Early occupations around the river Thames

A. In her pioneering survey, Sources of London English, Laura Wright has listed the variety of
medieval workers who took their livings from the river Thames. The baillies of Queenhithe and
Billingsgate acted as customs officers. There were conservators, who were responsible for
maintaining the embankments and the weirs, and there were the garthmen who worked in the fish
garths (enclosures). Then there were galleymen and lightermen and shoutmen, called after the
names of their boats, and there were hookers who were named after the manner in which they
caught their fish. The searcher patrolled the Thames in search of illegal fish weirs, and the
tideman worked on its banks and foreshores whenever the tide permitted him to do so.
B. All of these occupations persisted for many centuries, as did those jobs that depended upon
the trade of the river. Yet, it was not easy work for any of the workers. They carried most goods
upon their backs, since the rough surfaces of the quays and nearby streets were not suitable for
wagons or large carts; the merchandise characteristically arrived in barrels which could be rolled
from the ship along each quay. If the burden was too great to be carried by a single man, then the
goods were slung on poles resting on the shoulders of two men. It was a slow and expensive
method of business.
C. However, up to the eighteenth century, river work was seen in a generally favourable light.
For Langland, writing in the fourteenth century, the labourers working on river merchandise
were relatively prosperous. And the porters of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
were, if anything, aristocrats of labour, enjoying high status. However, in the years from the late
eighteenth to the early nineteenth century, there was a marked change in attitude. This was in
part because the working river was within the region of the East End of London, which in this
period acquired an unenviable reputation. By now, dockside labour was considered to be the
most disreputable, and certainly the least desirable form of work.
D. It could be said that the first industrial community in England grew up around the Thames.
With the host of river workers themselves, as well as the vast assembly of ancillary trades such
as tavern-keepers and laundresses, food-sellers and street-hawkers, shopkeepers and marine store
dealers - there was a workforce of many thousands congregated in a relatively small area. There
were more varieties of business to be observed by the riverside than ,in any other part of the city.
As a result, with the possible exception of the area known as Seven Dials, the East End was also
the most intensively inhabited region of London.
E. It was a world apart, with its own language and its own laws. From the sailors in the opium
dens of Limehouse to the smugglers on the malarial flats of the estuary, the workers of the river
were not part of any civilised society. The alien world of the river had entered them. That
alienation was also expressed in the slang of the docks, which essentially amounted to backslang,
or the reversal of ordinary words. This backslang also helped in the formulation of Cockney
rhyming slang, so that the vocabulary of Londoners was directly'affected by the life of the
Thames.
F. The reports in the nineteenth-century press reveal a heterogeneous world of dock labour, in
which the crowds of casuals waiting for work at the dock gates at 7.45 a.m. include penniless
refugees, bankrupts, old soldiers, broken-down gentlemen, discharged servants, and ex-convicts.
There were some 400-500 permanent workers who earned a regular wage and who were
considered to be the patricians of dockside labour. However, there were some 2,500 casual
workers who were hired by the shift. The work for which they competed fiercely had become
ever more unpleasant. Steam power could not be used for the cranes, for example, because of the
danger of fire. So the cranes were powered by treadmills. Six to eight men entered a wooden
cylinder and, laying hold of ropes, would tread the wheel round. They could lift nearly 20 tonnes
to an average height of 27 feet (8.2 metres), forty times in an hour. This was part of the life of the
river unknown to those who were intent upon its more picturesque aspects.
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12 - 17
Reading Passage 2 has SIX paragraphs, A-F.
Choose the correct heading, A-F, from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix.

List of Headings
i A mixture of languages and nationalities
ii The creation of an exclusive identity
iii The duties involved in various occupations
iv An unprecedented population density
v Imports and exports transported by river
vi Transporting heavy loads manually
vii Temporary work for large numbers of people
viii Hazards associated with riverside work
ix The changing status of riverside occupations

