Read the text and choose the correct answers.
This month in Art Around the World, Fiona Hitchens visits China
My first introduction to Chinese art was an early morning walk in Beihai Park in Beijing. There, I saw elderly people writing on the pavement with paintbrushes which were a metre long! I soon learned that they were doing water calligraphy − writing in water. The words have meanings, but they are also art. The calligraphy quickly disappears, of course. But tomorrow, the old people will be back.
Temporary art like this is very popular in China. Every winter, Harbin, in northern China, is visited by sculptors and tourists from around the world. They come for the Harbin Ice Festival, when the city has huge sculptures made out of ice. The sculptures are bigger than houses, and they take weeks to make. Harbin’s freezing winter temperatures make it very difficult for the artists to work outside. But the weather also means that the sculptures will be protected until the spring.
A few days later in Tibet, western China, I watched artists make sand paintings. The pictures are full of symbols, and they have important religious meanings for Tibetan people. They look amazing, but the paintings are soon destroyed by the artists who make them. It is important for Tibetan culture to make these paintings, then have them destroyed.
Of course, not all Chinese art is temporary −some of it has been around for a very long time! Near the city of Xi’an, I visited the amazing terracotta warriors, or soldiers. In 200 BCE, 8,000 statues of soldiers were made by sculptors out of a material called terracotta. They are as big as real people and they all have different faces. An important king had the statues produced to protect his body after he died. They stayed under the ground with the dead king for over 2,000 years, until they were discovered by a farmer in 1974.
At the China Art Museum, in Shanghai, I saw wonderful 16th-century Chinese paintings of tall mountains, trees and cliffs. The paintings were beautiful, but they didn’t look very realistic to me at the time. ‘Mountains aren’t like that,’ I thought. But that was before the last stop on my trip: the mountains of Zhangjiajie National Park.
These mountains were used by film director James Cameron in his sci-fi film Avatar because they look like something from another planet. On my last weekend in China, I took a cable car up into the mountains there. Trees grew on the sides of hundred-metre cliffs, and strange towers of rock appeared out of the morning fog. It looked just like the pictures in the China Art Museum. For a moment, I felt like I was inside a Chinese painting!
Glossary
brush− you use this to paint
1. What does the writer say about the people she saw in Beihai Park?
A) They only meet one morning a week.
B) They are all artists.
C) They taught the writer Chinese calligraphy.
D) They are mostly old people.
2. The cold weather in Harbin
A) helps the sculptors to work.
B) makes it too cold to work outside.
C) protects the sculptures.
D) makes it difficult to visit the festival.
3. Which is true about Tibetan sand paintings?
A) They are made and destroyed by the same people.
B) They take months to make.
C) They aren’t easy to protect.
D) They are only understood by religious people.
4. Why was the author’s visit to Zhangjiajie important?
A) She wanted to visit the place where they filmed Avatar.
B) It is home to an important art museum.
C) It changed her ideas about Chinese painting.
D) It was her favourite stop on her trip.
5. What overall message does the article give about Chinese art?
A) Most Chinese art is temporary.
B) There are many different forms of Chinese art.
C) A lot of Chinese art is very old.
D) The best Chinese art was produced in the 16th century.
2.)
Writing
You’ve been asked to write a review of a book you didn’t like for your school website. Follow the instructions below and write your review.
•Give the title and make sure you attract the reader’s attention.
•Describe the main events in the story and talk about the characters.
•Mention two reasons why you didn’t enjoy the book.
•Explain why you wouldn’t recommend this book.
This month in Art Around the World, Fiona Hitchens visits China
My first introduction to Chinese art was an early morning walk in Beihai Park in Beijing. There, I saw elderly people writing on the pavement with paintbrushes which were a metre long! I soon learned that they were doing water calligraphy − writing in water. The words have meanings, but they are also art. The calligraphy quickly disappears, of course. But tomorrow, the old people will be back.
