READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3
below.

Museums of fine art and their public

The fact that people go to the Louvre museum in Paris to see the original painting Mona
Lisa when they can see a reproduction anywhere leads us to question some assumptions about
the role of museums of fine art in today’s world
One of the most famous works of art in the world is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Nearly
everyone who goes to see the original will already be familiar with it from reproductions, but
they accept that fine art is more rewardingly viewed in its original form.
However, if Mona Lisa was a famous novel, few people would bother to go to a museum to read
the writer’s actual manuscript rather than a printed reproduction. This might be explained by the
fact that the novel has evolved precisely because of technological developments that made it
possible to print out huge numbers of texts, whereas oil paintings have always been produced as
unique objects. In addition, it could be argued that the practice of interpreting or ‘reading’ each
medium follows different conventions. With novels, the reader attends mainly to the meaning of
words rather than the way they are printed on the page, whereas the ‘reader’ of a painting must
attend just as closely to the material form of marks and shapes in the picture as to any ideas they
may signify.
Yet it has always been possible to make very accurate facsimiles of pretty well any fine art work.
The seven surviving versions of Mona Lisa bear witness to the fact that in the 16th century,
artists seemed perfectly content to assign the reproduction of their creations to their workshop
apprentices as regular ‘bread and butter’ work. And today the task of reproducing pictures is
incomparably more simple and reliable, with reprographic techniques that allow the production
of high-quality prints made exactly to the original scale, with faithful colour values, and even
with duplication of the surface relief of the painting.
Content (n) – content (adj) – happy + satisfied
But despite an implicit recognition that the spread of good reproductions can be culturally
valuable, museums continue to promote the special status of original work.
Unfortunately, this seems to place severe limitations on the kind of experience offered to visitors.
One limitation is related to the way the museum presents its exhibits. As repositories of unique
historical objects, art museums are often called ‘treasure houses’. We are reminded of this even
before we view a collection by the presence of security guards, attendants, ropes and display
cases to keep us away from the exhibits. In many cases, the architectural style of the building
further reinforces that notion. In addition, a major collection like that of London’s National
Gallery is housed in numerous rooms, each with dozens of works, any one of which is likely to
be worth more than all the average visitor possesses. In a society that judges the personal status
of the individual so much by their material worth, it is therefore difficult not to be impressed by
one’s own relative ‘worthlessness’ in such an environment.
Furthermore, consideration of the ‘value’ of the original work in its treasure house setting
impresses upon the viewer that, since these works were originally produced, they have been
assigned a huge monetary value by some person or institution more powerful than themselves.
Evidently, nothing the viewer thinks about the work is going to alter that value, and so today’s
viewer is deterred from trying to extend that spontaneous, immediate, self-reliant kind of reading
which would originally have met the work.
The visitor may then be struck by the strangeness of seeing such diverse paintings, drawings and
sculptures brought together in an environment for which they were not originally created. This
‘displacement effect’ is further heightened by the sheer volume of exhibits. In the case of a major
collection, there are probably more works on display than we could realistically view in weeks or
even months.
This is particularly distressing because time seems to be a vital factor in the appreciation of all
art forms. A fundamental difference between paintings and other art forms is that there is no
prescribed time over which a painting is viewed. By contrast, the audience encourage an opera or
a play over a specific time, which is the duration of the performance. Similarly novels and poems
are read in a prescribed temporal sequence, whereas a picture has no clear place at which to start
viewing, or at which to finish. Thus art works themselves encourage us to view them
superficially, without appreciating the richness of detail and labour that is involved.
Consequently, the dominant critical approach becomes that of the art historian, a specialised
academic approach devoted to ‘discovering the meaning’ of art within the cultural context of its
time. This is in perfect harmony with the museum’s function, since the approach is dedicated to
seeking out and conserving ‘authentic’, original, readings of the exhibits. Again, this seems to
put paid to that spontaneous, participators criticism which can be found in abundance in criticism
of classic works of literature, but is absent from most art history.
The displays of art museums serve as a warning of what critical practices can emerge when
spontaneous criticism is suppressed. The museum public, like any other audience, experience art
more rewardingly when given the confidence to express their views. If appropriate works of fine
art could be rendered permanently accessible to the public by means of high-fidelity
reproductions, as literature and music already are, the public may feel somewhat less in awe of
them. Unfortunately, that may be too much to ask from those who seek to maintain and control
the art establishment.
Questions 27-31
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-L, below.
Write the correct letter, A-L, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

