PROVA DE INGLÊS - UEMG 2014

   The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower

Paris, 1925. World War I had finished and the city was full of people with cash looking for business opportunities. Victor Lustig was reading the newspaper one day and found an article about the Eiffel Tower. It said the tower was being neglected because it was too expensive to maintain. Lustig a great ‘business opportunity’ – he would sell the Eiffel Tower!

Lustig wrote to six important businessmen in the city and invited them to a secret meeting in a well-known Paris hotel. He said he was a government official and he told them that he wanted to talk about a business deal. All six of the businessmen came to the meeting.

At the meeting, Lustig told them that the city wanted to sell the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal and that he had been asked to find a buyer. He said that the deal was secret because it would not be popular with the public. The businessmen believed him, perhaps the Eiffel Tower was never planned to be permanent. It had been built as part of the 1889 Paris Expo, and the original plan had been to remove it in 1909.

Lustig rented a limousine and took the men to visit the tower. After the tour, he said that if they were interested, they should contact him the next day. Lustig told them he would give the tower contract to the person with highest offer. One of the dealers, Andre Poisson, was very interested, but he was also worried. Why was Lustig in such a hurry?

The two men had a meeting, and Lustig confessed that he wasn’t looking for the highest offer. He said he would give the contract to anybody – for a price. Poisson understood: Lustig wanted a little extra money “under the table” for himself. This was Lustig’s cleverest lie, because now Poisson believed him completely.

Lustig sold Poisson a false contract for the Eiffel Tower – and on top of that, Poisson paid him a little extra money “under the table”.

Lustig put all the money in a suitcase and took the first train to Vienna. Poisson never told the police what had happened – he was too embarrassed. After a month, Lustig returned to Paris and tried to sell the Eiffel Tower again, but this time somebody told the police and he had to escape to America. There, he continued his criminal career and finished his days in the famous Alcatraz prison.

(Oxford UP 2009 - English Result, p.62. Adapted.)

1. According to the text, Victor Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower because

a) he intended to sell the scrap metal of the tower.

b) it was too expensive for him to maintain the monument.

c) some investors approached him with the interest in buying the tower.

d) he had the intention to make a profit.                     

Read the extract below:

"At the meeting, Lustig told them that the city wanted to sell the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal and that he had been asked to find a buyer."

2. Which of the alternatives below cannot be considered a synonym for the word scrap?

a) Discarded.

b) Waste.

c) Inexpensive.

d) Leftover.

Read the reported sentence below, from the text.

Lustig told them he would give the tower contract to the person with the highest offer.

3. Which of the alternatives below corresponds to Lustig’s direct speech?

a) “I will give the tower contract to the person with the highest offer”.

b) “I would give the tower contract to the person with the highest offer”.

c) “I shall give the tower contract to the person with the highest offer”.

d) “I could give the tower contract to the person with the highest offer”.

4.The expression “under the table”, related to the money that Victor Lustig wanted, means:

a) acknowledged.

b) clandestine.

c) evident.

d) unconcealed.

                     

In the sentence “The two men had a meeting, and Lustig confessed that he wasn’t looking for the highest offer”, the expression the highest is a superlative.

Read the following adjectives:  cheap - tall - good - smart

5. Which of the sequences below has the correct superlative form of the adjectives above?

a) the cheapest - the tallest - the goodest - the smartiest

b) the cheapiest - the tallest - the best - the smartest

c) the cheapest - the talliest - the goodest - the smartiest

d) the cheapest - the tallest - the best - the smartest

Read the sentences below:

• Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower.

• He went to Vienna.

6. According to the text, which actions in the sentences below occur in the correct order?

a) Lustig was in Vienna when he sold the Eiffel Tower.

b) Lustig went to Vienna after he had sold the Eiffel Tower.

c) Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower as soon as he had gone to Vienna.

d) By the time Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower, he was in Vienna.

PROVA DE INGLÊS - IFPE 2013

Scotland: a land of contrasts

Scotland provides superb opportunities to enjoy wild and grand scenery which is even more impressive than the postcards suggest. It also offers towns and cities with a rich cultural life, a good mix of accommodation and places to eat and drink. Friendly and welcoming, it is an interesting and colorful all-season destination, where landscapes and the environment, sport and leisure pursuits, heritage and history, culture and cuisine are all part of a rewarding experience. The best reason for choosing to go on holiday to Scotland is this: is one of the last places inside the crowded and frenetic European Union where it is possible to be alone isolated countryside. This is not to say that Scotland, like everywhere else, does not have its tourist traps, its crowded roads or its popular beauty spots. But it is relatively easy to escape from them. It would be a mistake to think that Scotland is merely an extension of England.

Indeed, no attitude is capable of causing greater offence to the Scots. They successfully resisted English attempts at domination for seven hundred years, and many differences between the two countries persist. Scotland's history, embodied in its castles, battlefields, and ancient links with France, Flanders and Scandinavia, is special.

(My Own Resources ESL/EFL – www.miguelmllop.com)

                                   

1. Scotland is:

a) full of lively towns and cities.

b) similar to many other countries in Europe.

c) not so impressive as postcards suggest.

d) just friendly and welcoming all seasons.

e) simply a tourist trap and a crowded road.

                                   

2. In Scotland, tourists:

a) are always alone in the country.

b) don’t have any problem to walk all around.

c) can see some castles and battlefields.

d) can be sure that it is just an extension of England.

e) are not able to escape from the tourist traps.

4. A synonym for the word mistake is:

a) error

b) place

c) correction

d) perfection

e) tendency

4. Indeed is the same as:

a) in fact

b) nowadays

c) fortunately

d) unlikely

e) probably

5. The word embodied means:

a) dead

b) closed

c) painted

d) personified

e) finished