In short, Virginia Woolf suggests that time exists in different forms. It exists in the external world, but also — and perhaps more importantly — in our internal world. Her description of the loud and rushing civilization suggests that we push ahead in the name of progress, without fully appreciating the moment. Through the character of Clarissa, Woolf challenges the usual definition of success. Perhaps we need not leave some magnificent gift behind in the form of a building or a concrete art piece. Instead, maybe it is how we live our lives and our appreciation for the present that are truly more powerful and eternal. The small gifts we offer others, like bringing people together through a party, can touch people differently than a monument.
Woolf’s message about time should be heeded. Our rush to leave a dramatic mark in the world leads to further destruction. Tension abounds in our modern world as we create technology to increase our efficiency. Our civilization tends to see scientific and monumental achievements as the most valid measures of an individual’s success. However, in the process, our communities disintegrate. More and more people complain of feeling alienated. The evidence surrounds us. The internal time that allows us to slow down and be involved with people finds itself dominated by external societal time. Some might find Clarissa Dalloway’s gift to the world to be trivial. However, we need individuals with the ability to pull people together — people with the ability to create community where it no longer exists.
Internet: <prizedwriting.ucdavis.edu> (adapted).
The text conveys the idea that
Woolf believes that external time is more important than internal time.
The changing of the seasons
[1] In Great Britain, from four-year-olds being
bundled off to pre-school to freshers embarking on
their undergraduate studies, autumn has traditionally
[4] been the start of the academic year. But is there any
reason why it should be?
Seemingly not. Plenty of universities —
[7] though primarily the newer ones — now offer dual —
or even triple — entry start dates for undergraduate
courses, and students seem to appreciate the benefits.
[10] But first, a bit of history: what prompted the
original September/October start?
“It could well be that the start of the
[13] Michaelmas term reflected the needs of an agricultural
economy”, says a professor of history at the University
of Buckingham, which operates three undergraduate
[16] start dates and uses the traditional long summer break
as a fourth term.
“Obviously, harvest was the time when
[19] demand for labour was greatest. Without modern
machinery, it was essential to use every hand available
to get the crops in before the weather broke. This
[22] explanation is open to the objection that those going
up to Oxford or Cambridge would have been of a
social status incompatible with manual labour of any
[25] kind. This may have been true from the late 17th
Century to around World War II, but in earlier times
the proportion of undergraduates from quite humble
[28] origins was rather higher.”
The other explanation, he continues,
concerned the need to avoid contact with disease.
[31] “Most epidemics, particularly plague, tended to occur
in the summer months, and towns were especially
vulnerable.” Hence the long vacation away from
[34] centres of learning in July, August and September.
Internet: <www.guardian.co.uk> (adapted).
Based on the text, judge the following item.
July, August and September were months in which the population of Great Britain generally experienced particularly good health.
The changing of the seasons
[1] In Great Britain, from four-year-olds being
bundled off to pre-school to freshers embarking on
their undergraduate studies, autumn has traditionally
[4] been the start of the academic year. But is there any
reason why it should be?
Seemingly not. Plenty of universities —
[7] though primarily the newer ones — now offer dual —
or even triple — entry start dates for undergraduate
courses, and students seem to appreciate the benefits.
[10] But first, a bit of history: what prompted the
original September/October start?
“It could well be that the start of the
[13] Michaelmas term reflected the needs of an agricultural
economy”, says a professor of history at the University
of Buckingham, which operates three undergraduate
[16] start dates and uses the traditional long summer break
as a fourth term.
“Obviously, harvest was the time when
[19] demand for labour was greatest. Without modern
machinery, it was essential to use every hand available
to get the crops in before the weather broke. This
[22] explanation is open to the objection that those going
up to Oxford or Cambridge would have been of a
social status incompatible with manual labour of any
[25] kind. This may have been true from the late 17th
Century to around World War II, but in earlier times
the proportion of undergraduates from quite humble
[28] origins was rather higher.”
The other explanation, he continues,
concerned the need to avoid contact with disease.
[31] “Most epidemics, particularly plague, tended to occur
in the summer months, and towns were especially
vulnerable.” Hence the long vacation away from
[34] centres of learning in July, August and September.
Internet: <www.guardian.co.uk> (adapted).
Based on the text, judge the following item.
The text takes into account seasons of the year in the North Hemisphere.
The changing of the seasons
[1] In Great Britain, from four-year-olds being
bundled off to pre-school to freshers embarking on
their undergraduate studies, autumn has traditionally
[4] been the start of the academic year. But is there any
reason why it should be?
