Вариант 9

You are going to read a newspaper article on education. Read the text and answer the questions that follow. Decide whether each statement is True or False and provide your arguments drawn from the text to justify your choice. The proof should be given in your own words.

I went to Russia with the intention of “learning the basics”. This was my first mistake: you can’t just “pick up” Russian. I met expats who’d been there for years and still cannot order a coffee. Unlike French, it requires much more discipline and dedication. You need someone to explain its nuances to you in simple terms – you need a teacher.

Three months ago, I started French and Russian ab initio, meaning with no A-level or the equivalent, at Cambridge University. I arrived at the college gates excited to start studying a language I’d been obsessing over for some time. I’d been hesitant to take classes beforehand, having been warned that beginners should arrive totally fresh, without the burden of bad habits or poor teaching. Unlike other ab initio students, who have a year to cover the basics, we were given just eight weeks.

This is the course’s mission statement but the reality is far from it. On the face of it, to try and get to A-level in eight weeks does make some sense. The sooner you learn, the sooner you can get to the interesting stuff: tales of princes, firebirds and baba yagas; the works of Bulgakov and Tolstoy; the unimaginable horrors of the gulags, and exciting updates on Pussy Riot and Putin.

But it is totally impossible in practice. Right now, I hardly have enough knowledge to pass a GCSE let alone an A-level. I’ve found the intensity of the course utterly frustrating.

The linguistic skills required for ab initio Russian are very particular – one must be able to understand the nuts and bolts of language before attempting the challenge. The alphabet is just the smallest hurdle. The grammar, with its aspects and verbs of motion, is a hideous vortex of complexity.

My teacher says the golden rule of Russian is to surrender to the fact that it’s totally illogical. When you use a word you have to accept that it’s going to morph into a different form; a mischievous beast of inflected endings and gender agreements.

If you want to fight its mind games, you’ve got to treat it as if it’s a religion. At daybreak, the first thing you do is to tune into Radio Echo Moskvy. The point isn’t that you understand but that you immerse yourself in the lilt of the words – you’ve been assured, on several occasions, that this is the secret to learning a new language. Your day is devoted to conjugating and declining; translating and deciphering. Come evening, you engage in the daily vocabulary ritual – repeating each word 15 times and creating “context” sentences.

Despite the difficulties, my time in Russia left me with a hidden advantage: I know that I want to do it. I was only in Moscow for the winter, but it was enough time to get over the initial culture-shock – it’s not an easy place to be but I now love it with all my heart.

If you want to start a language from scratch, make no mistake: you’ll be the last one in the library at night, murmuring to yourself in some exotic tongue whilst everyone else is out enjoying themselves. You’ll be the one most likely to get a restraining order after chasing an unsuspecting foreigner down the street “just to listen”.

You’ll be the one whose party trick is to count to 100 in Arabic or to swear in Mandarin. Fellow linguists, you know how hard it is: to be completely misunderstood wherever you go is tiresome. You’ve got to be crazy, but if you love it enough, it’s worth the work.

1-5. Choose whether the statements are True (T) or False (F) and, to justify your choice, provide your proof from the text in your own words.

Example : (0) The statement is true because the narrator has never read a single book in the original and has not demonstrated any interest in the subject.