The value attached to original works of art

People go to art museums because they accept the value of seeing an original work of art. But
they do not go to museums to read original manuscripts of novels, perhaps because the
availability of novels has depended on 27……………… for so long, and also because with
novels, the 28……………… are the most important thing.
However, in historical times artists such as Leonardo were happy to instruct 29………………..
to produce copies of their work and these days new methods of reproduction allow excellent
replication of surface relief features as well as colour and 30…………….. . 
It is regrettable that museums still promote the superiority of original works of art, since this may
not be in the interests of the 31……………… .
A   institution             B   mass production    C   mechanical processes
D   public                     E   paints                     F   artist
G   size                         H   underlying ideas    I    basic technology
J   readers                    K   picture frames       L   assistants
Questions 32-35
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet
32   The writer mentions London’s National Gallery to illustrate
A   the undesirable cost to a nation of maintaining a huge collection of art.
B   the conflict that may arise in society between financial and artistic values.
C   the negative effect a museum can have on visitors’ opinions of themselves.
D   the need to put individual well-being above large-scale artistic schemes.
33   The writer says that today, viewers may be unwilling to criticise a because
A   they lack the knowledge needed to support an opinion.
B   they fear it may have financial implications.
C   they have no real concept of the work’s value.
D   they feel their personal reaction is of no significance.
34   According to the writer, the ‘displacement effect’ on the visitor is caused by
A   the variety of works on display and the way they are arranged.
B   the impossibility of viewing particular works of art over a long period.
C   the similar nature of the paintings and the lack of great works.
D   the inappropriate nature of the individual works selected for exhibition.
35   The writer says that unlike other forms of art, a painting does not
A   involve direct contact with an audience.
B   require a specific location for a performance.
C   need the involvement of other professionals.
D   have a specific beginning or end.
Questions 36-40
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet, write
YES                  if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO                   if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN    if the is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
36   Art history should focus on discovering the meaning of art using a range of media.
37   The approach of art historians conflicts with that of art museums.
38   People should be encouraged to give their opinions openly on works of art.
39   Reproductions of fine art should only be sold to the public if they are of high quality.
40   In the future, those with power are likely to encourage more people to enjoy art.
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3
below.

