I know , and have had the pleasure , of meeting quite a few teachers of Spanish in various countries via this message board . I studied Spanish up until the age of 19 .
In the UK at 16 years of age we take exams .. when I was younger there was the lowest level ( CSE - Certficate of Secondary Education ),then ( GSE - General Certificate of Education ) , (A-level - Advanced level ) and ( S-level - Special level ) . I passed my Spanish exam , aged 19 at Special Level . I just found , in all my stored papers , my exam paper . I thought it might interest some of the teachers here . It was very very difficult !

University of London GCE Special level - June 1985 ( three hours ) :

1 ) Translate into Spanish :

Kate arrived and said gloomily , ' Ma rang ' .
' She´s well I hope ? '
She shot him a supicious look . ' Why shouldn`t she be ? ' She always has been . Or are you being satirical or something ? I never know for sure . Sometimes you're making fun and I don't absolutely know , it's off-putting . '
' I thought it was interesting ' said Tom , 'Isn't that interesting - not instantly being sure what people mean ? '
' No . It's unsettling . And I wish she wouldn't ring the museum . I've asked her not to . She just says bt darling I always used to ring Hugh at the council , nobody minded at all . And when I say well that was different , he was the head of it all ,, I'm just an assistant and it annoys people to have to come chasing up to the archives to find me , she says well Kate I expect if you you work hard you'll do quite well in the end '
Tom laughed .
'She says why don't we go down this weekend. '
' Why don't we then ? '
' She's got this person from the BBC coming , the one who's doing the programme on Dad . '
' Ah '
' And people for lunch on Sunday '
' What sort of people ? '
' People who live in Wiltshire and find things to do . ' said Kate morosely .
' Where I come from ' , said Tom , ' they go to a lot of trouble not to do anything they haven't got to. '
He had discovered with surprise , on his arrival in the Southern counties , the furious busyness of the professional classes ... If he had asked his father if he was busy , he would have stared in incomprehension : if you were at work , you were at work, and if you were at home , you were at home , and that was all there was to it .

2 ) Compare and contrast the following three poems , paying particular attention to the attitude towards life and death displayed by each poet . Say which poem you prefer and why .

a ) La vida se nos pasa , el tiempo vuela ,
las Parcas van obrando por su estilo ,
Atropos muy apriesa corta el hilo ,
la Muerte hsce msngas desta tela .

Y va ya la cargada navezuela
batida de las ondas deste Nilo ,
el aire vital sopla , arde el pabilo ,
consúmese el humor , muere la vela .

Pasando del peligro a la tormenta ,
de la fortuna al mal y al accidente ,
perdemos , si es perder , tan triste vida .

Y desde vida tal hacemos cuenta
y olvidase la que es eternamente
de gozo incomparable y sin medida .

b ) El tiempo es una llanura
y mi memoría un caballo ,
jínete suyo yo voy
a oscuras por ese campo
sin deternerme en recuerdos
fugaces como relámpagos .
Mi caminar por el tiempo
tan sólo tiene un descanso
en el año de tu muerte
-- isla de luto y de llanto --
Plaza de mármoles fríos
y luna yerta . Me paro
deteniendo mi memoría
desbocada con espanto .
Junto al ciprés de tu sueño
para verte descabalgo .
No son recuerdos , que es vida
y verdadero el diálogo
que contigo tengo , madre ,
cuando aquí nos encontramos .

c) No es el amor quien muere ,
somos nosotros mismos .

Inocencia primera
Abolida en deseo ,
Olvido de sí mismo en otro olvido ,
Ramas entrelazadas ,
¿ Por qué vivir si disparaceís un día ?

Sólo vive quien mira
siempre ante sí los ojos de su aurora ,
Sólo vive quien besa
Aquel cuerpo de ángel que el amor levantara.

Fantasmas de la pena ,
A los lejos , los otros ,
Los que ese amor perdieron ,
Como un recuerdo en sueños ,
Recorriendo las tumbas
Otro vacío estrechan.

Por allá van y gimen ,
Muertos en pie , vidas tras de la piedra ,
Golpeando impotencia ,
Arañando la sombra
Con inútil ternura .

No , no es el amor quien muere .


This was an incredibly hard exam for me and i passed it ( only just ! )






University of London , Gc