Modelo examen 8 – Reading

Part 1

Read the following text, then read the five statements. Some of these statements are true according to the text, some of them are false. Write T for True or F for False in the box next to each statement.

This book examines how the ever-changing role of colour in society has been reflected in manuscripts, stained glass, clothing, painting and popular culture. Colour is a natural phenomenon, of course, but it is also a complex cultural construct that resists generalization and, indeed, analysis itself. No doubt this is why serious works devoted to colour are rare, and rarer still are those that aim to study it in historical context. Many authors search for the universal or archetypal truths they imagine reside in colour, but for the historian, such truths do not exist. Colour is first and foremost a social phenomenon. There is no transcultural truth to colour perception, despite what many books based on poorly grasped neurobiology or – even worse – on pseudoesoteric pop psychology would have us believe. Such books unfortunately clutter the bibliography on the subject, and even do it harm. 

The silence of historians on the subject of colour, or more particularly their difficulty in conceiving colour as a subject separate from other historical phenomena, is the result of three different sets of problems. The first concerns documentation and preservation. We see the colours transmitted to us by the past as time has altered them and not as they were originally. Moreover, we see them under light conditions that often are entirely different from those known by past societies. And finally, over the decades we have developed the habit of looking at objects from the past in black-and-white photographs and, despite the current diffusion of colour photography, our ways of thinking about and reacting to these objects seem to have remained more or less black and white.

The second set of problems concerns methodology. As soon as the historian seeks to study colour, he must grapple with a host of factors all at once: physics, chemistry, materials, and techniques of production, as well as iconography, ideology, and the symbolic meanings that colours convey. How to make sense of all of these elements? How can one establish an analytical model facilitating the study of images and coloured objects? No researcher, no method, has yet been able to resolve these problems, because among the numerous facts pertaining to colour, a researcher tends to select those facts that support his study and to conveniently forget those that contradict it. This is clearly a poor way to conduct research. And it is made worse by the temptation to apply to the objects and images of a given historical period information found in texts of that period. The proper method – at least in the first phase of analysis – is to proceed as do palaeontologists (who must study cave paintings without the aid of texts): by extrapolating from the images and the objects themselves a logic and a system based on various concrete factors such as the rate of occurrence of particular objects and motifs, their distribution and disposition. In short, one undertakes the internal structural analysis with which any study of an image or coloured object should begin.

The third set of problems is philosophical: it is wrong to project our own conceptions and definitions of colour onto the images, objects and monuments of past centuries. Our judgements and values are not those of previous societies (and no doubt they will change again in the future). For the writer-historian looking at the definitions and taxonomy of colour, the danger of anachronism is very real. For example, the spectrum with its natural order of colours was unknown before the seventeenth century, while the notion of primary and secondary colours did not become common until the nineteenth century.

These are not eternal notions but stages in the ever-changing history of knowledge. I have reflected on such issues at greater length in my previous work, so while the present book does address certain of them, for the most part it is devoted to other topics. Nor is it concerned only with the history of colour in images and artworks – in any case that area still has many gaps to be filled. Rather, the aim of this book is to examine all kinds of objects in order to consider the different facets of the history of colour and to show how far beyond the artistic sphere this history reaches. The history of painting is one thing; that of colour is another, much larger, question. Most studies devoted to the history of colour err in considering only the pictorial, artistic or scientific realms. But the lessons to be learned from colour and its real interest lie elsewhere.

1) The main issue explained in the first paragraph is that colours can have different associations in different parts of the world

2) The lack of academic work on the history of colour is because there are problems of reliability associated with the artefacts available. 

3) It is common to find available data when conducting historical research on colour. 

4) In the fourth paragraph, the writer says that the historian writing about colour should be analysed in an old-fashioned way. 

5) In the fifth paragraph, the writer says there needs to be further research done on the relationship between artistic works and the history of colour. 

Part 2

Read the text and fill the gaps with the correct sentences A-H. Write the letter of the missing sentence in the box in the gap. There are two extra sentences you will not need. 

A) The recruitment of men to the armed forces during the conflict in Europe from 1914 to 1918 meant there was very little persecution, since gamekeepers went off to fight. As the number of gamekeepers decreased, the wildcat began to increase its range, recolonising many of its former haunts. Extinction was narrowly averted.

B) The wildcat waits for a while in rapt concentration, ears twitching and eyes watching, seeing everything and hearing everything, trying to detect the tell-tale movement of a vole or a mouse. But there is nothing, and in another leap he disappears into the gloom.