Seemingly not. Plenty of universities —
[7] though primarily the newer ones — now offer dual —
or even triple — entry start dates for undergraduate
courses, and students seem to appreciate the benefits.
[10] But first, a bit of history: what prompted the
original September/October start?
“It could well be that the start of the
[13] Michaelmas term reflected the needs of an agricultural
economy”, says a professor of history at the University
of Buckingham, which operates three undergraduate
[16] start dates and uses the traditional long summer break
as a fourth term.
“Obviously, harvest was the time when
[19] demand for labour was greatest. Without modern
machinery, it was essential to use every hand available
to get the crops in before the weather broke. This
[22] explanation is open to the objection that those going
up to Oxford or Cambridge would have been of a
social status incompatible with manual labour of any
[25] kind. This may have been true from the late 17th
Century to around World War II, but in earlier times
the proportion of undergraduates from quite humble
[28] origins was rather higher.”
The other explanation, he continues,
concerned the need to avoid contact with disease.
[31] “Most epidemics, particularly plague, tended to occur
in the summer months, and towns were especially
vulnerable.” Hence the long vacation away from
[34] centres of learning in July, August and September.
Internet: <www.guardian.co.uk> (adapted).
Based on the text, judge the following item.
In England, the academic year traditionally begins in the fall.
The changing of the seasons
[1] In Great Britain, from four-year-olds being
bundled off to pre-school to freshers embarking on
their undergraduate studies, autumn has traditionally
[4] been the start of the academic year. But is there any
reason why it should be?
Seemingly not. Plenty of universities —
[7] though primarily the newer ones — now offer dual —
or even triple — entry start dates for undergraduate
courses, and students seem to appreciate the benefits.
[10] But first, a bit of history: what prompted the
original September/October start?
“It could well be that the start of the
[13] Michaelmas term reflected the needs of an agricultural
economy”, says a professor of history at the University
of Buckingham, which operates three undergraduate
[16] start dates and uses the traditional long summer break
as a fourth term.
“Obviously, harvest was the time when
[19] demand for labour was greatest. Without modern
machinery, it was essential to use every hand available
to get the crops in before the weather broke. This
[22] explanation is open to the objection that those going
up to Oxford or Cambridge would have been of a
social status incompatible with manual labour of any
[25] kind. This may have been true from the late 17th
Century to around World War II, but in earlier times
the proportion of undergraduates from quite humble
[28] origins was rather higher.”
The other explanation, he continues,
concerned the need to avoid contact with disease.
[31] “Most epidemics, particularly plague, tended to occur
in the summer months, and towns were especially
vulnerable.” Hence the long vacation away from
[34] centres of learning in July, August and September.
Internet: <www.guardian.co.uk> (adapted).
Based on the text, judge the following item.
According to the text, undergraduates tend to prefer universities with a single entry to those with multiple entries.
The changing of the seasons
[1] In Great Britain, from four-year-olds being
bundled off to pre-school to freshers embarking on
their undergraduate studies, autumn has traditionally
[4] been the start of the academic year. But is there any
reason why it should be?
Seemingly not. Plenty of universities —
[7] though primarily the newer ones — now offer dual —
or even triple — entry start dates for undergraduate
courses, and students seem to appreciate the benefits.
[10] But first, a bit of history: what prompted the
original September/October start?
“It could well be that the start of the
[13] Michaelmas term reflected the needs of an agricultural
economy”, says a professor of history at the University
of Buckingham, which operates three undergraduate
[16] start dates and uses the traditional long summer break
as a fourth term.
“Obviously, harvest was the time when
[19] demand for labour was greatest. Without modern
machinery, it was essential to use every hand available
to get the crops in before the weather broke. This
[22] explanation is open to the objection that those going
up to Oxford or Cambridge would have been of a
social status incompatible with manual labour of any
[25] kind. This may have been true from the late 17th
Century to around World War II, but in earlier times
the proportion of undergraduates from quite humble
[28] origins was rather higher.”
The other explanation, he continues,
concerned the need to avoid contact with disease.
[31] “Most epidemics, particularly plague, tended to occur
in the summer months, and towns were especially
vulnerable.” Hence the long vacation away from
[34] centres of learning in July, August and September.
Internet: <www.guardian.co.uk> (adapted).
Based on the text, judge the following item.
Currently, many universities start their terms at two or three different times of the year.