Question 18
Which TWO statements are made about work by the River Thames before the eighteenth
century?
Goods were transported from the river by cart.
The workforce was very poorly paid.
Occupations were specialised.
Workers were generally looked down upon.
Physical strength-was required.
19. Which TWO statements are made about life by the River Thames in the early nineteenth
century?
The area was very crowded.
There was absence of crime.
Casual work was in great demand.
Several different languages were in use.
Inhabitants were known for their friendliness
Complete the sentences below.
Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
24. In the nineteenth century, only a minority of dock workers received a 20..
25. Cranes were operated manually because 21. created a risk of fire.
26. Observers who were unfamiliar with London’s docks found the River Thames 22. .
Đoạn 2:
Roman Shipbuilding and navigation
A. Shipbuilding today is based on science and ships are built using computers and sophisticated
tools. Shipbuilding in ancient Rome, however, was more of an art relying on estimation,
inherited techniques and personal experience. The Romans were not traditionally sailors but
mostly land-based people, who learned to build ships from the people that they conquered,
namely the Greeks and the Egyptians.
B. There are a few surviving written documents that give descriptions and representations of
ancient Roman ships, including the sails and rigging. Excavated vessels also provide some clues
about ancient shipbuilding techniques. Studies of these have taught us that ancient Roman
shipbuilders built the outer hull first, then proceeded with the frame and the rest of the ship.
Planks used to build the outer hull were initially sewn together. Starting from the 6th century
BCE, they were fixed using a method called mortise and tenon, whereby one plank locked into
another without the need for stitching. Then in the first centuries of the current era,
Mediterranean shipbuilders shifted to another shipbuilding method, still in use today, which
consisted of building the frame first and then proceeding with the hull and the other components
of the ship. This method was more systematic and dramatically shortened ship construction
times. The ancient Romans built large merchant ships and warships whose size and technology
were unequalled until the 16th century CE.
C. Warships were built to be lightweight and very speedy. They had to be able to sail near the
coast, which is why they had no ballast or excess load and were built with a long, narrow hull.
They did not sink when damaged and often would lie crippled on the sea’s surface following
naval battles. They had a bronze battering ram, which was used to pierce the timber hulls or
break the oars of enemy vessels. Warships used both wind (sails) and human power (oarsmen)
and were therefore very fast. Eventually, Rome’s navy became the largest and most powerful in
the Mediterranean, and the Romans had control over what they therefore called Mare Nostrum
meaning ‘our sea’.
D. There were many kinds of warship. The ‘trireme’ was the dominant warship from the 7th to
4th century BCE. It had rowers in the top, middle and lower levels, and approximately 50 rowers
in each bank. The rowers at the bottom had the most uncomfortable position as they were under
the other rowers and were exposed to the water entering through the oar-holes. It is worth noting
that contrary to popular perception, rowers were not slaves but mostly Roman citizens enrolled
in the military. The trireme was superseded by larger ships with even more rowers.
E. Merchant ships were built to transport lots of cargo over long distances and at a reasonable
cost. They had a wider hull, double planking and a solid interior for added stability. Unlike
warships, their V-shaped hull was deep underwater, meaning that they could not sail too close to
the coast. They usually had two huge side rudders located off the stern and controlled by a small
tiller bar connected to a system of cables. They had from one to three masts with large square
sails and a small triangular sail at the bow. Just like warships, merchant ships used oarsmen, but
coordinating the hundreds of rowers in both types of ship was not an easy task. In order to assist
them, music would be played on an instrument, and oars would then keep time with this.
F. The cargo on merchant ships included raw materials (e.g. iron bars, copper, marble and
granite), and agricultural products (e.g. grain from Egypt’s Nile valley). During the Empire,
Rome was a huge city by ancient standards of about one million inhabitants. Goods from all over
the world would come to the city through the port of Pozzuoli situated west of the bay of Naples
in Italy and through the gigantic port of Ostia situated at the mouth of the Tiber River. Large
merchant ships would approach the destination port and, just like today, be intercepted by a
number of towboats that would drag them to the quay.
G. The time of travel along the many sailing routes could vary widely. Navigation in ancient
Rome did not rely on sophisticated instruments such as compasses but on experience, local
knowledge and observation of natural phenomena. In conditions of good visibility, seamen in the
Mediterranean often had the mainland or islands in sight, which greatly facilitated navigation.
They sailed by noting their position relative to a succession of recognisable landmarks. When
 weather conditions were not good or where land was no longer visible, Roman mariners
estimated directions from the pole star or, with less accuracy, from the Sun at noon. They also
estimated directions relative to the wind and swell. Overall, shipping in ancient Roman times
resembled shipping today with large vessels regularly crossing the seas and bringing supplies
from their Empire.
23 – 27: Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-5 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

True FalseNot given

23. The Romans’ shipbuilding skills were passed on to the Greeks and the Egyptians.

24. Skilled craftsmen were needed for the mortise and tenon method of fixing planks.

25. The later practice used by Mediterranean shipbuilders involved building the hull before the frame.

26. The Romans called the Mediterranean Sea Mare Nostrum because they dominated its use.

27. Most rowers on ships were people from the Roman army.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6–13 on your answer sheet.
Warships and merchant ships
Warships were designed so that they were 6. 28. and moved quickly. They often remained afloat
after battles and were able to sail close to land as they lacked any additional weight. A battering ram
made of 7 29. was included in the design for attacking and damaging the timber and oars of
enemy ships. Warships, such as the ‘trireme’, had rowers on three different 8. 30 .Unlike
warships, merchant ships had a broad 9. 31. that lay far below the surface of the sea. Merchant
ships were steered through the water with the help of large rudders and a tiller bar. They had both
square and 10. 32. sails. On merchant ships and warships, 11. 33. was used to ensure
rowers moved their oars in and out of the water at the same time. Quantities of agricultural goods such
as 12. 34. were transported by merchant ships to two main ports in Italy. The ships were pulled
to the shore by 13. 35. When the weather was clear and they could see islands or land, sailors
used landmarks that they knew to help them navigate their route.