You are going to read a text on the life of a famous person. For questions 1-15, read the text below and decide which answer (А, В, or С) best fits each gap.
Caxton was the first English printer and a translator and importer of books into England.
Caxton was born in around 1422 in Kent. He went to London at the age of 16 (1) an apprentice a merchant, later moving to Bruges, the centre of the wool trade, where he became a successful and important member of the merchant community. From 1462 to 1470 he served as governor of the ‘English Nation of Merchant Adventurers’, which allowed (2) his (3) merchants, as well as act as a diplomat for the king.
Caxton affiliated (4) with the household of Margaret, the duchess of Burgundy, sister of the English king Edward IV. She became one of his most important patrons and (5) him with his translation of ‘The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye’ from French to English. In (6) early 1470s Caxton spent time in Cologne learning the art of printing. He returned to Bruges in 1472 where he and Colard Mansion, a Flemish calligrapher, created and started a press. Caxton’s own translation of ‘The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye’ was the first book printed in the English language.
In 1476 Caxton returned to London and (7) a press at Westminster, the first printing press in England. (8) the books he printed were Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’, Gower’s ‘Confession Amantis’ and Malory’s ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’. He printed more than 100 books in his (9) . He was also the translator of many of the books he published, using his knowledge of French, Latin and Dutch.
(10) a pioneer of printing in England, Caxton showed no great typographical originality and produced (11) books of remarkable beauty. Kings, nobles, and rich merchants were Caxton’s patrons and sometimes commissioned special books. His varied (12) – including books of chivalric romance, conduct, morality, history, and philosophy and an encyclopaedia, ‘The Myrrour of the Worlde’ (1481), the first illustrated English book – shows that he catered also (13) a general public. The large number of service books and (14) works published by Caxton were the staple reading of most (15) persons.
|
1
|
A. become
|
B. becoming
|
C. to become
|
|
2
|
A. him represent
|
B. him to represent
|
C. to represent
|
|
3
|
A. fellow
|
B. mate
|
C. bloke
|
|
4
|
A. him
|
B. –
|
C. himself
|
|
5
|
A. encouraged
|
B. praised
|
C. admired
|
|
6
|
A. an
|
B. the
|
C. –
|
|
7
|
A. established
|
B. found
|
C. set
|
|
8
|
A. Amidst
|
B. Between
|
C. Amongst
|
|
9
|
A. lifetime
|
B. lifelong
|
C. life expectancy
|
|
10
|
A. Despite
|
B. Although
|
C. In spite of
|
|
11
|
A. little
|
B. none
|
C. no
|
|
12
|
A. produce
|
B. output
|
C. result
|
|
13
|
A. to
|
B. of
|
C. at
|
|
14
|
A. devotion
|
B. devoted
|
C. devotional
|
|
15
|
A. literate
|
B. literal
|
C. literary
|
