Cat CDZ

Read the questions and choose the correct answer. The first drawings on walls appeared in caves thousands of years ago. Later the Ancient Romans and Greeks wrote their names and protest poems on buildings. Modern graffiti seems to have appeared in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, and by the late sixties it had reached New York. The new art form really took off in the 1970s, when people began writing their names, or ‘tags’, on buildings all over the city. In the mid seventies it was sometimes hard to see out of a subway car window, because the trains were completely covered in spray paintings known as ‘masterpieces’. In the early days, the ‘taggers’ were part of street gangs who were concerned with marking their territory. They worked in groups called ‘crews’, and called what they did ‘writing’ – the term ‘graffiti’ was first used by The New York Times and the novelist Norman Mailer. Art galleries in New York began buying graffiti in the early seventies. But at the same time that it began to be regarded as an art form, John Lindsay, the then mayor of New York, declared the first war on graffiti. By the 1980s it became much harder to write on subway trains without being caught, and instead many of the more established graffiti artists began using roofs of buildings or canvases. The debate over whether graffiti is art or vandalism is still going on. Peter Vallone, a New York city councillor, thinks that graffiti done with permission can be art, but if it is on someone else’s property it becomes a crime. ‘I have a message for the graffiti vandals out there,’ he said recently. ‘Your freedom of expression ends where my property begins.’ On the other hand, Felix, a member of the Berlin-based group Reclaim Your City, says that artists are reclaiming cities for the public from advertisers, and that graffiti represents freedom and makes cities more vibrant. For decades graffiti has been a springboard to international fame for a few. Jean-Michel Basquiat began spraying on the street in the 1970s before becoming a respected artist in the ’80s. The Frenchman Blek le Rat and the British artist Banksy have achieved international fame by producing complex works with stencils, often making political or humorous points. Works by Banksy have been sold for over £100,000. Graffiti is now sometimes big business.

Match the paragraphs (1-4) with the best headings. One heading is not needed. (1) The first drawings on walls appeared in caves thousands of years ago. Later the Ancient Romans and Greeks wrote their names and protest poems on buildings. Modern graffiti seems to have appeared in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, and by the late sixties, it had reached New York. The new art form really took off in the 1970s, when people began writing their names, or ‘tags’, on buildings all over the city. In the mid-seventies, it was sometimes hard to see out of a subway car window because the trains were completely covered in spray paintings known as ‘masterpieces’. (2) In the early days, the ‘taggers’ were part of street gangs who were concerned with marking their territory. They worked in groups called ‘crews’, and called what they did ‘writing’ – the term ‘graffiti’ was first used by The New York Times and the novelist Norman Mailer. Art galleries in New York began buying graffiti in the early seventies. But at the same time that it began to be regarded as an art form, John Lindsay, the then-mayor of New York, declared the first war on graffiti. By the 1980s it became much harder to write on subway trains without being caught, and instead many of the more established graffiti artists began using roofs of buildings or canvases. (3) The debate over whether graffiti is art or vandalism is still going on. Peter Vallone, a New York city councillor, thinks that graffiti done with permission can be art, but if it is on someone else’s property it becomes a crime. ‘I have a message for the graffiti vandals out there,’ he said recently. ‘Your freedom of expression ends where my property begins.’ On the other hand, Felix, a member of the Berlin-based group Reclaim Your City, says that artists are reclaiming cities for the public from advertisers, and that graffiti represents freedom and makes cities more vibrant. (4) For decades graffiti has been a springboard to international fame for a few. Jean-Michel Basquiat began spraying on the street in the 1970s before becoming a respected artist in the ’80s. The Frenchman Blek le Rat and the British artist Banksy have achieved international fame by producing complex works with stencils, often making political or humorous points. Works by Banksy have been sold for over £100,000. Graffiti is now sometimes big business.

