SOLVE COMPUTER BASED READING AND LISTENING ON OUR WEBSITE
SECTION 1
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 1-13 which
are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
THE BATTLE OF TOWTON
March 29th, 1461, in tiny Towton
was one of the bloodiest days in English history, yet only recently have a
small number of soldiers’ bodies undergone exhumation and examination. Several
thousand still lie buried in mass graves on the battlefield. Early analysis of
the remains has led to a reassessment of medieval warfare.
Towton, a village in the north of
England, between York and Leeds, is unknown to many English people. History
taught at school largely ignores the mid-15th century. Towton itself has
neither museum nor large memorial, merely a roadside cross to mark where the
battle took place.
In 1996, a building nearby called
Towton Hall was being renovated when labourers unearthed skeletons in its
grounds and beneath its floor. Twenty-eight of these were complete; another 20
or so were partial. What shocked archaeologists were the violent way in which
the men had met their deaths and the callous manner of their burial. We are all
familiar with the gory wars of the 20th century and might assume that
technology and politics have become more destructive over time. However, it
could be the case that humans have long been vicious – only now is the evidence
coming to light.
So what was the Battle of Towton?
It was one clash of many between two powerful families –the Lancastrians and
the Yorkists – who each wanted their king to rule England. The Lan castrians
believed the current King of England, Henry VI, was incapable if not insane,
whereas the Yorkists, led by Richard Plantagenet, supported Henry since he had
chosen Richard as the next king. When Richard was killed in 1460, his son
Edward, only 18, vowed to assume the throne in his father’s place. Needless to
say, the Lancastrians disputed this. Effectively, the Battle of Towton would
legitimate Edward’s reign.
Prior to Towton, military
encounters in England had been small-scale: battles were fought with hundreds
or at most a few thousand men, and no army was professional. In so-called
peacetime, private armies consisted of men – ranging in age from 15 to 50 –
whose levels of fitness were variable, and whose training and equipment was
poor. This meant that when fighting did erupt, it seldom lasted long – perhaps
just a few days. Nor were many men killed. In fact, there is evidence that more
men died from their wounds or other illnesses after combat. Towton it seems was
different, for here was a battle in which both sides assembled large armies,
and there were terrible casualties in the field.
The number of soldiers killed at
Towton is a matter of speculation as few records have come down to us, and
those that do survive may have exaggerated the victory of King Edward IV, as
Edward became, in order to intimidate his enemies. One estimate of the dead is
28,000 out of the 75,000 soldiers who took part. These 75,000 represent 10% of
all fighting-age men in England at the time – the total population being just
three million. Twenty-eight thousand dead on one day is, therefore, a
staggering number.
As injuries show on the skeletons
of soldiers already studied, those men were hacked to death, shot by arrows, or
trampled by horses. Some of the first bullets used in England were fired that
day. Lead-composite shot has been dug up on the battlefield, and one
archaeologist claims to have found part of a handgun, but there are no obvious
deaths from guns, and it is hard to say how they were used. The most effective
weapon was the poleaxe – a long, heavy iron weapon with a sharp tip, a small
axe blade on one side and, on the other, a large sharp head like a Philips-head
screwdriver. It was used to kill soldiers who were running away as battle lines
broke up, and it is thought this is how most of the Lancastrians buried at
Towton Hall died.
It is not known why the death
rate in this battle was so high, nor why the bodies of soldiers were so
disfigured. Skeletal evidence indicates that often a dozen blows were given to
a man who would have been killed by the initial two or three. Archaeologists
are uncertain when these additional blows were made – on the battlefield or in
the burial process – but such savagery suggests the emergence of a new concept
of an opponent as not merely someone to kill but someone whose identity should
be utterly effaced. After death, in a ritual never before seen in English
warfare, soldiers were stripped of their clothes and tossed into mass graves to
further dehumanise them.
It is easy to forget that in
medieval England burial was sacred, and people believed ascent to Heaven only
took place when the body of the dead was whole. In all Europe, there is only
one other known mass grave on the scale of Towton from around the same time –
that is in Sweden from 1361. There, however, soldiers from the Battle of Wisby
were buried whole in their armour.
It appears that the savagery of
the Yorkists did effect submission since Edward remained king for the next 22
years.
Today, at Towton, work continues
on excavation and analysis of the medieval skeletons. Theories about a new kind
of violent warfare and the purpose of mass graves abound. It seems that
organised brutality is no recent phenomenon; it existed 550 years ago.
Questions 1-5
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Write
your answers in boxes 1-5 on your
answer sheet.
The battlefield at Towton in
northern England has only recently been surveyed and excavated.
Archaeologists are now looking at
medieval 1 .........................
in a new way. Although a major battle took place at Towton, this is not popular
knowledge for English people as the battle is not studied at 2 ...........................
In 1996, soldiers’ skeletons were
found under a building near Towton. 3...........................
of these had all their bones. This meant archaeologists could accurately
determine how the soldiers had died. The archaeologists were very surprised by
the 4 .........................
means of death, and the uncaring method of 5
..........................
Questions 6-9
What are the following statements
according to information in the passage?
In
boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet,
write:
TRUE
if the statement agrees
with the information
FALSE
if the statement
contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no
information on this
6 The
Battle of Towton was part of a war between two families seeking control over
England.
7
Soldiers who fought at Towton were better
trained than in the past.
8
Ten percent of all soldiers in England died
at Towton.
9
Guns killed many soldiers at Towton.
Questions 10-13
Choose the correct letter: A, B,
C, or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet. 10
Most Lancastrians were killed A fleeing the Yorkists.
B at
Towton Hall.
C in
prison.
D fighting
in lines on the battlefield.
11 At
Towton, it is likely soldiers’ bodies were cut up and buried in mass graves A
as this was common practice at the time.
B because
King Edward IV was against religion.
C since
Yorkists hated Lancastrians.
D so
opponents of King Edward IV would live in fear.
12 Soldiers
who died in a Swedish battle in 1361 A were also killed with poleaxes.
B went
to Heaven.
C were
buried in individual graves.
D were
buried more respectfully.
13 A
suitable title for this passage would be:
A Towton:
a forgotten battle in English history
B The
horrors of warfare in an age before guns
C Modern
savagery in medieval Towton
D Towton:
a turning point in military techniques
ANSWER
1. warfare
2. school
3. 28/Twenty-eight
(capital optional)
4. violent
5. burial
6. TRUE
7. NOT
GIVEN
8. FALSE
9. FALSE
10. A
11. D
12. D
13. C
PASSWORD: ieltsonestopcbt
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