Darmowe konto pozwoli wrócić do niego później.

“What kind of circus is only open at night?” people ask. No one has a proper answer,

yet as dusk approaches, there is quite a crowd of spectators gathering outside the gates.

You are amongst them, of course. You stand in the fading light, a scarf around your neck

pulled up against the chilly evening breeze, waiting to see what kind of circus only opens

once the sun sets.

The ticket booth, clearly visible behind the gates, is sealed and barred. The tents seem

motionless, their flaps wrinkling gently in the wind. The only movement within the circus

is the clock that ticks by the passing minutes. The circus, usually bustling with life, now looks

completely still, as if even ghosts have abandoned it.

The sun disappears beyond the horizon and the remaining light smoothly transforms dusk into

twilight. The people around are growing restless from waiting, a sea of shuffling feet,

murmuring about finding someplace warmer to pass the evening. You yourself are debating

whether to depart when things start happening. First, there is a popping sound, hardly heard

over the conversation. A soft noise like a kettle about to boil for tea. Then comes the light.

All over the tents, small lights begin to flicker, as if the entire circus was covered in

particularly bright fireflies. The waiting crowd quietens as it watches this display

of illumination. Someone near you gasps. A small child claps his hands with joy at the sight.

When the tents are all aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the noise stops and the sign

appears.

The letters, which are stretched across the top of the gates and hidden in curls of iron, are now

slowly surfacing. They pop as they brighten, some accompanied by a shower of glowing

white sparks and a bit of smoke. Trying to avoid being burnt by the sparks flying all around,

the people nearest to the gates take a few steps back apprehensively.

At first, it is only a random pattern of lights. But soon it becomes clear that they are aligned

in scripted letters. First a C is distinguishable, followed by more letters, a q and several e’s.

When the final bulb pops alight, the sign is finally legible, extremely bright and impressive.

Le Cirque des Rêves

Some in the crowd smile knowingly, while others look questioningly at their neighbours.

A child near you tugs on her mother’s sleeve, begging to know what it says.

“The Circus of Dreams,” comes the reply.

adapted from The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

6.1. When the crowd gathered outside the gates,

A. a clock striking the hour could be heard.

B. a very strong wind was blowing.

C. the ticket office was opened.

D. the circus appeared deserted.

6.2. At twilight, some people

A. got annoyed at the delay and began complaining loudly.

B. were getting impatient and considered going away.

C. began wondering about the origin of the name of the circus.

D. started to stamp their feet to express their irritation.

6.3. The moment the sign above the gates started to appear,

A. only a few letters of the sign lit up due to an electrical fault.

B. strange sounds coming from behind the iron gates intensified.

C. one of the circus tents got brightly illuminated by fireflies.

D. some people moved away in fear of being hurt.

Tekst 2.

WHY WAITING IS TORTURE

Some years ago, executives at Houston airport faced a troubling customer-relations issue.

Passengers complained about the long waits at baggage reclaim. In response, the executives

increased the number of baggage handlers working that shift. The plan worked: the average

wait fell to eight minutes. But the complaints persisted.

Puzzled, the airport executives undertook a more careful, on-site analysis. They found out that

it took passengers a minute to walk from their arrival gates to baggage reclaim and seven

more minutes to get their bags. So the airport decided on a new approach: instead of reducing

wait times, it moved the arrival gates away from the main terminal and routed bags

to the outermost carousel. Passengers now had to walk six times longer to get their bags.

Complaints dropped to near zero.

This story hints at a general principle: the experience of waiting is defined only partly

by the objective length of the wait. Research on queuing has shown that people overestimate

how long they’ve waited in a line by about 36 percent. It’s been reported that one of the main

factors determining how we feel about lines is our expectations. Uncertainty magnifies

the stress of waiting, while feedback in the form of expected wait times and forecasts of

delays eases the experience. And beating expectations lifts our mood. All else being equal,

people who wait less than they anticipated leave happier than those who wait longer than

expected. Professors Carmon and Kahneman have found that we are more concerned about

how long a line is than how fast it’s moving. Given a choice between a slow-moving short

line and a fast-moving long one, people opted for the former, even if the waits were identical.

Americans spend roughly 37 billion hours a year waiting in lines and complain a lot about it.

I often wonder why queuing is so irritating. I’m inclined to think that in this era of constant

rush, the dominant cost of waiting must be an emotional one: the nagging feeling of guilt that

you are wasting your time, when you could be getting on with your business or be engaged in

some creative endeavor.

We’ll never eliminate lines altogether but for me when all else fails, a gripping book is a way

out.

adapted from www.nytimes.com

6.4. By quoting the case at Houston airport the writer presents

A. a procedure introduced to increase the number of baggage handlers.

B. an innovative way to entertain passengers waiting for their baggage.

C. a trick that has made passengers more satisfied with baggage reclaim.

D. a surprisingly efficient method of delivering passengers’ baggage.

6.5. Which of the following is stated in the article as an opinion, and not a fact?

A. People can tolerate long waits if they are given an explanation.

B. People tend to exaggerate when asked how long they have waited.

C. People choose shorter lines regardless of the speed at which they move.

D. People who wait in lines blame themselves for doing a purposeless activity.

PRZENIEŚ ROZWIĄZANIA NA KARTĘ ODPOWIEDZI!

C

6.5.

3.1. R Zdający oddziela fakty od opinii.

D

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