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Task 1. Read the text carefully and choose the best answer (A, B, C, or D) for questions 1–10. Only one answer is correct for each question.

A wicked wife: The truth about Tudor England's most hated woman

The 16th-century noblewoman Jane Boleyn faced shocking accusations: she was blamed for betraying her husband and two of King Henry VIII's wives, her sister-in-law Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Was she a scheming spy, guilty as accused, or a convenient scapegoat for a cruel king? Philippa Gregory’s new historical thriller, Boleyn Traitor, explores her story. In the court of King Henry VIII, nobody was safe. Lady-in-waiting Jane Boleyn, who served five queens – including Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both executed – has long been seen as untrustworthy, surviving when others were executed. Historians call her “the most hated woman in Tudor England.” Born Jane Parker around 1505, she arrived at court aged 11 as a maid-of-honour to Henry’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Around age 20, she married George Boleyn, whose sister Anne became queen within a decade. Little is known about Jane’s life, and no confirmed painting of her exists, though some drawings by Hans Holbein may show her. Jane was executed in 1542 after being accused of helping Catherine Howard have an affair with Thomas Culpeper. Evidence suggests she knew about the secret meetings. But for Gregory, Jane is hated more because of outdated judgments than her actions. Early documents show her as an inefficient lady’s companion, but later historians, especially Victorians, portrayed her as morally corrupt. Jane’s involvement in these scandals was conventional at the time, yet later writers called her a voyeur or lustful. Gregory argues she was an ordinary woman in extreme circumstances, trying to survive and protect herself. She may have also played a role in Anne Boleyn’s downfall, though historians have debated her motives for centuries.

1. Why might Jane Boleyn have survived in a dangerous court while others were executed?

2. The text suggests Jane’s reputation over time has been shaped mainly by: 

3. What was unusual about Jane’s early exposure to Henry VIII’s court?

4. How does the author describe Jane’s role in the affair of Catherine Howard?

5. Why is Jane’s visual likeness uncertain?

6. How does Philippa Gregory challenge common assumptions about Jane?

7. The description of Jane as “an inefficient lady’s companion” implies:

8. Why might Victorian historians have judged Jane harshly?

9. What does the text imply about Jane’s motives in the Boleyn scandal?

10. The phrase “ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances” suggests that Jane: