt at Kafka received his doctorate in 1906, and
autobiography, Letter to Father (1919), a letter became a lawyer. The long hours, however,
that never reached the addressee, Kafka did not permit Kafka to devote himself to
blamed his father’s dominance for his failure writing. In 1908 he found a job in the
to live, start a family and cut loose from Workers' Accident Insurance Institute. In his
parental ties and establish himself in marriage. work he was considered tireless and
ambitious; he soon became the right hand of
2 his boss. From 1917 tuberculosis forced him
to take intermittent sick leave and, finally, to
The conflict with his father is reflected directly retire in 1922.
in Kafka's story The Judgment (1916). It is
projected on a grander scale in Kafka's novels, 6
which portray in lucid, deceptively simple
prose a man's desperate struggle with an Kafka was a charming, intelligent, and
overwhelming power. This power may humorous individual, but he found his routine
persecute its victim (as in The Trial) or may be office job and the exhausting double life into
sought after and begged in vain for approval which it forced him (for his nights were
(as in The Castle). The source of Kafka's frequently consumed in writing) to be
despair lies in a sense of ultimate isolation excruciating torture, and his deeper personal
from true communion with all human beings. relationships were neurotically disturbed. His
health was poor. In 1917 he was diagnosed as
3 having tuberculosis, and from then onward he
Kafka was German both in language and spent frequent periods in sanatoriums. In 1924
culture. He was a timid, guilt-ridden and he returned home, was admitted to a clinic
obedient child who did well at school. His and died.
Test 1 – Reading & Writing Part A Page 8

Task Two: One Long Text (30 minutes)

 Read the following text and answer the two questions. (2 x ca. 100 words)
 Each answer should be written in paragraphs and full sentences.
 Marks are award for the quality of your writing as well as the content.

1 What events and actions in Kunz’s youth contributed to his becoming

a fully professional musician, and how did they contribute?

2 What medical problems haunted Kunz, AND what specific steps were
taken to deal with them?

Guidelines for answering this question

 Not all the information in the text is relevant for the tasks; it may not be
necessary to read the whole text in detail
 Mark the text if you wish.
 Do not include other information that does not specifically answer these
questions.
 Do not include any direct or indirect spoken quotations within your answer.
 Do not include any directly copied-out pieces of original text within your
answer.
Test 1 – Reading & Writing Part A Page 9

Clap Hands here comes Charlie!

A review by Saul Denman

Manchester—Across England today heads

are bowed for the forty-fifth anniversary of
the death of the pianist, Charlie Kunz. In
his time he filled the theatres of the
country with fans, and after his death a
myriad of clubs dedicated to preserving his
music sprang up and are still going today.
As Edgar Grice, chairman of the Manchester
CKFC (Charlie Kunz Fan Club) exclaimed,
‘There have always been pianists, but there
was, and will be, only one Charlie Kunz.’
Charlie Kunz was born in Allentown, Pennsyl-
vania, on 18 August 1896, the only son of a
master baker, who played the French horn.
He began his playing career at the age of six
and made his first appearance as a schoolboy
prodigy at seven, studying earnestly until he
reached sixteen, when he formed his first
band, an amateur group with his high school
friends. He always paid tribute to the insis-
tence of his parents that he
should practice regularly and
attentively. Apart from his
ability at the piano he played
brass instruments in the local
brass band, thus exposing
himself to a variety of styles
and influences from his
bandmates. He was given the
chance to go to college but
wanted to start earning his
living to fund his musical
career and took on a series of
jobs, including working as a book shop
attendant, ribbon weaver, shoe factory
assistant and milkman. As he jokingly said:
“I asked for it!”
He came to England in 1922 at the invitation of
American bandleader Paul Specht, to play in
what was described as The Sweet Music Band.
Charlie stayed on to form his first British band
and make his debut with it at Lyons Popular
Cafe. Next came a spell with the Dix Band at
Olympia in Kensington.
From there he went to the intimate Chez Henri
Club, which he regarded as his “most loved job
ever.” He remained there for eight and a half
years. His success brought demands for stage
appearances and after a year he went out on
tour, starting at the Holborn Empire in 1934
earning 800 pounds a week, when that kind of
salary was a fortune. Such was his popularity
that he often needed police protection at the
stage door, proving that fan worship existed
long before the Beatles.
Among the host of musicians and
singers associated with Charlie
during his golden band-leading
days there were three ever-
present stalwarts: guitarist Ernie
Penfold, bassist Frank Davis and
drummer