Read the text about an American student who is studying in London. Choose the correct statement. Today, on Student Radio Live, we ask overseas student, Emma Jones, how she likes living in London. A: Emma, you’re from New York and you’re in London studying Geography at London University. Tell us what you think of London. B: Oh, I love London! It’s such an exciting city, and the shopping is great. Although I think the shops are much more expensive than in New York. I also love all the historic buildings. New York is full of ugly, modern buildings, so London is much more beautiful. The nightlife in London is really good, too. People say London’s nightlife is not as good as New York’s, but I disagree. I think London’s is just as exciting. A: Do you think London is a nice city to explore on foot? B: Yes, very nice. I actually do a lot of walking around the streets of London. I often get lost, though, because the street signs aren’t very good. But people are very helpful. They always take the time to stop and redirect me. The drivers are a different matter. In London they’re just like the drivers in New York – they don’t stop for pedestrians! A: And what’s your opinion of Londoners? Do you find them friendly? B: Londoners are very friendly, yes. But so are the people in New York – so there’s not a big difference there. Londoners are more polite than New Yorkers though. And they aren’t in as much of a hurry! They always wait their turn at the bank or post office, for example. Londoners also respect rules and obey signs in public places more than New Yorkers. A: What do you think of the transport in London? B: Well, I really like the Underground. I know people complain that it’s slow and say the tickets are expensive, but I disagree. London buses are good, too. They’re clean and modern. But I don’t use them much because the journeys take such a long time. I prefer the taxi drivers here to the ones in New York. They aren’t as rude, and they always know where they are going! A: Do you like the housing in London? B: Yes. The flats aren’t as modern as the ones in New York, but they are much bigger and I really like that. Neighbours seem to be more relaxed in London, too. When I am in New York, my neighbours always complain about my loud music. But people in flats here seem to be much more relaxed about noise.

Advanced level Read the text and choose the correct option. Work–life Balance Ronan I work in a fairly traditional office environment doing a typical nine-to-five job. I like my job, but it’s annoying that my commute to work takes an hour and a half each way and most of my work could really be done online from home. But my boss doesn’t seem to trust that we will get any work done if left to our own devices, and everyone in the company has to clock in and out every day. It’s frustrating that they feel the need to monitor what we do so closely instead of judging us based on our task performance, like most companies do these days. Jo I used to do a typical five-day week, but after I came out of my maternity leave, I decided that I wanted to spend more time with my children before they start school. After negotiating with my boss, we decided to cut my working week down to a three-day work week. This of course meant a significant cut in my pay too, as I’m paid on a pro rata basis. I’ve since noticed, though, that my workload hasn’t decreased in the slightest! I’m now doing five days’ worth of work in three days, but getting paid much less for it! I find myself having to take work home just so that I can meet the deadlines. It’s wearing me out trying to juggle work with looking after my children and my family, but I don’t dare to bring this up with my boss because I think he feels as if he’s made a huge concession letting me come in only three days a week. Marcus I work for a global IT company, but because their headquarters is in the States, I do all my work online from home. That means that I don’t waste time commuting or making idle chit-chat with colleagues. I work on a project basis, and this flexibility is very valuable to me because it means that I can easily take some time off when my children need me to go to their school performances or if I need to schedule an appointment with the dentist. The downside is that without clear office hours, I tend to work well into the evening, sometimes skipping dinner to finish a task. It can also get quite lonely working on my own, and I sometimes miss sharing ideas with colleagues. Lily I’m a freelancer and work for myself. This is great because I am in control of what I do and how I spend my time. At first, I was working from home, but I found it really hard to concentrate. There were just too many distractions around: housework that needed doing, another cup of tea, my family members wanting my attention for various things. So I started to go to a nearby café to work, but the Wi-Fi connection wasn’t ideal and I found myself drinking too much coffee. In the end, I decided to rent a desk in a co-working space with five other freelancers like myself. I liked getting dressed to go to work in the morning and being able to focus in an office environment. The other freelancers do similar kinds of web-based work to me and so it’s nice to have workmates to bounce ideas off as well.

Choose the correct option. Do not drink _________ coffee in the evening.