Part 1

Read the text and answer the questions below.

Build a medieval castle

A Michel Guyot, curator and restorer of Saint Fargeau castle in France, first had the idea of building a 13th-century style fortress following the discovery that the 15th-century red brick of his castle obscured the stone walls of a much older stronghold. His dream was to build a castle just as it would have been in the Middle Ages, an idea which some found mildly amusing and others dismissed as folly. However, Marylise Maire, project director, was inspired by the exciting potential for the venture to re-ignite the public’s interest in local heritage by bringing together archaeologists and craftspeople of different disciplines: architects, stonemasons and blacksmiths. A site in the heart of Burgundy was found where the soil offered all the resources required for building a castle – a stone quarry, oak forest and a water supply that is sufficient to satisfy the demands of this gigantic site. The first team started work and on June 20th 1997 the first stone was laid.

B Unlike any other present-day building site, Michel Guyot’s purpose is clear: he warmly welcomes members of the public to participate. The workers’ role is to demonstrate and explain to a wide audience the skills of their forefathers. Stone quarrying, the building of vaulted ceilings, the blacksmith’s work and the raising of roof timbers are just some of the activities which visitors can witness during a visit to Guédelon. The workers are always on hand to talk about their craft and the progress of the castle. Each year 60,000 children visit Guédelon with their schools. The site is an excellent educational resource, bringing to life the history of the Middle Ages. Arranged tours are tailored to the school curriculum and, according to age groups, activity trails for primary school children and interactive guided tours for secondary school children. People of all ages have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of medieval craftsmen by taking part in a craft workshop or discover the secrets of the medieval master-builders at the geometry workshop.

C Workers in the Burgundy region of France are building a 13th-century castle. They’re not restoring an old castle. They’re actually building a new old castle. See the builders are constructing it from scratch. The craftsmen have been working for nearly ten years now but they’re not even halfway done yet. That’s because they are using only medieval tools and techniques. The World’s Terry Hadle takes us to the site of what will be the Guédelon Castle. Another reason, said Jean-François, a member of Guédelon castle’s crew, for eight hours a day he hangs on a 13th-century clock with a 13th-century calendar.

D The progress of construction has to give way to tourists for their visits. The visitors from 2018, however, unwittingly they may be, are vital to the project. The initial funding came from pillaging the local peasantry but then regional councils, European funds and large companies. For the last 10 years, Guédelon, 100 miles southeast of Paris, has funded itself from its entrance fees. Last year it had a record 300,000 visitors, who paid almost €2.5 m, making it the second most visited site in Burgundy. The most visited site was the Hospices de Beaune, a beautiful 15th-century almshouse built 600 years before, or if you prefer, 200 years “after” Guédelon.

E Limestone is found in the construction of various local buildings from the great and prestigious edifice of royal castles to the more modest peasant houses. These contain 30–40% sandstone that make it extremely hard to extract and dislodge inside the block in order to determine and anticipate the natural fault line of the stone. The quarrymen first carve a series of rectangular holes into the block; wedges are then hammered into the line of holes. The checkmarks produced by the quarrymen’s chisels create the cleft to split along a straight line. The highest quality blocks are dressed to produce lintels, voussoirs, corbels, consoles etc. The medium quality blocks are roughly shaped by the stonemasons and used as the associated curtain wall at Guédelon on the castle’s outer walls. There are water-filled clay pits in the forest. Clay is taken from these pits, cleaned and pugged; it is then shaped in wooden moulds to form bricks. After the bricks have been left to air-dry they are fired in a wood-fired kiln for about 12 hours at roughly 1000°C.

F The mortar or “glue” used to bind the castle’s structure is made up of particles of limestone and water. The people working there wear the tunic, scrip and hoods that they might have worn, but they wear these over jeans and shirts with reinforced safety boots. They use their mortar primarily as they would have done therefore they dig themselves; they are not allowed to use the extremely effective but non-medieval hydraulic lime, that is factory-made and they add a modern chemical ingredient to achieve the same effect. Workers in the Middle Age obviously were unaware of it and used mortar by slaking quicklime, but many medieval workpeople did not pretend to be anything but modern humans practising an old technique and finding out what it would have been like as much as possible to do it with only the resources of an older time.

G We also learned that even if there is a straight lintel above a door, workmen will usually find an arch of stone built into the wall above. Because of the physics of an arch, which channels the weight above it down into whatever is supporting it at each side instead of pressing down in the middle like a lintel, helps to take a lot of the weight off of the lintel (whether it is free-standing or built in the wall against the impact of warfare). The arch is the strongest element for spanning space in stone architecture. That is why ancient masons will often find the centre wall encircled and the arched windows and doorways still standing, beautiful patterns against the sky.

Questions 1–4

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 1–4 on your answer sheet, write TRUE FALSE NOT GIVEN

1 The French people would not abandon his idea in favour of a realistic castle.

2 One aim of the castle is to show the ancestral achievement to public.

3 Short lifespan of workmen was due to unsafe heating.

4 Stones were laid not as a straight line archway to avoid collapsing or collapsing.

Questions 5–10

Summary Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using ONE word from the following options for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 5–10 on your answer sheet.

Limestone Processing

When 5 ______ found suitable castle block, they began to carve lines of 6 ______ into its 7 ______ and generated checkmarks to make stone 8 ______. Different qualities of blocks would be used at different place of castle. On the other hand, 9 ______ were shaped from clay as a result 10 ______ and went through a process of 11 ______ for about 12 hours.

A metal wedges B hammer handle C lith D masons E patterns F heating G blocks H wood I hammers J split K quarries L holes

Questions 11–13

Choose THREE correct letters, A–G. Write your answers in boxes 11–13 on your answer sheet.

Why does the castle building project last 10 years for just half progress? A They lack enough funds. B Guédelon castle needs a time-consuming design. C Workers obeyed modern working hours. D Their progress were delayed by unpredictable weather. E Guédelon castle needs to receive valuable visitors. F They used old techniques and tools. G Stone processing needs more labour and time.