Exercise 3. Ask questions for which these remarks would be suitable answers.

1. No, it’s got rave reviews.

2. It’s an oil on canvas.

3. A new American film. Fancy going to see it?

4. The cast were fine but the direction was weak.

5. No, I’m not really a concert-goer, but thanks anyway.

6. The exhibition opens next Monday.

7. In the stall. The fifth row.

8. Yes, the protagonist took after his father.

Exercise 4. Translate into English. Act out the following dialogues.

1. -Что идет в нашем местном кинотеатре?

-Новый французский фильм.

-Ну, и как он, не знаешь?

-Получил восторженные отзывы прессы. Говорят, что сюжет с неожиданным поворотом событий. Режиссер молодой и только одна актерская знаменитость.

• Вы были на выставке современной керамики?

• Нет, не было времени, а вы?

• Я прочла статью о ней, опубликованную во вчерашнем выпуске «Досуга в Москве». Отзывы были восторженные. Вот почему я пошла. В итоге, выставка мне понравилась. Там было много работ современных дизайнеров интерьеров, искусных в декоре из глины и дерева.

• Тогда и я схожу.

3. - Ты любишь оперу?

- Не очень. Далеко не всегда хорошая акустика в театрах. В партере слышно, а в ложах и на балконах – не очень хорошо.

- А балет любишь?

Да, очень.

- Хочешь сходить на «Спящую красавицу» сегодня вечером?

- Да, с удовольствием.

4. -Ты читал передовицу в «Московских новостях»?

- Нет, а что?

-Она посвящена вопросам искусств и правительственного финансирования культурных объектов.

-Хорошо, надо почитать, спасибо. Мне это интересно.

Reading and grammar skills. Exercise 1. Read the text and fill in gaps while reading. Text 2. Applied arts and fine Arts.

Although we now tend to refer____ the various crafts according____ the materials used to construct them - clay, glass, wood, fiber, and metal – it was once common to think___ crafts___ term of function, which led to their being known ___ the “applied arts”. Approaching crafts from the point of view of function, we can divide them___ simple categories: containers, shelters and supports.

There is no___ way around the fact that containers, shelters and supports must be functional. The applied arts are thus bound by the laws of physics, which pertain to both the materials used in their making and the substances and things to be contained, supported and sheltered. These laws are universal in their application, regardless ____ cultural beliefs, geography or climate. If ____ pot has no _____ bottom or has large openings in its sides, it could hardly be considered _____a container in any traditional sense. Since the laws of physics, not some arbitrary decision, have determined the general form of applied – art objects, they follow basic patterns, so much so that functional forms can vary only within certain limits. Buildings without roofs, for example, are unusual because they depart___ the norm. However, not all functional objects are exactly alike; that is why we recognize a Shang Dynasty vase as being different____ an Inca vase. What varies is not the basic form but the incidental details that do not obstruct the object’s primary function.

Sensitivity to _____physical laws is thus an important consideration for the maker of applied-art objects. It is often taken for granted that this is also true for the maker of fine-art objects. This assumption misses a significant difference between the two disciplines. Fine-art objects are not constrained by the laws of physics in ____ same way that applied - art objects are. Because their primary purpose is not functional, they are only limited in terms of the materials used to make them. Sculptures must, for example, be stable, which requires an understanding of the properties of mass, weight distribution and stress. Paintings must have rigid stretchers so that the canvas will be taut and the paint must not deteriorate, crack or discolour. These are problems that must be overcome by the artist because they tend to intrude upon his or her conception of the work. For example, in _____ early Italian Renaissance, bronze statues of horses with _____ raised foreleg usually had a cannonball under that hoof. This was done because the cannonball was needed to support aesthetic intentions, placed the ball there. That this device was a necessary structural compromise is clear from the fact that the cannonball quickly disappeared when sculptors learned how to strengthened the internal structure of a statue with iron braces (iron being much stronger than bronze).

Even though _____ fine arts in the twentieth century often treat materials in new ways, the basic difference ____ attitude of artists in relation to their materials in the fine arts and the applied arts remains relatively constant. It would be therefore not be too great _____ exaggeration to say that practitioners of the fine arts work to overcome the limitations of their materials, whereas those engaged in the applied arts work in concert with their materials.