Questions 28-30
A visitor from Barcelona arrives at a Madrid government office in mid-afternoon. And is surprised to find only the cleaning lady there. “Don t they work in the afternoons ?” he asks. “no, ” she replies, “they don t work in the mornings. In the afternoons they don t come.”
Lazy Madrid, busy Barcelona: it is just one of many stereotypes about Spain's great rivals. Mostly, the stereotypes are born of Barcelona s bitterness at its second-class status. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, a proudly autonomous region, but Madrid is the capital of Spain. This causes resentment. It makes Barcelona the largest city in Western Europe not to be a national capital. Worse, Barcelona (Catalonia s capital since the ninth century) regards Madrid (a creation of Philip Ⅱin
the 16 th century) as an upstart.
And, after being bossed about for so long, who can blame them? Over the years governments in Madrid did their best to strip Barcelona of political power. They tried to squash the Catalan Language. They even decided what the modern city should look like: in 1860 an order from Madrid overruled Barcelona s choice of plan for its big expansion, and opted for a grid layout.
Barcelona has the liberalism that often characterizes port cities. As Catalans see is. While Madrid bathes in bureaucracy, Barcelona gets on with business. An old-fashioned seriousness in Madrid, isolated high up on Spain s central plateau, contrasts with the light-heartedness of Barcelona, open to Europe and aggressively avant-garde.
Upon to a point, these old caricatures still hold true. No visitor to government buildings in the two cities can fail to be struck by the contrast between them. In Madrid, there are creaky wooden floord, antique furniture and walls covered with paintings by Spanish old masters. In Barcelona, the city of Gaudi and Miro, designer chairs and tables are evidence of the place s obsession with modernism. Meetings of
the Catalan cabinet are held in room with a large, modern painting by Antoni Tapies. And yet, these days, the similarities be two cities are at least striking as the contrasts. Madrid is hardly lazy any more. Visitors find it hard to keep up with the pace of the place. Nor is it old-fashioned. Indeed, it has become almost outrageously modern. To judge by the local cuisine, you would think the place was a port: although far from the sea, seafood is a miraculous Madrid speciality.
As banks and business have been drawn to Madrid and industrial centre as an administrative one. Barcelona, meanwhile, in Spain s traditional industrial heartland, has been experiencing a rise in bureaucracy.
The rivalry between Madrid and Barcelona is bound to remain fierce, not least on the soccer field, where Real Madrid and Barcelona compete for Spanish supremacy. Barcelona will continue to press for yet more power to be devolved to it from Madrid: it is calling for the Senate, Spain s upper house of parliament, to be moved to the Catalan capital. But with a lot of local autonomy restored, and with the success of the 1992 Olympics behind it, the chip on Barcelona s shoulder is becoming ever harder to detect.
26. Which of the following best illustrates the stereotypes about Madrid and Barcelona?
(A) Madrid government officials never come to the office in the afternoon.
(B) Barcelona is an efficient and less bureaucratic place for business dealings.
(C) People in Barcelona are very resentful at Madrid s being the capital city.
(D) Barcelona is the largest city in Western Europe but it failed to claim its right status.
27. Historically, Barcelona has regarded Madrid as ______.
(A) less bureaucratic (B)inferior
(C) a newcomer (D) less funny
28. How did governments in Madrid deliberately strip Barcelona of political power?
(A) They strongly opposed a grid layout in Barcelona which confines the city in its original space.
(B) They gave the priority to the Catalan language rather than Spanish.
(C) They turned down Barcelona s proposal for its expansion.
(D) They ridiculed Barcelona s second-class status.
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