Test
Section A: Reading
Read the extract from ‘The tiny world of Willard Wigan, nano sculptor’ written by Benjamin
Secher for The Telegraph newspaper, then answer questions 1–6.
The tiny world of Willard Wigan, nano sculptor
Benjamin Secher
Willard Wigan is no ordinary sculptor. He describes himself as a ‘micro-
miniaturist’, and all of his most significant pieces – over 40 years’ worth of
painstaking carving and chipping and painting – could fit comfortably together
inside a single matchbox.
5 To the naked eye, each of Wigan’s works is all but invisible: an unidentifiable
speck that reveals its true form, in mind-boggling detail, only when placed under
the microscope and magnified 500 times. In one piece, King Henry VIII and his six
wives stand side by side within the eye of a needle. In another, a startled cat,
eyes wide, back arched, clings to an eyelash taken from Wigan’s ex-girlfriend (‘I
10 hope she never asks for it back,’ he says). And his latest work, shown here for the
first time, is a startlingly accurate reproduction of the Lloyd’s building in London,
perched on the tip of a needle.
‘I surprise myself sometimes,’ says Wigan, fingering a thick gold chain that hangs
around his neck. ‘I’ve done stuff that I’ve looked at afterwards and thought,
15 “What enabled me to do that?” But I’ve had years of practice; every day of my
life since I was about five, practising keeping my hands still and looking at small
things. The microscopic world became my obsession.’
Wigan traces that obsession back to his unhappy school days when, suffering
from undiagnosed dyslexia, he was treated as the class idiot. ‘When I started
20 school, what little confidence I had was taken away,’ he says. ‘The teacher would
use me as an example. She used to show the other kids my work and make me
feel, well, small. So I absconded a lot to get away from the misery of it. I would
run across the park and hide in a shed and just sit there looking down at the ants
on the floor. ‘I started to construct tiny houses for them from splinters of wood.
25 But then I thought the ants needed furniture as well so I made little chairs and
tables that could fit inside the houses. Then I got thinking that they were going to
need something to wear, so I started making shoes and little hats for them too.
I became obsessed with making more and more tiny things. I think I was trying to
find a way of compensating for my embarrassment at having learning difficulties:
30 people had made me feel small so I wanted to show them how significant small
could be.’
Wigan creates his sculptures in an isolated studio in Jersey, far removed from the
public eye or potentially disastrous traffic vibrations, using tiny home-made
tools. ‘I have to put myself in a sort of meditative state to do it,’ he says. ‘I need
35 to work between heartbeats, or else the pulse in my finger will cause a mistake.
I’ll grind down a piece of tungsten to make a little hook which can grip the
material, or shove a fragment of broken diamond into the tip of a needle to make
a micro scalpel blade.’
Glossary
tungsten a hard metal
1 What is the main purpose of this text?
Tick () one box.
to inspire more people to take up sculpting as a hobby
to describe the childhood of Willard Wigan, a nano sculptor
to explain how difficult it is to make miniature sculptures
to inform people about Willard Wigan’s work as a sculptor [1]
2 Give one word from the first paragraph that tells you Wigan’s sculptures are made
with care.
[1]
3 Give two examples from lines 5–12 of extreme adjectives used to show the article writer’s
response to Wigan’s work, and explain why they are effective.
Example:
Explanation:
Example:
Explanation:
[4]
4 What does the word ‘small’ (line 22) tell you about how Wigan felt as a child in school?
[1]
5 Explain, using your own words, why Wigan works in an ‘isolated studio’ (line 32).
[1]
6 Give two features of a newspaper article used in the text.
[2]
Cambridge Lower Secondary English 7 – Creamer, Williams, Rees-Bidder & Elsdon © Cambridge University Press 2021 2
CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 7: END OF UNIT 4 TEST
Section B: Writing
1 Now write an article about your favourite hobby for a school magazine.
You should write three paragraphs.
You could include:
• how you became interested in your hobby
• why you find the hobby enjoyable and rewarding
• whether you would recommend your hobby to others. [10]
Space for your plan:
Cambridge Lower Secondary English 7 – Creamer, Williams, Rees-Bidder & Elsdon © Cambridge University Press 2021 3
CAMBRIDGE LOWER SECONDARY ENGLISH 7: END OF UNIT 4 TEST
Write your article:
Cambridge Lower Secondary English 7 – Creamer, Williams, Rees-Bidder & Elsdon © Cambridge University Press 2021 4
