1.

it is a rare fashion find

2. royal garments were often repurposed
3. according to a sumptuary law in 17th-century England
4. to that of the dress worn
5. the fabric will go
6. as it was aimed at
7. one of Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting

Experts at the Historical Royal Palaces have found the ‘Mona Lisa of fashion’: fabric used in a skirt once
worn by Queen Elizabeth I. As the only known surviving piece of her clothing, A______1_____, and
researchers took more than a year to determine its royal provenance. The evidence is persuasive. The
material is similar В____4_________by the queen in a 1602 painting known as the Rainbow Portrait; the skirt
itself is obscured by a robe. The fabric features elaborate embroidery of flowers and animals and is woven
with silver strands — which, C_______3_______, could be worn only by high-ranking royals. In addition, the
material was discovered (in the form of an altar cloth) at St Faith’s Church in Bacton, Herefordshire, where
Blanche Parry, D_____7_______, was a parishioner.
Elizabeth, who reigned from 1558 to 1603, was known for her expensive gowns. It is estimated that the
fabric in question would have cost the same as three years of a laborer’s wages. Given their high
value, E_________6__________, which might explain how the fabric became an altar cloth. The material —
which measures more than 79 by 39 inches (201 by 99 cm) — will now undergo a lengthy restoration to
undo a crude alteration. Once that work has been completed, F_____5_____on display at Hampton Court
Palace in Greater London.

The tiny Tuscan island of Moritecristo, whose mysterious history is 1__ filled _with saints, monks and pirates,
is to be opened up to the public for the first time. The diamond-shaped island, which is 2 around four
square miles in size, was immortalised by Alexandre Dumas in The Count of Monte Cristo as the 3___ sight
__of an enormous hidden treasure.
For almost 40 years, since it became a nature reserve, only scientists and researchers have been allowed
within three miles of the island’s granite cliffs. The waters were regularly patrolled to make sure the island’s
population of monk seals, dolphins, tuna and rare birds was not disturbed. Anyone 4_ entering __the waters
illegally was liable to an instant 150 pounds fine.
However, the Park Authority for the Tuscan Archipelago has now decided to 5 Alow ____up to 1,000
tourists a year to visit Montecristo, which lies 22 miles south of Elba and 40 miles from the coast of Italy.
Visitors will be allowed from April 1 to July 15 and then from August 31 to the end of October each year.
Trips for 2009 have to be 6 __ booked __with the authority by the end of January next year. Dumas 7 arrived
on the island in 1842, in the company of Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew. “It is fantastic and lonely, smelling
of thyme and broom,” he wrote in a letter.
1. Full crowded filled charged
2. Circum round nearly around
3. View scene sight look
4. Beginning ongoing entering starting
5. Allow admit concede suffer
6. Allocated armoured reserved booked
7. Came arrived reached achieved