english exam 2

INGLÉS. Certificado de Aptitud. Comprensión de lectura. IN CS CL M1B

PART ONE (5 x 1 mark = 5 marks) Read the following texts and match them to one suitable heading from the list supplied. Each quote can be used only ONCE. Three of these headings are not to be used. Text 0 has been matched to summary H as an example.

MARK

Music KIRSTY MacCOLL

TEXT 0

Tropical Brainstorm V2WR1009872 The first work in six years by the singer/songwriter who died in December was judged her best. The melodies all pack muscle, while a collage of pungent street sounds adds to the sense of magpie spontaneity.

PINK FLOYD Echoes: The best of Pink Floyd EMI 7243 5 36111 2 5 (2 CDs)

TEXT 1

“I ONLY KNOW two of their songs,” said a friend as he studied the cover of Echoes, “Money and the one about the brick.” Therein lies the problem. It has been suggested that Echoes is this year’s number one, the commercial successor of the Beatles’ greatest hits. But whereas the Beatles had a vast catalogue of songs everybody knows, Pink Floyd have a vast catalogue of songs that Pink Floyd fans know. Either you already own the songs on Echoes –in which case, why buy it? Or you know two Floyd songs, and have a sneaking suspicion that the rest of their oeuvre doesn’t sound the same –in which case, do you risk it?. ME

MADONNA GVH2: Greatest Hits Volume 2 Maverick 9362-48000-2

TEXT 2

THE RECEIVED wisdom now is that Madonna has an extraordinary pop sensibility, and has dominated the charts for nearly two decades through a smart eye for a hot producer and an equally smart ear for an unignorable hook. And then there was Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. We only remembered that we liked her in 1998, when we heard the opening of Beautiful Stranger; by the time she sang “To know you is to love you”, we had readmitted her to Pop Goddess status, where she resides to this day. You may be better off investing in Ray of Light and Music. ME

VARIOUS ARTISTS If I was Prince Rex Records

TEXT 3

NEVER mind If I Was Prince; these days most of us rather wish that Prince was Prince –you know, the old funky impossibly talented one. Perhaps the best we can hope for is a tribute album that sends us off to the P section of our CD stacks to play his albums again with a fresh sense of discovery. Well, what do you know –here is one. It demonstrates that Prince managed the amazing trick of being totally avant-garde and yet selling zillions of records. So thank you Broadway Project, Fort Lauderdale, Simian, Misty Dixon and, indeed, Rex Records for shining fresh light on the man’s work.

INGLÉS. Certificado de Aptitud. Comprensión de lectura. IN CS CL M1B

MINOTAUR SHOCK Chiff-Chaffs & Willow Warblers Melodic Melo 009CD

TEXT 4

ONE MAN´S ambient music is another man’s aimless noodling, and this debut from Bristol’s David Edwards will no doubt excite both responses. There are moments, where the machinery coheres to create mystery and even suspense. Moray Arrival catches this perfectly, with pizzicato, a ghostly keyboard motif and restless, clattering percussion building tension out of the simplest of ingredients, before the introduction of a spaghetti-western trumpet herald, a steel band and a Kraftwerkian bass synth drags the track into a beguiling chaos. And Local Violin Shop uses the barest of piano figures to underpin a duel between Spanish guitar and fresh-jazz drum improv, to thrilling effect. Very nice indeed. DC

REBECCA HOLLWEG June Babies Emu EMU 02

TEXT 5

FAR REMOVED from the mainstream, there labour a small army of musicians who survive on a shoestring yet continue to turn up for the love of it –singers such as Rebecca Hollweg, whose album has been a long time coming, and proves well worth the wait. In likening her intimate musings on love, ambition and camaraderie to Joni Mitchell or Suzanne Vega, there is a danger that leaves Hollweg herself out of the equation. It includes the bare-bones upcloseness of Where Are You Going? And the wryly observational Is It Me You Are Looking For? You won’t see this advertised on television, but since when has that been a guarantee of quality? DC Adapted from: © THE SUNDAY TIMES

A A long-awaited release that deserves to be purchased.

TEXT HEADING

H

9

B Good stuff to revisit the artist’s craftsmanship.

0.-

C It might be worth buying but only if you are not acquainted with the band’s songs.

1.-

9

D It pays off as it shows the real artist at his/her prime.

2.-

9

E The album presents a well selected recollection of this composer’s hits.

3.-

9

F This CD successfully displays some of the singer’s old themes.

4.-

9

G This release is not the best this singer has on the market.

5.-

9

H Unfortunately it will be both the best and last of her albums. I

Variety is this album’s most conspicuous feature.