READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-16, which are based on Reading Passage 1.

Beatrix Potter, a woman of many talents

Beatrix Potter, the writer of one of the most beloved children's books of all time, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was a woman of great talent, strong spirit and generous heart. Beatrix, the elder of the two children of Rupert and Helen Potter, was born in 1866 in South Kensington, London. Although Beatrix and her brother, Walter Bertram, grew up in London, the countryside, where they spent long family holidays, made a great impression on her. From 1871, family holidays were spent in Perthshire, Scotland. Beatrix had freedom to explore, so she practised observing the details of the natural world. When Bertram was old enough, he joined his sister on her expeditions. Together they pursued deer in the woods along the tracks they left behind and collected flowers in order to study and draw them. In 1882, the Potters began taking their holidays in the Lake District, in the north of England. Rural life appealed deeply to Potter and years later she made her home there and produced some of her finest work.

As was the custom in families of her social position, Beatrix was educated at home by several governesses. Her talent for drawing and painting was discovered early and encouraged: for her tenth birthday in 1876 she received a book about birds. Beatrix also wrote imaginatively about her pets. She and Bertram kept a number of much-loved and intensely observed creatures in their schoolroom. In addition to mice, they kept collections of insects and bats as pets, drawing all with great accuracy.

From 1881 to 1897, Potter kept a journal in which she recorded her thoughts regarding society and current affairs. It was written in a type of code she made up herself, which was rather complex and not deciphered until 1958. In her sketchbook she practised observation by drawing; in her journal she practised it by writing. Both skills were central to the success of her books for children.

Although Potter had sold some of her artwork for greetings cards and illustrations in the early 1890s, she devoted most of her energy to the study of natural history, especially mycology*. Fungi appealed to Potter's imagination, both for their life cycle and for their colour. She not only produced beautiful watercolours, but also developed her skills as a scientific illustrator. By 1896, Potter had developed her own theory of how fungi spores reproduced, which was presented to a meeting of a scientific society in 1897 by one of the male mycologists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, since women could not attend these meetings then.

Potter also wrote picture letters to children she knew, and in 1901 she turned one into her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and produced her own privately printed edition of it. The idea had been turned down by several commercial publishers, but it got published in 1902 after she agreed to redo her black-and-white illustrations in colour. The following year, Potter produced The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin and The Tailor of Gloucester, which were enormous commercial successes. Twenty more books followed at the rate of two or three a year. A woman of unusual entrepreneurial genius, Potter also registered a Peter Rabbit doll in 1903, recognising that 'spin-off merchandise such as painting books, board games and printed wallpapers would be marketing assets for her work.

In 1905 Potter got engaged, but sadly her fiancé passed away shortly after. However, she proceeded with plans to buy Hill Top Farm, a small working farm in Near Sawrey, a Lake District village. Hill Top became her sanctuary, a place where she could go to paint and write as well as acquire a good understanding of farm management. Some of her best books, such as The Tale of Tom Kitten, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, reflect her delight in the old farmhouse and in farming life.

Four years later, in 1909, Potter purchased Castle Farm, a second property in Near Sawrey just across the road from Hill Top, to fulfil her ambition to preserve land in the Lake District from development. She was encouraged in this by William Heelis, a local solicitor. In 1913, Potter married Heelis and moved into Castle Cottage on Castle Farm. Becoming deeply involved in the community, she founded a nursing trust to improve local health care. She also developed a passion for breeding and raising Herdwick sheep. In 1923, she bought a sheep farm, which she restored to agricultural health. She became one of the most admired Herdwick breeders in the region and won prizes at all the local shows.

Beatrix continued to write, but her diminished eyesight and her enthusiasm for farming meant that The Tale of Little Pig Robinson, published in 1930, was her last book. In 1926, she had also published The Fairy Caravan in the United States, but because she thought it too autobiographical it did not appear commercially in England until nine years after her death. Beatrix Potter Heelis died in 1943. She left fifteen farms and over 4,000 acres to the National Trust** a gift which contributed to the protection and conservation of the unique Lake District countryside. Her books, her art and her Herdwick sheep are all part of her enormous legacy.

* mycology: the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi
** National Trust: a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland