UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA TRE LINGUE E CULTURE ...

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA TRE LINGUE E CULTURE STRANIERE PROVA SCRITTA DI INGLESE B2 LCS. All curricula

ANSWER ALL PARTS OF THE EXAMINATION in 2h30min

For Its Motorists, Only Parts of Rom e Prove to Be Eternal By IAN FISHER New York Times,

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ROME, Aug. 28–As a salami salesman, Giorgetti Mincello, 49, has driven his little scooter over the bumpy roads of Rome the equivalent of two-thirds around the equator in the last year. So he considers himself an expert on one atmospheric bit of Roman history that he believes would be better left in the past. "They were fine when there were horses and carriages–there was a smooth surface and a smooth wheel," he said. But now, "When it rains or a car loses oil, it's finished."  Mr. Mincello was thus pleased to see, 100 yards away, that a paving machine had just laid a coat of smooth, bland asphalt on a section of road along the Tiber that, probably for centuries, had been covered with costly, slippery but very pretty cobblestones. "They should have done this a long time ago," he said. "The massacre of the cobblestones," as one Roman official put it, is well under way, part of a city program to lay asphalt on streets that are used mostly by cars, buses and scooters. On pedestrian walkways and piazzas treasured by tourists, like Piazza Venezia, the city has pledged to keep the cobblestones, called sampietrini. (They were supposedly first used around St. Peter's Basilica; there is also lore about St. Peter's having saved as many souls as there are cobblestones in Rome.) Already, with Roman streets nearly empty during the summer holiday, several main strips in the historic center, including sections of the Lungotevere, the ancient road next to the Tiber, have been paved over, a jarring sight, no doubt, for anyone convinced that Rome never changes.  But the surprising thing–in this city concerned as much with "la bella figura" as with its self-image as charmingly, or irritatingly, resistant to the modern world–is that there has not been much outrage. This is not the same as saying Romans prefer asphalt. But with 400,000 scooters in Rome, little public money and impatience for anything that slows traffic, there seems to be resignation that the change might be for the good–if done correctly.

Exam © Mboyd & PDouglas Roma Tre

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"There are other things that make me sad more than this," said Paolo De Manincor, 57, an architect who lives along the Tiber, standing aside fresh asphalt that, a few hours earlier, had been an uneven, rutted stretch of old cobblestone.  "This is a very difficult problem," said Carlo Giavarini, an engineering professor and director of the Center for Cultural Heritage, a preservation institute at La Sapienza University. "I think it's very difficult to balance the technical advantages and safety advantages with aesthetic advantages. Being an engineer, I prefer not to face this kind of problem." For some of the millions of tourists, the repaving seems something of a surrender. After all, the world seems to feel better believing Rome will stay exactly as it is. "Why would you want to mess with antiquity just to make room for modernity?" asked Dominic Fabrizio, 35, a waiter visiting here from Niagara Falls, N.Y. "This is not going to be replaced. Once it's gone, it's gone."  The truth is that the cobblestones, while old, are not ancient. Experts say they were first put in place in the 17th century, when they replaced the larger and older stones still visible on the Appian Way. And, city officials contend, the time had finally come for another change. The city's mayor, Walter Veltroni, has spoken often about the increasing cost of using cobblestones, which he said was roughly double that of asphalt. Giancarlo D'Alessandro, chief of Rome's public works department, gave other reasons: safety for scooters, which often slide out of control on cobblestones, for example, and noise reduction. Also, cobblestones are more rigid and may generate vibrations that damage monuments and buildings. But with tourism a major industry, Mr. D'Alessandro was eager to make the case that paving would not markedly change Rome because the program would be limited to major thoroughfares. Much of the work, he said, is paving streets that were already a patchwork of asphalt and cobblestone, and for years, the city has been paving over

COGNOME:…………………………………………………… NOME:………………………………………………... NO 1°  NO 2°  VO 

cobblestones outside the center and recycling the stones to streets downtown. 14.  "The architectural charm will remain intact, while we give Rome more functionality, modernity," he said. There is, however, at least one man in Rome deeply offended by all this. "It's a political thing, and only political," said Roberto Giacobbi. 15. Mr. Giacobbi, 46, has worked for 28 years as a selciarolo, one of the men who, by hand, break up blocks of volcanic rock into cobblestones of precisely the right size and fit them onto the street. His father did the same work, and with two generations of experience to judge by, Mr. Giacobbi said the art of the cobblestone–and thus making Rome a work of art–is being moved to the margins.

