UNIT 1: THE ARTS

READING SKILLS FOR IELTS: SENTENCE COMPLETION

A There are three texts on these two pages. Skim each text and match each
one with a picture.

Text 1 There are more than 300 caves in Spain and France containing art which was produced
in prehistoric times. It is difficult to date these cave paintings accurately, but many of them are
more than 10,000 years old and scientists believe the oldest to have been produced around
32,000 years ago. While some of the paintings consist of abstract shapes, others are of clearly
identifiable wild animals. Although paintings of full human beings on the cave walls are
extremely rare, there are pictures of human hands.

B Read the sentences below and CIRCLE the part of speech you think is
missing. Then write ONE WORD from Text 1 in each gap to complete the sentences.
1. noun / adjective: Humans in Europe in ___________ times created works of art.
2. noun /verb: It has not been easy for scientists to__________the art accurately.
3. noun / adjective: There are examples of abstract art and animals in the cave ______________.
4. adjective / verb: It is ______________to find pictures of humans in this ancient art.

Text 2 (i) The British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys have broken numerous records since they
formed in Sheffield back in 2002. (ii) Their first single, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
was released on 17 October 2005. (iii) It went straight into the UK Singles Chart at number one.
(iv) When, the following January, they brought out their debut album, Whatever People Say I
Am, That's What I'm Not, it soon became the fastest-selling first album in British music history
(although this record has since been broken). (v) Their second album, Favourite Worst
Nightmare, which came out on 23 April 2007, sold more than 225,000 copies in its first week
alone.

C. Decide which sentence or sentences in Text 2 contain the information below.

Write the number or numbers (i-v) on the first line. Then, write ONE OR TWO WORDS
from Text 2 in each gap to complete the sentences in Exercise C.
1. ________ The style of music produced by Arctic Monkeys is sometimes called __________
2. ________ The band actually _____________ three years before releasing I Bet You Look Good On
The Dancefloor.
3. ________Arctic Monkeys' first single reached the ___________ position in the UK Singles Chart.
Almost a quarter of a million copies of Favourite Worst Nightmare were sold in the ___________
after its release.

Text 3 The Japanese word 'anime' comes from the English word'animation! In Japanese,'anime'
refers to all forms of animation. In English, however, anime is used to refer to the specific art
form and style of animated material originating from Japan, or material produced in the same
style. It is therefore considered a sub-category of animation. Anime can be recognised by its
use of exaggerated physical features of characters (such as large eyes), its distinctive use of
lines, and its emphasis on highlighting the three-dimensional image. It should be noted,
however, that not all anime contains all these features. Traditionally, anime is drawn by hand,

1
although developments in digital technology have led to much computer-generated anime
being produced in recent years.

D. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Text 3 in the gaps to complete the
sentences.
1. 'Anime' in Japan is _____________ animation rather than a particular type of art.
2. The appearance of people often seems ____________ in anime.
3. When anime started, it was usually _____________.
4. Anime artists nowadays often make use of _______________.

Wordbank: Text vocabulary

Write a word from the texts in the correct form in each gap to complete the
sentences.
1. Art which doesn't show people or physical things is known as ___________ art. (Text 1)
2. A group of musicians (often jazz, pop or rock musicians) is sometimes referred to as a
____________. (Text 2)
3. If a singer releases a new CD, we can also say that the singer has _____________ out a new
CD. (Text 2)
4. Drawn moving pictures, such as cartoons, are also known as _______________. (Text 3)
5. If a work of art has distinctive features, we can say it has a particular ____________. (Text 3)
6. If you _____________ something, you emphasise it or make it easier to see or notice. (Text 3)

