Page 40 - index

2024 ‫מועד אביב‬ - 39 - ‫ פרק ראשון‬- ‫אנגלית‬

Reading Comprehension

This part consists of two passages, each followed by several related questions. For each
question, choose the most appropriate answer based on the text.

Text I (Questions 13-17)

(1) When someone describes a kind person as "having a heart of gold", they are quoting
from William Shakespeare's play Henry V. Encouraging someone to "break the ice" in
an awkward social situation is borrowing from The Taming of the Shrew. The English
language as we know it owes a great debt to the preeminent playwright, who introduced

(5) hundreds of previously unknown words and phrases into its lexicon.

Shakespeare greatly enhanced the English language by altering existing words to
create new ones. One type of manipulation involved combining two words to create a
new term, for example, the word "watchdog" in reference to a person who tries to
prevent wrong or illegal activity. Another strategy Shakespeare employed was using

(10) nouns as verbs. He was the first person to use "friend" as a verb, predating Facebook by
almost 400 years. Shakespeare also anglicized words from foreign languages: for
example the word "critic", which he derived from the Greek kritikos, meaning to judge
or decide. He was also fond of adding prefixes and suffixes to existing words.
According to James Shapiro of Columbia University, Shakespeare invented the words

(15) unaware, uncomfortable, uneducated, fashionable, and worthless, all of which are now
deeply engrained in modern vernacular.

Esteemed Shakespearean scholar David Crystal asserts that "Shakespeare teaches us
to dare to be creative, to push the rules a little bit. If the word isn't there, make one up."
And indeed, the English language continues to evolve. In 2013, "selfie" was named

(20) the word of the year by the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary, a choice
Shakespeare would undoubtedly have approved of.

Questions

13. An appropriate title for the text would be -

(1) From Shakespeare to Facebook: The History of the English Language
(2) The Plays of William Shakespeare: Language Perfected
(3) Evidence of Greatness: Shakespeare's Language Reinterpreted
(4) Lessons from Shakespeare: Helping the English Language to Evolve

)‫© כל הזכויות שמורות למרכז ארצי לבחינות ולהערכה (ע"ר‬
.‫ בלא אישור בכתב מהמרכז הארצי לבחינות ולהערכה‬- ‫ כולה או חלקים ממנה‬- ‫ או ללמדה‬,‫אין להעתיק או להפיץ בחינה זו או קטעים ממנה בכל צורה ובכל אמצעי‬