16. Twenty years ago, he said, came the closure of the last of the quarries that produced basalt for true Roman cobblestones. The work was not economical, he said, with cheaper imports coming mostly from China. 17. He disputes the notion that asphalt is cheaper. He said that on average a Roman road needs to be repaved every two years, but that at three piazzas near the Vatican that he fitted with cobblestones 20 years ago, "nothing has moved…" he said. 18. The real issue, he said, is one of "culture," that the world has lost patience for the time it takes to do things by hand. Asphalt takes a few hours. Cobblestones go in slowly, at about 20 to 30 square yards a day. But the reward, he said, is obvious: "The beauty is a stupendous thing," he said. "I wouldn't change it for another material in the world."


I

VOCABULARY

Circle the best-fitting synonym for the highlighted words in the text. Be sure that the correct answer is grammatically correct: 1.

P3

coat

A jacket

B layer

C put

D place

2.

P4

under way

A below level

B interrupted

C underline

D in progress

3.

P4

pledged

A vowed

B disagreed

C say

D helped

4.

P4

lore

A tradition

B joke

C tell

D over

5.

P5

jarring

A nice

B bottle

C unpleasant

D filling

6.

P6

outrage

A away

B indignation

C pleasure

D angry

7.

P10

mess

A disorder

B canteen

C fixed

D interfere

8.

P11

contend

A happy

B compete

C assert

D well-being

9.

P12

roughly

A hardly

B about

C with force

D more

10.

P13

eager

A reluctant

B ready

C close

D impatiently

II

 PARAGRAPH CONTENT

Choose the best titles for the paragraphs, which contain the symbol  . Write in the 5 appropriate paragraph title letters from the right-hand column. Note that there are three extra titles:

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A

Political Move?

Paragraph 3

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B

The Appian Way

Paragraph 6

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C

Covering Up The Past

Paragraph 8

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D

Chinese Politics

Paragraph 11 ____

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Safety vs. Aesthetics

Paragraph 14 ____

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Ancient Cobblestone?

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Public Disapproval

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Lack of Criticism

COHESION

Provide alternatives/synonyms to the following words or expressions. Although there may be more than one possible answer, provide only one: 1.

P2

They

2.

P3

this

3.

P8

4.

P10

this kind of problem here

5.

P11

another change


IV

COMPREHENSION

Answer the following questions about the article in your own words, i.e., without lifting from the text. 1. Why does Mr. Mincello know so much about Roman roads? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. How does he feel about the changes being made to the roads? Why does he feel this way? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3. What does the article say about the origin of sampietrini/cobblestones in Rome? [provide TWO things] ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4. What does the article say about the general public’s reaction to the change? Why is this surprising? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5. What do some tourists think of the change? Do you agree with this opinion? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6.

VO & other CURRICULA ONLY(no TPT!) Compare the various points of view expressed in the article about the changes taking place in Rome. [5 sentences: WRITE ON THE BACK OF THE SHEET IF NECESSARY!]

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TPT students ONLY TRANSLATION

Translate ONLY the five sentences or phrases in heavy type and write your translation in the numbered spaces below. You are writing for a similar, English guidebook..

Il Pantheon (1) Ciò che colpisce il visitatore che arriva al Pantheon è lo straordinario contrasto determinato dalla presenza di un edificio così monumentale in un contesto urbano di scala nettamente inferiore. (2) È un contrasto che a Roma si avverte frequentemente; nasce infatti dalla stratificazione di epoche e di situazioni culturali diverse. (3) Ed è questo ‘effetto sorpresa’ a dare al visitatore l’impressione che quanto sta vedendo non è un’immagine da cartolina, ma il frutto di una scoperta personale. L’iscrizione incisa sulla trabeazione del portico dice che il Pantheon fu costruito dal console Marcus Agrippa, (4) ma in realtà l’edificio che vediamo oggi è il risultato di una totale ricostruzione promossa nel 118 d.C. dall’imperatore Adriano. La rotonda è formata da un muro cilindrico, (5) sormontato da una cupola di dimensione grandiosa, autentico capolavoro dell’ingegneria antica. Con il suo diametro di 43 metri è stata, fino agli inizi di questo secolo, la più grande cupola del mondo.

(from Brengola, P. Guida di Roma, 1984)

NB

l’imperatore Adriano = the Emperor Hadrian ingegneria = engineering

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VI

WRITING ALL CURRICULA [200-250 words]

Choose one of the following and write a well-structured essay (remember to divide your work into paragraphs) A. The article speaks of the difficulty of balancing the old with the new in a city like Rome. Using the ideas from the article as well as your own discuss this problem. You may speak about the specific problem discussed in the article (repaving Roman roads) or the problem in general. OR B. Write about an experience you have had while driving or riding in a car. You may speak about when you learned how to drive, an exciting/frightening experience you have had, etc.