Name:

Art and Technology

The Dutch artist, Vincent Van Gogh, painted The Starry Night in 1889. It’s a view of the night sky with a crescent
moon in one corner shining down on a small village, and a large cypress tree on the left. The sky is a sea of
shades of blue with yellow and white painted in spirals and circles around the stars. At the time, Van Gogh was in a
psychiatric hospital in the south of France after he had cut off his left ear during a breakdown.
The painting hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It’s a picture that invites the viewer to look closer, to
study Van Gogh’s brushstrokes in order to understand how he created the unique effect in the painting. However, it’s
a long way for most art lovers to travel to see it and, more crucially, most museums don’t allow you to stand close
enough to a painting to be able to appreciate the technique of the artist.
Back in 2011, technology was launched by a major US tech company that allows internet users to view paintings
such as The Starry Night at ultra-high resolution. It’s called the ‘Art Camera’ and it’s a robotic camera that lets you
zoom in so close that you see individual brushstrokes, like looking at a painting with a magnifying glass. Using laser
and sonar technology, the camera is able to calculate its distance from the painting and then it takes thousands of
tiny photos. The software then combines them into a single image, much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
When combined with Street View, you can visit hundreds of museums around the world from the comfort of your
sofa. Once you’re in the museum, you can choose a gallery and view any of the paintings there as close up as you
want, as often as you like. For many it’s a dream come true.
More recently, technology has allowed visitors to appreciate the painter’s art in an innovative multi-sensory
exhibition called Van Gogh Alive. It’s been touring worldwide since 2017 and has amazed over 8.5 million people
in more than 80 cities so far. Projectors are used to create a 360º immersive show, with images of the paintings
projected onto all the walls and the ceiling so that rather than looking at a painting, it’s like walking into it. Specially
chosen music accompanies you as you experience an extraordinary light show of some of Van Gogh’s most famous
works, including The Starry Night.

1 READING COMPREHENSION. Add TRUE or FALSE and copy the evidence from the text to support
your answer. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE. No marks are given for T or F.
1 Van Gogh painted The Starry Night during a happy period of his life.
FALSE – The text says he was ‘in a psychiatric hospital after … a breakdown’ when he painted it.
2 The Starry Night is a painting that makes you want to know how it was created.
TRUE – The text says it ‘invites the viewer to look closer … to understand
how he created the unique effect in the painting’.
3 The ‘Art Camera’ is available to use online.
TRUE – The text says it ‘allows internet users to view paintings’.
4 The Van Gogh Alive exhibition was first shown over a decade ago.
FALSE – The text says it ‘has been touring worldwide since 2017’.

2 LEXICON / PHONETICS
A LEXICON. Find words or phrases in the text that mean the same as these given.
1 Removed (paragraph 1):
cut off
2 Different from everything else, unusual and special (paragraph 2):
unique
3 Permit (paragraph 2):
allow
4 Using new methods or ideas (paragraph 4):
innovative

PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2023 1

 B PHONETICS.
1 How is the “u” pronounced in “cut”? /u:/, / / or /ʌ/?
/∧ /
2 How is the “s” pronounced in “hangs”? /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/?
/z/
3 How is the “-ed” pronounced in “painted”? /t/, /d/ or /ɪd/?
/ɪd/
4 Write a word from the text that includes the sound /i:/.
tree, sea, be, see, street, dream, appreciate, ceiling

3 USE OF ENGLISH. Choose SIX of these sentences and rewrite them starting with the words given.
Only the first six will be corrected. No points will be given for the extra ones. Clearly identify the
sentences you choose using the numbers here.
1 “Do you want to see the Van Gogh exhibition?”
She asked me
if I wanted to see the Van Gogh exhibition.
2 Tom is sorry that he didn’t do his homework.
Tom wishes
(that) he had done his homework.
3 I didn’t know about the show so I didn’t buy a ticket.
If
I had known about the show, I would have bought a ticket.
4 Sam plays a lot of sport and Jake plays a lot of sport too.
Both
Sam and Jake play a lot of sport.
5 “Lisa definitely didn’t go to the cinema – she was at home all night.”
Lisa can’t
have gone to the cinema – she was at home all night.
6 That’s the house. I used to live there.
That’s the house where
I used to live.
7 “Don’t touch the chemicals because they’re dangerous.”
Max warned me
not to touch the chemicals (because they were dangerous).
8 Nobody in the class is more intelligent than Luisa.
None of the other students are
as intelligent as Luisa.
9 Paul hasn’t played tennis for years.
Paul stopped
playing tennis years ago.
10 Mark won’t pass the exam if he doesn’t study.
Unless
he studies, Mark won’t pass the exam.

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 11 Although Jane did well in the interview, she didn’t get the job.
Despite
doing well in the interview, Jane didn’t get the job.
12 Alex arrived an hour ago. He is still waiting for his friend.
Alex has
been waiting for his friend for an hour.

4 Write ONE of these two compositions (3 POINTS). If you write two, no points will be given to the
second one. Your composition must have at least 125 words.
OPTION 1: The advantages and disadvantages of using technology to help people appreciate art.
OPTION 2: “All museums and art galleries should be free.” Give your opinion.
Students’ own answers

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