READING: 20TH CENTURY MODERN ART CHAMPIONS: RAUSCHENBERG AND WARHOL

A The term 'Modern Art' refers to art from the period 1860s to 1970s and encompasses the
work of such well-known names as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso. Modern
Art represents the discarding of the artistic traditions of the past in favour of a spirit of
experimentation. It conceptualised the functions of art in new ways and introduced different
ideas about the nature of materials. Two artists who had a huge impact on modern art in the
twentieth century were Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol. Arguably, they both had an
important influence on art as we know it today, but whereas Warhol became a household
name, Rauschenberg is remembered only by those in the artistic community.
B Milton Ernest Rauschenberg, who later became known as Robert Rauschenberg, was born in
Port Arthur, Texas in 1925, while 1 Andrew Warhola - Andy Warhol - was born in 1928 in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both were of European heritage, born to working class families. In
Rauschenberg's case, his childhood environment was hardly inspiring-a blue-collar town that
has been described as a 'cultural wasteland with no art. His father had no understanding of art
and gave him no encouragement. His mother, on the other hand, supported her son as much
as she could. For much of his life, 2Rauschenberg had been waiting for the opportunity to leave
his hot, sticky, industrial home town and he did so in 1944, moving to California. Like
Rauschenberg, Warhol was close to his mother. A sickly child, he spent a lot of time at home
with her. Though he was missing a lot of school, 3 he was developing his artistic skills and
tastes, so it was actually an important period of his life. He eventually enrolled in the Carnegie
Institute in Pittsburgh, where he took his first steps into the art world. Eventually, both artists
gravitated towards New York, 4 which, by the early 1950s, had taken over from Paris as the
centre of the Avant Garde*
C Artistically, what the two have in common is the willingness to innovate, take chances and be
different from everything that had gone before. Both were a new type of artist who embraced
and drew inspiration from popular culture. Both rejected the orthodoxical views of 'high' and
'low'art. To their minds, anything could be art. Rauschenberg produced paintings and
sculptures and even combined them to produce mixed media, working with a variety of less
conventional materials including silk, metal and glass. 5 It has been said that the whole world
was his canvas'. He was the ultimate scavenger, prepared to use anything he could find in his
artworks, even going so far as to incorporate such disparate objects as socks, bedspreads and
car parts into his work. His 1953 piece entitled Automobile Tire Print was conceptual art as
never seen before and would ensure him a place in the art history books.
D Warhol's work was equally innovative, drawing from the world around him, but somewhat
different in approach. He rose to fame with his iconic Campbell's Soup Can series, which even
2
today is seen as one of the most definitive images of the Pop Art movement. 6 The simple red
and white depictions of an everyday item have been hanging in kitchens and cafés around the
world since the 1960s. It's a similar story for his iconic series of movie star portraits - including
such popular culture figures as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor. Like
Rauschenberg, he didn't limit himself to just one medium. In 1964 he produced his first
exhibition of sculpture, which consisted of hundreds of imitation supermarket product boxes,
most famously Brillo and Heinz. It was an exhibition which confounded critics and helped
cement his credentials as an artist challenging the status quo.
E Not content with subverting the conventional art forms of painting and sculpture, both
Rauschenberg and Warhol experimented beyond them. Rauschenberg collaborated with
musicians, costume designers, dancers and even scientists, never ceasing to expand the
possibilities of what art could be. He has been described as 'the wind blowing through the art
world, pollinating everything'. Warhol, too, dabbled in other fields, including rock music and
film, and engaged in Performance Art, with his multimedia show The Exploding Plastic
Inevitable becoming one of the works he is best remembered for. This show pioneered many
lighting innovations which rock musicians have been using in their shows since the 1960s.
F Both Rauschenberg and Warhol were extremely prolific, the former's career spanning six
decades, whilst the latter is a household name whose work has been adopted by several
generations. What differentiates them is that Warhol courted publicity. He wrote books and co-
founded a magazine, Interview, which reported on film, fashion and popular culture. He
socialised with celebrities and had several TV shows, which helped spread his fame. In
contrast, Rauschenberg didn't seek the limelight. His name is not widely known outside the art
world, but that does not diminish his influence upon it. Given that Warhol's work is immensely
reproducible and commercial, brightly coloured and attractive to buyers, it is easy to see why
Rauschenberg's productions with salvaged garbage and street signs would lack the same
popular appeal. However, this great innovator still deserves to be remembered for his unique
contribution to Modern Art.

Excercise 04: Which paragraph contains the following information?

1 The materials Rauschenberg worked with
2 Why Warhol is more famous than Rauschenberg
3 A definition of Modern Art
4 The artists' early lives 5 Warhol's main work 6 Both artists' performance art

Excercise 05: Read Paragraph B carefully. Match each statement 1-3 with its answer.
One is True, one is False and one is Not Given.
1 Rauschenberg was often unwell as a child.
2 Both artists had a positive relationship with their mothers.
3 Warhol began to develop his ability as an artist when he went to New York.

Excercise 06: Highlight the parts of the text where you found the information for
exercise 5. Why might some candidates think the Not Given statement was True or
False?

Excercise 07: Statements 1-3 are Not Given in the text. Match them with the reasons
some candidates might think they are given (a-c).
1 Conventional materials are not used a This information is given but about a
in Modern Art. different person.
2 Rauschenberg and Warhol b Some of the words are used in the
influenced each other's work. text.
3 Warhol grew up in a working class c We might expect this to be true,
part of his home town. given the focus on these two artists in
the text.

Excercise 08: Read paragraphs A, B and C. Are the following True, False or Not
Given?
1 Neither artist is known by their birth name.
3
2 Rauschenberg first achieved artistic fame in his home town.
3 Paris was the best place for Modern artists in the 1950s.
4 Neither artist believed in distinguishing between high and low art.
5 Art critics were shocked by Rauschenberg's use of everyday objects in his work.

