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Read the following article, then choose from the list A-H the sentence which best summarises each paragraph (1-6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. Question number 0 has been done for you.
Treasure island
0 Only 73,000 people live on the Isle of Man, but several thousand of them have registered with Jay Dee Promotions, This is the casting and extras agency John Banks and his wife Pat run to service the film industry that has suddenly taken off on the island. Banks does not know exactly how many clients he has he is too busy to count them. And Jay Dee is only one of three such agencies that have sprung up in the last year or two.
1 Until recently the island's principal contributions to cinema were a comedy about motorcycle racing, and The Marxman, one of Alfred Hitchcock's silent movies. But producers have now discovered an important reason to undertake the inconvenient voyage to the middle of the Irish Sea- money In the past couple of years, the Isle of Man government has lent over £6.5 million of public money to film companies. If a film is a success then the Isle of Man will receive a share of the profits. This has turned the island into an offshore Hollywood.
2. Only one film was made in 1995, two in 1996, but there were no fewer than eleven in the following year However, from the beginning, the Isle of Man government has followed the strategy of Hollywood, where the rule of thumb in that for every ten films, seven will lose money, one will cover its costs, one will provide modest returns, and the tenth, it is hoped, will be an enormous hit.
3. An island 45 kilometres long, with no history of film production, is suddenly turning out the same number of films as the Scottish film industry, which has a huge pool of local talent and an infrastructure that has evolved over the years. However, it was always the intention of the Isle of Man government to lure productions away from England, Scotland and Ireland.
4 Producers have suddenly discovered the affluent little holiday island to be the perfect location for seemingly any film. It has doubled for Cornwall, Hamburg, Sydney Harbour in the nineteenth century, rural Ireland and inner-city England. It has even attracted a new production of Treasure Island. Geographical specifics did not seem to be uppermost in the mind of the film's producer: "We gambled with the fact that we would be able to have enough sunny days to be able to do the tropical island part".
5 The Isle of Man film initiative was inspired not by vague dreams of glory, but by hopes of boosting the economy Its tourist industry has been in dedine for twenty years and it was thought that a hit film would help it. One of the early objectives was simply to demonstrate to a doubtful film industry that it was possible to make feature films on the island.
6 The government's financial advisors have targeted films in the £2-3 million price range as promising the highest potential returns at least risk. The Isle of Man is an important financial centre and this expertise has aided its move into film. The island's government has another £6.5 million to lend over the next two years and is currently considering building a studio.
Questions
For each paragraph (1-6), choose the letter of the sentence (A-H) which best summarises the paragraph. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. Question 0 has been done for you.
A. The new film industry is not expected to make big profits immediately. (Summary .....)
B. The new film industry has resulted in some critiasm of the island's government. (Summary .....)
C. It was initially difficult to persuade film-makers to use the island. (Summary .....)
D. The island is already able to compete with other film-making centres (Summary .....)
E. Film-makers are able to find a wide range of settings for their films on the island. (Summary .....)
F. More investment is planned as the new
film industry becomes established. (Summary .....)
G. Financial reasons have made film companies see the island as a good place to make new films. (Summary .....)
H. The island's inhabitants are keen to be
Involved with the new film industry. (Summary 0)
Answers
Summary 0 = H
Summary 1 = G
Summary 2 = A
Summary 3 = D
Summary 4 = E
Summary 5 = C
Summary 6 = F
