Look at the gaps marked 1–4 in the text and decide where the following sentence best fits in the passage. Walking along the corridor he traced the genealogy of this feeling of resentment.
TASK 4. (0–7)
You are going to read two texts connected with employment. For questions 4.1.–4.7.,
choose the answer that best matches the text and circle the appropriate letter
(A, B, C or D).
Text 1
A DREAM COMPANY
A mega-store demands a mega-building. When Levi’s employers blew into Boston seven
years ago, several nineteenth-century structures were considered. The best was the old
municipal library in which one opened the doors by twisting an iron hoop with both hands.
Now those twelve-foot oak doors have been replaced by glass panels that silently part when
people approach. Levi walked through these and touched fists with Marlon and Big James in
security. [ 1 ] He took the elevator to the basement storeroom to change into the branded
T-shirt, baseball cap and the cheap skinny-legged, tapered ankle black polyester jogging
pants they made him wear. Then he went up to the fourth floor and made his way to his
section, eyes to the floor, following the repeated brand logo in the synthetic carpet underfoot.
He was angry. He started to realize he’d been let down. [ 2 ] He had taken this Saturday job
in good faith, having always admired the global brand behind these stores, the scope and
ambition of their vision. He had been particularly impressed by this statement on the
application form:
Our company are part of a family rather than a hierarchy. In a sense we are a community, with
shared ideas, values, interests and goals. The proof of our success is real and tangible. Be part
of it.
He had wanted to be part of it. [ 3 ] Levi liked the way the mythical British guy who owned the
brand was like a graffiti artist, tagging the world. Planes, finance, soft drinks, music, cell
phones, vacations, bridal wear – anything with a surface that would take his simple bold logo.
That was the kind of thing Levi wanted to do one day.
He’d figured out that it wasn’t such a bad idea to get a little sales assistant job with this
enormous firm, if only to see how their operation worked from the inside. Watch, learn,
supplant – Machiavelli style. Even when it turned out to be tough work for bad pay, he’d
stuck with it. Because he believed that he was part of a family whose success was real and
tangible, despite the $6.89 an hour he was being paid. [ 4 ] Then out of nowhere this
morning he received a message on his pager from Tom, a nice guy from the Folk Music
section. According to Tom, there was a rumour going around that the floor manager, Bailey,
required all floor and counter staff to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It then struck
Levi that he’d never seriously considered precisely what his employer really meant by these
shared ideas, values, interests and goals in which he and Tom and Candy and Gloria and all
the rest supposedly partook.
Adapted from: On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Strona 6 z 20 EJAA-D0-100
4.1. Look at the gaps marked 1–4 in the text and decide where the following sentence
best fits in the passage.
Walking along the corridor he traced the genealogy of this feeling of resentment.
A. In the space marked [ 1 ].
B. In the space marked [ 2 ].
C. In the space marked [ 3 ].
D. In the space marked [ 4 ].
4.2. Which is TRUE about the building where Levi worked?
A. It was the only option available for the company's premises.
B. It was not originally designed for its present purpose.
C. Its massive wooden doors were iconic of the store.
D. It was a long structure with a single storey.
4.3. According to the text, what did Levi consider an advantage of working for the
company?
A. It offered attractive perks for its employees.
B. Initially, he found it both a profitable and engaging experience.
C. He thought that it would benefit his future career.
D. He felt pampered by the supervisors.
4.4. What caused Levi’s negative emotions?
A. the lack of transparency in the application process
B. the branded outfit the company required him to wear
C. the fact he had been offered only part-time employment
D. the inconsistency between the company’s claims and practice
EJAA-D0-100 Strona 7 z 20
Text 2
THE CANVAS
The Canvas was founded in 2014, by actress and puppeteer Ruth Rogers. Ruth’s dream for
The Canvas began in 2007. “When I was 25, I founded a positive body image charity called
Body Gossip. We asked people to share stories about their bodies, which we published and
used to create theatre,” she says. But Ruth wanted to find a way to spread the message
further so she decided to take her white living-room sofa to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
and ask passers-by to write one sentence about their bodies on the sofa. She was touched
by the outcome. People wrote really beautiful, honest things that they had never said before.
The sofa toured the country and inspired Ruth to devise a more permanent space. She
wanted to create a venue where the canvas was the walls themselves, with questions about
happiness, wellbeing and community written on them. And so, The Canvas was born – ‘a
blank canvas for positivity’ in the form of a café and community enterprise.
But there’s much more to it than just coffee and cake. “We enable and support the launch of
community ideas, such as the Museum of Happiness and Mike’s Table that provide
restaurant-quality meals for refugees. We make sure the ideas we host are in accordance
with our values of fairness and tolerance. It’s a business model based on generosity. Our
space is safe, accessible and open to everyone. It draws people through the doors and all
they need to do is buy a coffee to help keep us going,” Ruth says.
How does she choose employees who support The Canvas ethos? “When we hire, we don’t
ask people to come and work in a café. We ask people if they want to work for a positive,
creatively driven social enterprise that’s helping new ideas get off the ground where they’ll
also be serving coffee and cake.” Recently, Ruth has started working from home more, and
she enjoys having undisturbed time to connect over email with customers. She receives
emails from people saying how much they love the idea of The Canvas and feel they’ve
found somewhere they belong. “I try not to be there all the time. I work better when I’m a little
bit distanced. I like blue-sky thinking, but if I’m in the middle of it, then I micromanage and
I can’t see the wood for the trees.”
“When I look back I realise that I was so naive about what was needed to start a business,”
she says. “To be honest, I don’t think I knew what my vision for The Canvas was at first.
Now, the idea is so much more formed. Setting it up, for the first time in my life, I felt hectic
anxiety. I was talking to electricians, estate agents and plumbers – I felt completely out of my
depth. At the start, you have to be a technician, a manager and an entrepreneur. For the first
two years, I was closing the café most nights, managing all the admin work and doing odd
jobs that I’m not really right for,” she recalls. “It’s a long journey. You take a step back, then
jump in again, then take a small step back. It’s hard knowing I’m doing a job that I’m not
always suited to, but I can’t afford to hire someone else to totally take over those parts.”
Ruth would love to open more places like The Canvas in other cities across the UK and she
hopes they will thrive.
Adapted from: www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk
Strona 8 z 20 EJAA-D0-100
4.5. What is the idea behind The Canvas?
A. satisfying Ruth’s artistic ambitions
B. opening a café selling unique brands of coffee
C. creating a place which promotes social values
D. launching a business to take advantage of an economic boom
4.6. Which is not mentioned in the third paragraph?
A. an advantage of managing the café from home
B. duties her employees are expected to perform
C. people’s appreciation for the place she created
D. the academic qualifications Ruth requires from potential employees
4.7. Ruth uses the phrase I felt completely out of my depth to show that she was
A. overwhelmed by unfamiliar tasks she had to perform.
B. too confused to recognize her priorities.
C. anxious she wouldn’t manage to meet her deadlines.
D. disillusioned with being an entrepreneur.
TRANSFER YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ANSWER SHEET!
EJAA-D0-100 Strona 9 z 20