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
The multiple-choice task type consists of a mix of questions and sentences to complete. In both
cases, there are four options to choose from. Some sets of questions will focus on one
paragraph or part of the text. Others will focus on the text as a whole. The questions follow the
order of the text.
Exercise 09: Read the question below but cover the options. Write your own answer.
Then compare it to the options.
1 What is the main similarity between Warhol and Rauschenberg in terms of their
work?
A They always used unusual materials.
B They both became very famous.
C They were both risk takers.
D Their work always combined painting and sculpture.

TIP: A useful strategy is to use the key words in the question stem - or synonyms of them - to
help you identify the correct part of the text. Read the sentence or sentences carefully. Think
of your own answer to the question and see which of the options matches it the closest.

Exercise 10: Read the parts of the text (A-D) that correspond to each option in
exercise 9. Match them with the explanations (1-4) that follow.
A 'He [Rauschenberg) was the ultimate scavenger, prepared to use anything he could find in
his artworks, even going so far as to incorporate such disparate objects as socks, bedspreads
and car parts into his work.'
B ‘... whereas Warhol became a household name, Rauschenberg is remembered only by those
in the artistic community.'
C 'Artistically, what the two have in common is the willingness to innovate, take chances and
be different from everything that had gone before.'
D 'Rauschenberg produced paintings and sculptures and even combined them to produce
mixed media, working with a variety of less conventional materials including silk, metal and
glass.'
'Like Rauschenberg, he (Warhol) didn't limit himself to just one medium. In 1964 he produced
his first exhibition of sculpture, which consisted of hundreds of imitation supermarket product
boxes, most famously Brillo and Heinz.'
1 This cannot be the answer because the artists produced paintings and sculpture, not always
a combination of the two.
2 This is the correct answer.
3 This cannot be the answer because it only refers to Rauschenberg.
4 This cannot be the answer because it tells us that only Warhol gained fame.

TIP: Remember that all the options will be mentioned in the text in some way but only one will
completely answer the question.

Exercise 11: Now answer this question by finding the relevant section of the text.
Explain to your partner why the other options are incorrect.
In what way are the artists' backgrounds similar?
A Their mothers were the most important influence on them.
B They were born in America to families with ancestry in Europe.
C Their families pushed them to go to Art School.
D Their families moved to New York.

IDENTIFYING MAIN AND SUPPORTING IDEAS

4
Some multiple-choice questions test your ability to identify the main idea of a paragraph as
opposed to the supporting ideas. The main idea is the message the writer wants to
communicate with the paragraph, and the supporting ideas are facts, examples, etc. which
back up the main idea.
Exercise 12: Answer the two questions. Explain how you decided on your answers.
1 The purpose of Paragraph D is ...
A to illustrate Warhol's love of fame.
B to highlight the differences between Warhol and Rauschenberg.
C to suggest Warhol's work was better than Rauschenberg's.
D to give an overview of Warhol's early ground-breaking work.
2 What is the main idea of paragraph E?
A Both artists worked outside of traditional artistic genres.
B Warhol's work influenced rock music.
C Both artists engaged in performance art.
D The Exploding Plastic Inevitable is a well-known piece of work.

TIP: Typically, the main idea is at the start of a paragraph in the opening sentences, but this is
not always the case, so skim read the whole paragraph to form an opinion of the general
message it is trying to communicate, and then look at the options to see which one
paraphrases your opinion. The incorrect options are often mentioned in the paragraph as
supporting ideas.

READING PASSAGE:
An astonishingly intricate project is being undertaken to restore a legendary
theatrical dress, Angela Wintle explains.
On December 28th, 1888, the curtain rose on a daring new stage revival of Shakespeare's
Macbeth at the Lyceum Theatre in London. Topping the bill, playing Lady Macbeth, a main
character in the play, was Ellen Terry. She was the greatest and most adored English actress of
the age. But she didn't achieve this devotion through her acting ability alone. She knew the
power of presentation and carefully cultivated her image. That first night was no exception.
When she walked on stage for the famous banqueting scene, her appearance drew a collective
gasp from the audience.
She was dressed in the most extraordinary clothes ever to have graced a British stage: a long,
emerald and sea-green gown with tapering sleeves, surmounted by a velvet cloak, which
glistened and sparkled eerily in the limelight. Yet this was no mere stage trickery. The effect
had been achieved using hundreds of wings from beetles. The gown - later named the
'Beetlewing dress' - became one of the most iconic and celebrated costumes of the age.
Terry was every bit as remarkable as her costumes. At 31, she became a leading lady at the
Lyceum Theatre and for two decades, she set about bringing culture to the masses. The
productions she worked on were extravagant and daring. Shakespeare's plays were staged
alongside blood-and-thunder melodramas and their texts were ruthlessly cut. Some people
were critical, but they missed the point. The innovations sold tickets and brought new
audiences to see masterpieces that they would never otherwise have seen.
However, it was a painter who immortalised her. John Singer Sargent had been so struck by
Terry's appearance at that first performance that he asked her to model for him, and his
famous portrait of 1889, now at the Tate Gallery in London, showed her with a glint in her eye,
holding a crown over her flame-red hair. But while the painting remains almost as fresh as the
day it was painted, the years have not been so kind to the dress. Its delicate structure,
combined with the cumulative effects of time, has meant it is now in an extremely fragile
condition. Thus, two years ago, a fundraising project was launched by Britain's National Trust 1
to pay for its conservation.
It turned to textile conservator Zenzie Tinker to do the job. Zenzie loves historical dress
because of the link with the past. "Working on costumes like the Beetlewing dress gives you a
real sense of the people who wore them; you can see the sweat stains and wear marks. But it's
quite unusual to know who actually wore a garment. That's the thing that makes the
Beetlewing project so special.'