C) The results, which are expected shortly, will be fascinating. But anyone who has seen a wildcat will be in little doubt that there is indeed a unique and distinctive animal living in the Scottish Highlands, whatever his background.

D) Wildcats may look similar to pet cats, but there are several differences including the wide, flat head, ears pointing more sideways, ringed, bushy, blunt-ended tail, and distinctly striped coat.

E) As the animals emerge, their curiosity is aroused by every movement and rustle in the vegetation. Later they will accompany their mother on hunting trips, learning quickly, and soon become adept hunters themselves.

F) This is what makes many people think that the wildcat is a species in its own right. Research currently being undertaken by Scottish Natural Heritage is investigating whether the wildcat really is distinct from its homeliving cousin, or whether it is nothing more than a wild-living form of the domestic cat.

G) It is a typical image most folk have of the beast, but it is very much a false one, for the wildcat is little more than a bigger version of the domestic cat, and probably shows his anger as often.

H) They probably used deciduous and coniferous woodland for shelter, particularly in winter, and hunted over more open areas such as forest edge, open woodland, thickets and scrub, grassy areas and marsh. The wildcat was probably driven into more mountainous areas by a combination of deforestation and persecution.

Scottish Wildcat

On my living-room wall I have a painting of a wildcat by John Holmes of which I am extremely fond. It depicts a snarling, spitting animal, teeth bared and back arched: a taut coiled spring ready to unleash some unknown fury. 

However, the physical differences are tangible. The wildcat is a much larger animal, weighing in some cases up to seven kilos, the same as a typical male fox. The coat pattern is superficially similar to a domestic tabby cat but it is all stripes and no spots. The tail is thicker and blunter, with three to five black rings. The animal has an altogether heavier look. The Scottish wildcat was originally distinguished as a separate subspecies in 1912, but it is now generally recognised that there is little difference between the Scottish and other European populations. According to an excellent report on the wildcat printed in 1991, the animals originally occurred in a variety of habitats throughout Europe.

It was during the nineteenth century, with the establishment of many estates used by landowners for hunting, that the wildcat became a nuisance and its rapid decline really began; 198 wildcats were killed in three years in the area of Glengarry, for example. However, things were later to improve for the species. 

Part of the problem stems from the fact that the accepted physical description of the species originates from the selective nature of the examination process by the British Natural History Museum at the start of the century, and this has been used as the type-definition for the animal ever since. Animals that did not conform to that large blunt-tailed ‘tabby’ description were discarded as not being wildcats. In other words, an artificial collection of specimens was built up, exhibiting the features considered typical of the wildcat. The current research aims to resolve this potential problem. It is attempting to find out whether there are any physical features which characterise the so-called wild-living cats.

But what of his lifestyle? Wildcat kittens are usually born in May/June in a secluded den, secreted in a gap amongst boulders. Another favourite location is in the roots of a tree.

Part 3

Read the four texts below. There are eight questions about the texts. Decide which text (A, B, C or D) tells you the answer to the question. The first one is done for you.

In which text does the academic:

Example: have a different view from North regarding the effect of the arts on behaviour towards others?   D

1) Have a different view from Konecki on the value of studying the arts compared to other academic subjects?   

2) Express a different opinion to the others on whether the human species has a genetic predisposition towards the arts? 

3) Express a similar view to Esslett on how the arts relate to demands to conform? 

Which text is saying the following?

4) Art has a bearing on the society marketplace. 

5) The value of art overtakes the affluence matter. 

6) The work of art worth has a deep rotted magnitude. 

7) The perks of art are undeniably far from expected.

Part 4

Read the article and answer the questions. Write a maximum of five words for each answer.

Britain- at Any Cost?

In November 2019 police in the east of London made a gruesome discovery in the back of an abandoned refrigerated lorry that had come off a ferry from Zeebrugge, in Belgium. Instead of the expected cargo of perishable goods, officials found the bodies of 39 men and women who had been trying to enter Britain illegally.

For these thirty-nine, death in the back of an airless sealed truck was the ultimate price they paid for a journey that took them halfway round the world, from villages in Viet-Nam, to the destination they were so keen to reach; Britain.

This was not the first lorry of death to have been discovered in Britain; nor the worst. The worst was in June 2000 when 58 bodies were discovered by customs in the back of a lorry that had just arrived in Dover. These were men and women who had come from China, hoping to find a better life in the UK.  Others have drowned while trying to cross the English Channel in small boats.