Why fairy tales are really scary tales

Some people think that fairy tales are just stories to amuse children, but their universal and
enduring appeal may be due to more serious reasons
People of every culture tell each other fairy tales but the same story often takes a variety of forms
in different parts of the world. In the story of Little Red Riding Hood that European children are
familiar with, a young girl on the way to see her grandmother meets a wolf and tells him where
she is going. The wolf runs on ahead and disposes of the grandmother, then gets into bed dressed
in the grandmother’s clothes to wait for Little Red Riding Hood. You may think you know the
story – but which version? In some versions, the wolf swallows up the grandmother, while in
others it locks her in a cupboard. In some stories Red Riding Hood gets the better of the wolf on
her own, while in others a hunter or a woodcutter hears her cries and comes to her rescue.
The universal appeal of these tales is frequently attributed to the idea that they contain cautionary
messages: in the case of Little Red Riding Hood, to listen to your mother, and avoid talking to
strangers. ‘It might be what we find interesting about this story is that it’s got this survival-
relevant information in it,’ says anthropologist Jamie Tehrani at Durham University in the UK.
But his research suggests otherwise. ‘We have this huge gap in our knowledge about the history
and prehistory of storytelling, despite the fact that we know this genre is an incredibly ancient
one,’ he says. That hasn’t stopped anthropologists, folklorists* and other academics devising
theories to explain the importance of fairy tales in human society. Now Tehrani has found a way
to test these ideas, borrowing a technique from evolutionary biologists.
To work out the evolutionary history, development and relationships among groups of
organisms, biologists compare the characteristics of living species in a process called
‘phylogenetic analysis’. Tehrani has used the same approach to compare related versions of fairy
tales to discover how they have evolved and which elements have survived longest.
Tehrani’s analysis focused on Little Red Riding Hood in its many forms, which include another
Western fairy tale known as The Wolf and the Kids. Checking for variants of these two tales and
similar stories from Africa, East Asia and other regions, he ended up with 58 stories recorded
from oral traditions. Once his phylogenetic analysis had established that they were indeed
related, he used the same methods to explore how they have developed and altered over time.
First he tested some assumptions about which aspects of the story alter least as it evolves,
indicating their importance. Folklorists believe that what happens in a story is more central to the
story than the characters in it – that visiting a relative, only to be met by a scary animal in
disguise, is more fundamental than whether the visitor is a little girl or three siblings, or the
animal is a tiger instead of a wolf.
However, Tehrani found no significant difference in the rate of evolution of incidents compared
with that of characters. ‘Certain episodes are very stable because they are crucial to the story, but
there are lots of other details that can evolve quite freely,’ he says. Neither did his analysis
support the theory that the central section of a story is the most conserved part. He found no
significant difference in the flexibility of events there compared with the beginning or the end.
But the really big surprise came when he looked at the cautionary elements of the story. ‘Studies
on hunter-gatherer folk tales suggest that these narratives include really important information
about the environment and the possible dangers that may be faced there – stuff that’s relevant to
survival,’ he says. Yet in his analysis such elements were just as flexible as seemingly trivial
details. What, then, is important enough to be reproduced from generation to generation?
The answer, it would appear, is fear – blood-thirsty and gruesome aspects of the story, such as
the eating of the grandmother by the wolf, turned out to be the best preserved of all. Why are
these details retained by generations of storytellers, when other features are not? Tehrani has an
idea: ‘In an oral context, a story won’t survive because of one great teller. It also needs to be
interesting when it’s told by someone who’s not necessarily a great storyteller.’ Maybe being
swallowed whole by a wolf, then cut out of its stomach alive is so gripping that it helps the story
remain popular, no matter how badly it’s told.
Jack Zipes at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, is unconvinced by Tehrani’s views on
fairy tales. ‘Even if they’re gruesome, they won’t stick unless they matter,’ he says. He believes
the perennial theme of women as victims in stories like Little Red Riding Hood explains why
they continue to feel relevant. But Tehrani points out that although this is often the case in
Western versions, it is not always true elsewhere. In Chinese and Japanese versions, often known
as The Tiger Grandmother, the villain is a woman, and in both Iran and Nigeria, the victim is a
boy.
Mathias Clasen at Aarhus University in Denmark isn’t surprised by Tehrani’s findings. ‘Habits
and morals change, but the things that scare us, and the fact that we seek out entertainment that’s
designed to scare us – those are constant,’ he says. Clasen believes that scary stories teach us
what it feels like to be afraid without having to experience real danger, and so build up resistance
to negative emotions.
—-
*Folklorists: those who study traditional stories
Questions 27-31
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.
27   In fairy tales, details of the plot
28   Tehrani rejects the idea that the useful lessons for life in fairy tales
29   Various theories about the social significance of fairy tales
30   Insights into the development of fairy tales
31   All the fairy tales analysed by Tehrani

A     may be provided through methods used in biological research.

B     are the reason for their survival.
C     show considerable global variation.
D     contain animals which transform to become humans.
E     were originally spoken rather than written.
F     have been developed without factual basis.
Questions 32-36
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-I, below.
Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet.
Phylogenetic analysis of Little Red Riding Hood
Tehrani used techniques from evolutionary biology to find out if 32………………….. existed
among 58 stories from around the world. He also wanted to know which aspects of the stories
had fewest 33…………………., as he believed these aspects would be the most important ones.
Contrary to other beliefs, he found that some 34……………………. that were included in a
story tended to change over time, and that the middle of a story seemed no more important than
the other parts. He was also surprised that parts of a story which seemed to provide some sort
of 35…………………. were unimportant. The aspect that he found most important in a story’s
survival was 36…………………
A     ending                  B     events                  C     warning
D     links                      E     records                 F     variations
G     horror                   H     people                 I     plot
Questions 37-40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.
37   What method did Jamie Tehrani use to test his ideas about fairy tales?
A   He compared oral and written forms of the same stories.
B   He looked at many different forms of the same basic story.
C   He looked at unrelated stories from many different countries.
D   He contrasted the development of fairy tales with that of living creatures.
38   When discussing Tehrani’s views, Jack Zipes suggests that
A   Tehrani ignores key changes in the role of women.
B   stories which are too horrific are not always taken seriously.
C   Tehrani overemphasises the importance of violence in stories.
D   features of stories only survive if they have a deeper significance.
39   Why does Tehrani refer to Chinese and Japanese fairy tales?
A   to indicate that Jack Zipes’ theory is incorrect
B   to suggest that crime is a global problem
C   to imply that all fairy tales have a similar meaning
D   to add more evidence for Jack Zipes’ ideas
40   What does Mathias Clasen believe about fairy tales?
A   They are a safe way of learning to deal with fear.
B   They are a type of entertainment that some people avoid.
C   They reflect the changing values of our society.
D   They reduce our ability to deal with real-world problems.