He spent the 1914-18 war in even tougher oc-

cupations, such as making shells and riveting
ships’ boilers, but he continued to play, for
by now he was leading his own resident band
at night in the roof garden restaurant of the
largest hotel in his native Allentown. By the
time he was nineteen he had a 10-piece band
at a big local ballroom, and he was on his
way to stardom.
Test 1 – Reading & Writing Part A
Tommy Blades. Other singers with him at the
Senior Club and on the air were Harry
Bentley and George Barclay, plus occasional
broadcasts by Eve Becke and Phyllis Robbins.
During the war he travelled extensively to
entertain the troops and did a great deal for
charities.
For some inexplicable reason
Charlie never played abroad—
perhaps because he was such a
home-lover—but he widely toured
Great Britain. Everyone came to
know his merry little signature
tune, Clap Hands Here Comes
Charlie and his tricky signing-off
number Pink Elephants. Except for
some early records on Sterno, he was always
associated with Decca, starting on Rex in
1935. Altogether he made over one hundred
78s and LPs featuring his compelling medleys.
Attempts to make an album of songs from the
musical My Fair Lady a few months before his
tragic death had to be abandoned half-way
through, despite long rests between each
tune to conserve his failing strength. It took
him two days to make one LP in tortuous 20-
minute sessions; and for a radio series he had
to record the programme in 3-minute “takes”
between bouts of coughing due to asthma.
The pain endured during these recording ses-
sions was only one example of Kunz’s health
problems. In fact, these began much earlier.
First he went down with a tubercular spine
following the loss of one lung in 1945 at the
peak of his career and had
to spend 10 months of
complete immobility in a
plaster cast. It seemed
possible that he would
never play again, but he
fought his way back to bet-
ter health and renewed
acclaim.
Page 10
It was a miraculous comeback from a crippling
illness which racked his frail physique. Within a
year he was playing again as competently as
ever, sustained and encouraged by his adoring
wife Pat, whose faith in his ultimate recovery
never wavered.
Eight years later in 1953 he de-
veloped serious trouble with his
delicate hands. This was de-
scribed by newspapers as arthri-
tis, but was actually an obscure
complaint discovered by a
Frenchman and called Dubitron
Contraction, a blight frequently
suffered by jockeys. It con-
tracted the ligaments and
twisted those magic fingers with the 11-note
span, but five skilled operations restored their
use; and he went home to practise on a dummy
keyboard stretched across his bed. He was
determined to continue his career, which he
did after two years of heartbreaking silence.
He went on making records and broadcasting,
but he never really regained his health. He
went into a gradual decline, aggravated by
bronchial asthma, which gave him acute
breathing problems. Gradually his strength
failed and he died peacefully in his sleep on 16
March 1958.
He died at the age of 61 at the end of a
tenacious battle against adverse health, which
he bore with courage and good cheer for 14
tiresome years. Yet he never despaired and
resolutely pretended that he was far fitter
than he was. He had no time at all for
self-pity or submission. He battled
until the end.
His advice to ambitious pianists was:
“Take things easy and don’t rush.
Have lots of patience.” He wore
Savage Club or Water Rat ties—“never
anything loud” His customary stage act
lasted 22 minutes and consisted of
popular and light music.
His choice of clothes at home comprised
anything in which he felt comfortable. On
stage he wore evening dress in the winter and
a pearl grey outfit in the summer. Before his
illnesses he enjoyed riding, billiards and
gardening. He was quite a keen reader and an
enthusiast of poker and rummy. His super-
stitions were touching wood and not cutting his
nails on a Friday. He never wore make-up on
Test 1 – Reading & Writing Part A
stage and he used a white spot light focussed
on his piano and himself, leaving other
colours to the discretion of the electrician.
He smoked twenty cigarettes a day and he
confessed that he liked his breakfast in bed!
He spent his holiday in Spain, Portugal,
Switzerland, the South of France and
Germany. His favourite county was Sussex
and his favourite country was Switzerland.
Asked for his views on modern music during
the mid-1950s, he replied cautiously: “I like
it in very small doses”, He wrote a few light
tunes but they were never published. His
routine for a day at that time was going to
Page 11
the theatre in the morning to practise when
doing a stage show and taking a rest after
lunch on doctor’s orders before he did his two
performances in the evening. When not touring
he had his breakfast in bed and got up when he
felt like it to practise and prepare programmes
before lunch. He rested until teatime and then
dealt with his considerable fan mail, answering
every single letter he received, until mid-
evening, when he went off to bed to read and
listen to the radio. He was never later to bed
than 9 p.m.
Test 1 – Reading & Writing Part A Page 12

Task Three: Writing (20 minutes)

You have seen the following articles in the local paper.

Extracts from the articles:

Ireland Leads The Way

Ireland is the first country in the world to have a complete ban on

smoking at work. Other countries have partial bans - for instance in
public but not commercial buildings. Some cities, such as New York,
have partial bans, but Ireland is the only country to have gone for such
an extreme ban. There are only a few minor exceptions: for instance,
hotel guest rooms (though not the lobby or the bar), cells in prisons,
nursing homes and some wards in psychiatric hospitals.

As a resident of the town write a letter ca. 250 words to the editor of the local
paper expressing your views on the above issues.

Smoking Ban in Town

Anne Simmons reporting

The local council has made a decision to follow the Irish model and to
introduce a total ban on smoking across all its premises, including car
parks and play areas, parks and football pitches. Thomas Field, the
chairman of the Health Committee, said the council had shown its
commitment to children's health by "bravely leading the way in curtailing
smoking in public places.” “We do not believe simply banning smoking
from indoor facilities is enough. We hope to take this further by asking
residents to respect the rights of others and refrain from smoking where
others, especially children, gather.”