Temporary art like this is very popular in China. Every winter, Harbin, in northern China, is visited by sculptors and tourists from around the world. They come for the Harbin Ice Festival, when the city has huge sculptures made out of ice. The sculptures are bigger than houses, and they take weeks to make. Harbin’s freezing winter temperatures make it very difficult for the artists to work outside. But the weather also means that the sculptures will be protected until the spring.
A few days later in Tibet, western China, I watched artists make sand paintings. The pictures are full of symbols, and they have important religious meanings for Tibetan people. They look amazing, but the paintings are soon destroyed by the artists who make them. It is important for Tibetan culture to make these paintings, then have them destroyed.
Of course, not all Chinese art is temporary −some of it has been around for a very long time! Near the city of Xi’an, I visited the amazing terracotta warriors, or soldiers. In 200 BCE, 8,000 statues of soldiers were made by sculptors out of a material called terracotta. They are as big as real people and they all have different faces. An important king had the statues produced to protect his body after he died. They stayed under the ground with the dead king for over 2,000 years, until they were discovered by a farmer in 1974.
At the China Art Museum, in Shanghai, I saw wonderful 16th-century Chinese paintings of tall mountains, trees and cliffs. The paintings were beautiful, but they didn’t look very realistic to me at the time. ‘Mountains aren’t like that,’ I thought. But that was before the last stop on my trip: the mountains of Zhangjiajie National Park.
These mountains were used by film director James Cameron in his sci-fi film Avatar because they look like something from another planet. On my last weekend in China, I took a cable car up into the mountains there. Trees grew on the sides of hundred-metre cliffs, and strange towers of rock appeared out of the morning fog. It looked just like the pictures in the China Art Museum. For a moment, I felt like I was inside a Chinese painting!
Glossary
brush− you use this to paint
1. What does the writer say about the people she saw in Beihai Park?
A) They only meet one morning a week.
B) They are all artists.
C) They taught the writer Chinese calligraphy.
D) They are mostly old people.
2. The cold weather in Harbin
A) helps the sculptors to work.
B) makes it too cold to work outside.
C) protects the sculptures.
D) makes it difficult to visit the festival.
3. Which is true about Tibetan sand paintings?
A) They are made and destroyed by the same people.
B) They take months to make.
C) They aren’t easy to protect.
D) They are only understood by religious people.
4. Why was the author’s visit to Zhangjiajie important?
A) She wanted to visit the place where they filmed Avatar.
B) It is home to an important art museum.
C) It changed her ideas about Chinese painting.
D) It was her favourite stop on her trip.
5. What overall message does the article give about Chinese art?
A) Most Chinese art is temporary.
B) There are many different forms of Chinese art.
C) A lot of Chinese art is very old.
D) The best Chinese art was produced in the 16th century.
2.)
Writing
You’ve been asked to write a review of a book you didn’t like for your school website. Follow the instructions below and write your review.
•Give the title and make sure you attract the reader’s attention.
•Describe the main events in the story and talk about the characters.
•Mention two reasons why you didn’t enjoy the book.
•Explain why you wouldn’t recommend this book.
More Questions From This User See All
Answers & Comments
1 D
2 C
3 A
4 C
5 B
2. Writing
As I delved into the pages of 'The Last Ray of Hope', found myself consumed by a world of darkness and despair. The story follows a group of characters as they struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, where humanity is on the brink of extinction. The characters themselves are not without their flaws and inner demons, which add a layer of complexity to their struggles. However, despite the intriguing premise and well-developed characters, I found myself unable to enjoy this book. The constant bleakness and hopelessness of the story weighed heavily on me, leaving me with a sense of despair that lingered long after I closed the book. Additionally, the slow pace of the plot made it difficult to stay engaged, as I often found myself losing interest in the events unfolding on the page. Overall, while 'The Last Ray of Hope' may appeal to those who enjoy stories of the end of the world and the human condition, I cannot in good conscience recommend it. The unrelenting darkness and slow plot made for a difficult read that left me feeling drained and hopeless.