In spite of its problems – in spite of Brexit, in spite of its congested cities, its climate, its understaffed hospitals, and the poor conditions in the socially-deprived areas of certain cities – there is an image of liberal Britain that shines like an Eldorado, a land of milk and honey, a land of opportunity, where the people are all rich and welcoming. It is an image that is popular in the imaginations of millions of men, women and children living in poor or repressive countries all over the world.

In addition, many imagine that Britain is a country where they will be easily understood, given that millions of people all over the world, even in poor countries, have learned enough English to get by with. They also believe that it is easy to avoid being caught in Britain, as people in the UK do not carry identity cards.

Britain is seen as a land of prosperity, a land of freedom and fairness, a land of hope and opportunity, and a land which is reputed to be more hospitable than most to stateless homeless refugees arriving across its borders.  And to a certain degree, the image that these would-be immigrants have of the United Kingdom is based on fact, even if it is an exaggerated fact.

   The reality is rather different. There are lots of jobs in Britain… there are plenty of good jobs that are well paid; but while most people in Britain enjoy a very good lifestyle… there are many more who hardly earn enough to live on, and the number of people in the UK living in poverty keeps increasing. Many illegal immigrants end up living in poor conditions, constantly hiding from the police, doing unpleasant work, and earning much less than they imagined. Illegal immigrants have to take what jobs they can find, often hard jobs that are paid below minimum wage. Many wish they had not come.

   Since the Brexit referendum, there has also been an increase in racism and intolerance in Britain – though the vast majority of people in Britain remain tolerant and are not racist.

The men and women who suffocated to death in that truck all thought that knew where they were going, knew what to expect; and they had paid a lot of money for the journey. Among the reasons that had encouraged them to make the journey were some glowing reports sent back home by others who had made the journey before them, and were encouraging them to come too… Some of those who encourage others to come are  paid to encourage more people to use the services of the people-smugglers. Those who died thought that knew what to expect when they reached Britain; they were not just victims of the propaganda of unscrupulous people-traffickers.

Yet it was the people-traffickers who were responsible for their death. Now that it is much easier to get right across Europe by truck or by train or by plane, travelling from Asia to Europe has become far faster, and people-trafficking has become a very lucrative business.  Criminal gangs in Asia, Russia, Europe and the UK have been competing to set up illegal trade and trafficking networks that can bring them in a lot of money from selling forged documents or  from smuggling people into Europe and in particular into Britain. And with thousands of trucks entering Britain from the Continent every day, those who traffic in human beings run less risk of getting caught than those who smuggle arms or contraband goods.

   In recent years, following a sharp rise in migrants trying to make their way to Britain, the processing of illegal immigrants has been speeded up, and the repatriation of those who don’t qualify to stay is quicker than it used to be.  This does not bother the people-traffickers; all they are interested in is making money, and they do not reimburse those who get caught and sent back to their country of origin, nor those who later get exploited by other criminal gangs.

As long as the gulf between rich countries and poor countries remains as great as it is today, there will always be an enormous pressure for dynamic or desperate people to flee poverty or repression and to try and reach a richer country, where they suppose they will reach a better standard of living, and far better social conditions. Given that the difference in living standards between the richest and the poorest countries of the world is growing all the time, not shrinking, some of them will be right, so it seems unlikely that the flow of immigrants towards richer countries will decline.

In many ways, the problem of illegal immigration from poor countries to rich ones is insoluble.  The image of the good life in western countries is projected worldwide by the media, in the movies and on the Internet. As long as there is money to be made from poor people who dream, the criminal gangs who trade in human beings will keep trying to smuggle in passengers in the backs of lorries; and as long as the dream is promoted, people will keep on trying any means they can think of to make their way to Western Europe, and often, preferably, to Britain where they understand the language.

   Many dream of a better life; many dream that “the grass is greener on the far side of the hill”. Sometimes it is.  But sometimes the reality is very different. Sometimes there is no grass.

1) What was the “gruesome discovery” made by the police in London?

2) What had they expected to find?

3) Why were the victims in the lorry?

4) What disadvantages of life in Britain are many immigrants willing to overlook?

5) Why does Britain seem particularly attractive for many people in developing countries?

6) Why do illegal immigrants find it easy to escape detection in Britain?

7) Why has the flow of immigrants increased in recent years?

8) What are people traffickers?

9) What is the main easiness to go to Britain?

10) Why is illegal immigration likely to remain a big issue in the years to come?