5
Before any of Zenzie's conservation work can begin, she and her team will conduct a thorough
investigation to help determine what changes have been made to the dress and when. This will
involve close examination of the dress for signs of damage and wear, and will be aided by
comparing it with John Singer Sargent's painting and contemporary photographs. Then Zenzie
and the National Trust will decide how far back to take the reconstruction, as some members
feel that even the most recent changes are now part of the history of the dress.
The first stages in the actual restoration will involve delicate surface cleaning, using a small
vacuum suction device. Once the level of reconstruction has been determined, the original
crocheted2 overdress will be stitched onto a dyed net support before repairs begin. 'It's going
to be extraordinarily difficult, because the original cloth is quite stretchy, so we've deliberately
chosen net because that has a certain amount of flexibility in it too,' says Zenzie. When the
dress is displayed, none of our work will be noticeable, but we'll retain all the evidence on the
reverse so that future experts will be able to see exactly what we've done - and I'll produce a
detailed report.’
Zenzie has estimated that the project, costing about £30,000, will require more than 700 hours'
work. 'It will be a huge undertaking and I don't think the Trust has ever spent quite as much on
a costume before,' she says. "But this dress is unique. It's very unusual to see this level of
workmanship on a theatrical costume, and it must have looked spectacular on stage.' If Terry
was alive today, there's no doubt she would be delighted. Unlike many other actresses, she
valued her costumes because she kept and reused them time and time again. I'd like to think
she'd see our contribution as part of the ongoing history of the dress,' says Zenzie.
1
A conservation organisation whose work includes the funding of projects designed to protect
and preserve Britain's cultural heritage
2
Produced using wool and a special needle with a hook at the end

Questions 1-6 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1 What do you learn about Ellen Terry in the first paragraph?
A Lady Macbeth was her first leading role.
B The Lyceum was her favourite theatre.
C She tried hard to look good on stage.
D She wanted to look young for her audience.
2 What is the writer's purpose in paragraph 2?
A to describe different responses to the Beetlewing dress
B to explain why the Beetlewing dress had such a big impact
C to consider the suitability of the Beetlewing dress for the play
D to compare the look of the Beetlewing dress on and off the stage
3 According to the writer, the main effect of the Lyceum productions was to
A expose more people to Shakespeare's plays.
B reduce the interest in other types of production.
C raise the cost of going to the theatre.
D encourage writers to produce more plays.
4 In the fourth paragraph, what comparison does the writer make between Sargent's
portrait and the Beetlewing dress?
A The dress has attracted more attention than the painting.
B The dress is worth more money than the painting
C The painting took longer to produce.
D The painting looks newer.
5 Zenzie says the Beetlewing project is particularly special because
A the dress is very old.
B people know who wore the dress.
C the dress was designed by someone famous.
D there is evidence that the dress has been used.
6 Which of the following is the most suitable title for the passage?
A A lesson from the past
B A challenging task
C An unusual fashion show
D An unexpected discovery
6
Questions 7-10 Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the
reading passage?
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
7 The National Trust conducted useful research to assist Zenzie's plans for the dress.
8 There will be some discussion over the changes that Zenzie's team should make to the dress.
9 Zenzie's estimate for the timing of the project is realistic.
10 Ellen Terry's attitude towards her dresses was typical of her time.

Questions 11-14 Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
11 Pictures will be used
12 A special machine will be used
13 A net material has been selected
14 Work will be visible on one side
A to show how the team did the repairs on the dress.
B to reduce the time taken to repair the dress.
C to remove the dirt from the top layer of the dress.
D to demonstrate the quality of the team's work on the dress.
E to match a quality of the original fabric used in the dress.
F to help show where the dress needs repair work.