Part 3
You are going to read an article about country walking. For questions 16-30, choose from the sections (A—D). The sections may be chosen more than once. In the exam, mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.
A good walk
When pop guitarist Roddy Woomble isn't playing with his band, he loves nothing more than going on long country walks. He tells us about his hobby
A I'm sure I'm not the only one who occasionally stops to think about the footpaths that carry us over the hills. Who made them? Who was the first to walk that way — the sheep or the shepherd? The dictionary definition of a path is 'a track laid down for walking or made by continual treading' and also 'the direction in which a person or thing moves. Somewhere in between I think you'll find the mountain path. I am particularly fond of watercolours or photos with paths in them. There's something both relaxing and mysterious about seeing a line in a picture stretching into the distance. This is especially true if it heads out of view, following the contours of the land. I also like it when old paths suddenly vanish only to reappear a bit further on, to the frustration of many other walkers. I appreciate also all the effort that has gone into the upkeep of mountain paths, so that they are still available for recreational use.
B Walking in upland areas, you get to know the paths pretty well since a good proportion of your time is likely to be spent head down, gazing at them as you walk. This is never truer than when you're walking into wind and driving rain. That's when your boots have to pick your way over the slippery rocks and muddy puddles that constitute many mountain paths and trails in the winter. But I'm no great Fan of walking on my own. Occasionally I'll do it — I'll read a few lines of Rousseau's Reveries of a Solitary Walker to get myself mentally prepared, then had out for a day of solitude. The problem is, halfivay through I usually get the urge to share my thoughts about things I've noticed along the way. Even if you do bump into other walkers, this is not always something you want to do with strangers. Time on your own is worthwhile, of course, but I think it's better to mix it up with some company.
C On previous solitary rambles I've often reached the summit only to enviously watch a group having a mid walk picnic, happily chattering away, snapping pictures of the view, while I sat, just out of sight, alone, brooding over a sandwich. I've forgone many days out on the hills in order to avoid this feeling. Sometimes I wonder what it's like to join a group and take to the hills with people you've only just met. Its Fascinating to imagine the group dynamics on such initial outings. For example, would there be long awkward pauses in the conversation? Would you feel the need to keep a conversation going from leaving the car to returning to it, or would it become an ego thing about how many hills you've each climbed and how steep the path was?
D On the other hand, is an established walking group a collective of like-minded, interesting, articulate individuals, all enthusiastic for the outdoors? A place where conversation is free-flowing, with long gaps left for each other's thoughts, followed by a shared meal afterwards? I'm assuming it's both since walking clubs seem to be attracting more members that ever. I must think about joining one. Another ambition of mine is to climb the hill in front of me as I write this. I'm sitting at a picnic table outside the club where my band is giving a concert later and, as I at my lunch, I have an uninterrupted view of the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis in Scotland. As I say, I've never been up it, but I have a brilliant photo which a friend took from the summit. It's said to be a vantage point like no other. Although, I have to say, today's the first time I've seen that summit because it's usually lost in the clouds, so the views can't always be that marvellous. There may be remoter, prettier, technically harder mountains in the country but there are none higher; and that kind of thing matters to a lot of people.
In which section is the following mentioned?
artistic representations of paths being attractive to the writer 16
