Reading comprehension: Arts, museums and culture

Buenas tardes, estimados alumnos.

Comenzamos una serie de ejercicios dedicados a revisar los puntos principales del programa del curso.

Hoy toca: Arts, museums and culture.

Nota: Los textos están seleccionados tanto del programa CREA como de otras fuentes, a quienes doy las gracias y cito, pero todos tienen el nivel del curso.

Texto nº 1:

Do you want me to get your ticket?

Joe: So,what shall we do today?

Peter: I’d like to go to the video games exhibition at the MOMA*.

Joe: Oh, no, I don’t fancy that.

Peter: Oh, go on. I really want to see it. There's Pac-Man and Space Invaders. And I’d love you to come with me.

Joe: Oh, alright. How much is it?

Peter: Let me check on internet. Right, it’s $8, but there's a discount for pensioners -only $5.

Joe: I’d prefer it if we went a bit later, at 6 o’clock.

Peter: Great, I’ll see you there at 6. Do you want me to get you your ticket?

Joe: OK, and I’ll pay for pizza afterwards.

Peter: See you there.

*MOMA: Museum of Modern Art

Texto nº 2:

Imagen en Flickr de moriza bajo CC

A: What are you up to?

B: Nothing much. I'm bored.

A: Well, let's do something fun. What about going to the swimming pool?

B: No, that's too tiring.

A: OK, I know, let's go to the cinema.There's a new film, Tarantula. It's supposed to be really frightening.

B: Too frightening, I heard. Mary said she was scared to death. Anyway, I haven't got any money.

A: You're not exactly being very positive, are you? 

B: Well, sorry,it's just so boring here.

A: Well, let's do something fun then!

https://stacker.com/stories/12763/pablo-picasso-life-story-you-may-not-know

Texto nº 3:

Pablo Picasso: The life story you may not know

Pablo Picasso was an unrivaled titan of 20th-century art. He influenced and collaborated with such fellow creative geniuses as Henri Matisse and Georges Braque, and the works of his Blue Period and his Rose Period are familiar to even the most casual museum-goer.

In politics, Picasso took an unwavering stand against fascism in his homeland. After a visit in 1934, he vowed not to return to Spain so long as the dictator General Francisco Franco was alive, and he never went home again. In joining the French Communist Party, he declared: “I have always been an exile, now I am one no longer; until the time when Spain may finally receive me, the French Communist Party has opened its arms to me.”

His giant masterpiece “Guernica” makes a stronger case against war than many a written word or argument. Less well known is Picasso’s poetry, an art form in which he immersed himself before the Spanish Civil War broke out and so deeply affected him. He penned plays as well, and he created stage sets and wardrobe costumes for ballet productions in Paris.

With so many facets to Picasso’s enormous creativity and profound influence, Stacker compiled a list of events and facts from his life that you may not know, drawing from historical chronicles, museum archives, biographies, and articles in the media.

Saludos y nos veremos la próxima semana, Dios mediante.