Full name: Student id: midterm test reading – writing 4 time: 90’ I. Writing (50pts)
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Đề-mid-2022, 2022 Sư phạm - Đáp án, Colorful-Creative-Social-Media-Brainstorm-Presentation
| Passage 2 (16pts):
TEENAGER SELF-PORTRAITS When The Times invited anyone aged 11 to 18 to submit a self- portrait, the response was phenomenal. You were interested in how your face and hair looked. We were interested in honesty, courage, and lack of self- consciousness. And on Monday our mutual concerns met. A panel of judges that included a professor of drawing, Stephen Farthing; the Turner prize-winning artist Grayson Perry; and me myself, an art critic, assembled to assess the entries for the Tate Times Drawing Challenge. The competition invited anyone from 11 to 18 to pick up their pencils and submit a self-portrait, the best of which would be displayed in the Tate. There were more than 1,000 entries. A self-portrait can be about ruthless honesty. But equally, it can be all about ways of deceiving. Artists can rival actors when it comes to obscuring or making themselves look better. Think of the difference between that public face that you practice in the mirror and that embarrassing grimace in the camera snap. The construction of an image involves dozens of decisions. To study a self-portrait is to understand how an artist wants to be seen. In the case of young people, it would seem that for every pretty-faced teenager who would like to imagine themselves as some soft-focus fashion model there is another who is keen for the world to know that they are lurking alone and misunderstood in their rooms. Despite all the worst: intentions, a self-portrait reveals how its sitter sees the world. The judges were looking for a vision that seemed enlivening or truthful, courageous, or unselfconsciously fresh. Sometimes the panel burst out laughing at the sheer exuberance - though that was mostly in the work of the younger entrants before the toothy grins gave way to grimacing teenage angst. There were pictures of young people doing anything from brushing their teeth, to donning funny hats to listening to iPods. But the most interesting images were less self-consciously presented: it was as if the sitters had been caught unprepared. The judges tended to prefer the pictures in which the artist had really tried to look in a mirror rather than copy the surface of a photograph. ‘The best images,’ says Stephen Farthing, professor of drawing at University of the Arts, London, ‘are those done by someone who has spent time drawing from life, not just trying to make pictures that look as if they are finished.’ Most of the most obviously perfect images were passed over by the panel. ‘The distortions and quirks are where the subconscious leaks out,’ Grayson Perry says. It was notable how many entrants mapped out the spots on their faces. Clearly this matters a lot to a teenager. Hair was another obsession, though several got so caught up that their images were more like advertisements for L’Oréal. They weren’t worth it. Most judges preferred the bad -hair days of entrants such as 13-year-old Daniel Adkins, in whose self-portrait the hair took on a character all of its own. Drawing may be unfashionable - and not least in our art colleges - hut it was heartening to see not only how naturally talented so many of the entrants were, but also how naturally drawing could be taught. Three of the self-portraits were by pupils of the English Martyrs Sixth Form College, Hartlepool. Where some schools submitted work that arrived in cloned clumps, here, it seems, is a teacher who knows how to tease out and develop innate talent. And that matters. Drawing is a means of expression as much as writing and mathematics. It’s a tool to be sharpened so that you can take it out when you need it and do whatever you want. But what does this competition tell us about the entrants? It offered a portrait of young people who are engaged, enthusiastic and eager. Once, young people aspired to be bankers and doctors and lawyers. But who wants to go to the office when they could be an artist? From The Times 1 When the panel of judges met, they discovered that A they shared the same objectives as the competitors. B both entrants and judges were equally satisfied with the results. C the entrants’ and the judges’ differing objectives were achieved. D the winning entries combined good looks with other positive qualities. 2 According to the writer, what do all self- portraits have in common? A They reflect exactly what the artist sees. B They are used to improve the artist’s image. C They deceive both the artist and the viewer. D They reflect the artist’s attitudes and concerns 3 How did the children’s work generally differ from that of the adolescents? A It was livelier. B It was more honest. C It was more humorous. D It showed more self-awareness. 4 The judges were least interested in the self -portraits which A showed spontaneity. B concentrated on excellent drawing technique. C produced unintended results. D were incomplete 5 How does the writer feel about the way competitors drew their hair? A It was better when it was untidy. B It deserved more attention from the artists. C It was more attractive than their spots. D It took up too much time for some artists. 6 The English Martyrs Sixth Form College is an example of A how schools can help pupils to develop their natural abilities. B why schools should teach unfashionable subjects. C how some schools teach all their pupils to draw in the same style. D why only naturally gifted pupils should be taught how to draw. 7 What impression does the writer have of those who took part in the competition? A They suffer from the typical anxieties of teenagers. B They are extremely interested in what they are doing. C They generally prefer drawing to writing or mathematics. D They are more artistically talented than previous generations. 8 What can be the purpose of the competition in your opinion? Briefly explain your answers. |