Module 1 Reading  Module 1

READING

Name Year___ Class___ No. ___ Date ___/___/___

You are going to read a text about the importance of art in teens’ self-expression.

Self-expression through art?

A recent study published by arts.gov
found that visual arts students reported
significantly higher levels of school
attendance than non-visual arts students.
5 Furthermore, for every year of arts study,
there was a 20% reduction in the probability
that an adolescent would receive an out-of-
school suspension.

Teen self-expression through art is crucial

10 However, the benefits of self-expression go beyond just attendance. There is currently a nationwide
epidemic of depression and anxiety among adolescents. Public schools are doing their best to institute
counselling and help programmes and there’s community support that helps to raise awareness and
educate teens about self-care. But then there’s art. It’s crucial that teens are given the opportunity
to express themselves using their intrinsic creativity. Self-expression through art is proven to relieve
15 stress and significantly decrease anxiety and depression. Plus, doing so promotes students’ interest in
school while boosting overall happiness in other aspects of their lives.

Creating art heals pain

When you engage in the act of creating, you become aware of what’s happening within yourself.
Furthermore, when you create any sort of art and then put it out into the world, it gives others the
20 opportunity to explore your inner landscape. They care about you and you feel a sense of belonging.
Art also gives us a way to take a painful thought out of our heads and put it onto a page or into
a drawing, painting or performance, liberating the emotions around that thought and giving it less
power. In fact, art offers a language that needs no interpretation. Every human being speaks it.

Giving permission to be as you are

25 In conventional schools, kids who step too far off the beaten path are made to feel inferior or
even bullied. On the contrary, at schools where learning through the arts is the focus, students are
encouraged to do what makes them feel happy and comfortable in their skin. They are even celebrated
for it. Preventing teens from experiencing this sense of confidence at the age of fourteen or fifteen can
have detrimental effects later in life. It’s more difficult to do this sort of soul-searching after graduation
30 when life has new requirements such as establishing a career or family.
Another issue that can result from not allowing teens to express themselves through different
parts of their appearance is anxiety. They are likely to feel insecure about how they look as they enter
adulthood. Plus, the message they’re receiving is that they should hide who they are, while expression
through external appearance is really just another form of art. Besides, establishing a certain expressive
35 style and look has the ability to release trauma, disappointment and fear, taking power away from
these feelings.
https://artsacad.net (adapted, accessed in February 2021)

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 Reading  Module 1

1. Match the ideas in column A with the corresponding paragraph in column B.

A B
a. Art promoting self-awareness and emotional relief Paragraph 1
b. Art preventing students from dropping out Paragraph 2
c. Art improving teens’ mental health Paragraph 3

2. Choose the correct option (a, b or c) to complete the sentences according to the text.
2.1 In paragraph 1, we learn that visual art students
a. show unacceptable behaviour and schools often suspend them.
b. are more engaged in school and show better behaviour.
c. show higher levels of academic achievement and success.
2.2 In paragraph 2, it is said that allowing teens to express their creativity
a. gives them the possibility of living a happier life in and out of school.
b. increases their necessity of counselling and community support.
c. is one of the major priorities at schools.
2.3 In paragraph 3, “inner landscape” (line 19) means
a. everything you feel, see or hear around you.
b. your artistic and creative abilities.
c. your deep thoughts, feelings and emotions.
2.4 In paragraph 4, who are the “kids who step too far off the beaten path” (line 24)?
a. Kids who are uncomfortable in their skin.
b. Kids who look unique or behave unusually.
c. Kids who live away or apart from others.
2.5 According to paragraph 5, repressing different looks and styles in teens
a. encourages them to give up their individuality.
b. doesn’t influence the way they enter into adulthood.
c. provides a negative message about the importance of developing an identity.

3. Are the statements true (T) or false (F) according to the text?
a. Not everybody has the ability to understand art. ________
b. Stimulating self-confidence through art should be done in the early teenage years. ________
c. Teens whose creativity and identity are fully accepted are more confident as adults. ________

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 Reading  Module 1

1. Match the ideas in column A with the corresponding paragraph in column B. Two of the
paragraphs do not apply.

A B
Paragraph 1
a. Art promoting self-awareness and emotional relief Paragraph 2
b. Art preventing students from dropping out Paragraph 3
c. Art improving teens’ mental health Paragraph 4
Paragraph 5

2. Choose the correct option (a, b, c or d) to complete the sentences according to the text.
2.1 In paragraph 1, we learn that visual art students
a. show unacceptable behaviour and schools often suspend them.
b. are more engaged in school and show better behaviour.
c. show higher levels of academic achievement and success.
d. are 20% more likely to leave school before the last academic year.
2.2 In paragraph 2, it is said that allowing teens to express their creativity
a. gives them the possibility of living a happier life in and out of school.
b. increases their necessity of counselling and community support.
c. is one of the major priorities at schools.
d. doesn’t always keep mental problems away.
2.3 In paragraph 3, “inner landscape” (line 19) means
a. your favourite places to travel to.
b. everything you feel, see or hear around you.
c. your artistic and creative abilities.
d. your deep thoughts, feelings and emotions.
2.4 In paragraph 4, who are the “kids who step too far off the beaten path” (line 24)?
a. Kids who are conventional and keep a low profile.
b. Kids who are uncomfortable in their skin.
c. Kids who look unique or behave unusually.
d. Kids who live away or apart from others.
2.5 According to paragraph 5, repressing different looks and styles in teens
a. encourages them to give up their individuality.
b. doesn’t influence the way they enter into adulthood.
c. provides a negative message about the importance of developing an identity.
d. provides a positive impact on their lives.

3. Find evidence for the following statements in the last two paragraphs.
a. Stimulating self-confidence through art should be done in the early teenage years.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
b. Teens whose creativity and identity are fully accepted are more confident as adults.

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 Reading  Module 1

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

125 © ASA, STEP UP 10, Teacher’s Resource File

 Reading  Module 1

1. Match the ideas in column A with the corresponding paragraph in column B. One of the
paragraphs does not apply.

A B

a. Art promoting self-awareness and emotional relief Paragraph 1

b. Art preventing students from dropping out Paragraph 2
Paragraph 3
c. Art improving teens’ mental health
Paragraph 4
d. Art stimulating self-confidence through outward appearance
Paragraph 5

2. Complete the sentences according to the text.

a. In paragraph 1, we learn that visual art students ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
b. In paragraph 2, it is said that allowing teens to express their creativity _____________________
______________________________________________________________________________
c. In paragraph 3, “inner landscape” (line 19) means _____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
d. According to paragraph 5, repressing different looks and styles in teens ____________________
______________________________________________________________________________

3. Explain in your own words.

a. “In fact, art offers a language that needs no interpretation. Every human being speaks it.” (line 22)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
b. “kids who step too far off the beaten path” (line 24)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

4. Read another paragraph of the same text. Complete it with the missing parts (1 to 5) in the box
below. Two do not apply.
a. ______________________________________. Yet surveys have found that 80% of teens with
a diagnosable anxiety disorder and 60% of those who are depressed never receive treatment.
b. ______________________________________. Particularly for adolescents. Being a teenager is
hard enough. But for those who feel closed off and like outcasts, it can be excruciating.
c. ______________________________________. And, if they try to express themselves by
changing their outward appearance, they often get shut down even harder.

1. 24% of millennials believe most people can simply get over it without any sort of
professional intervention.
2. They don’t feel they have any safe space where they can express the pain they’re feeling.
3. Anxiety and depression are clearly the most common mental health concerns for
adolescents.
4. In other words, who they are is not acceptable.
5. This sort of stigma is silencing.

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