They say that the room in which you live reflects your character and personality. What do you think about this idea?

Houses and flats reflect the ways of life and habits of their owners. For example, optimists prefer warm colors while pessimists are fond of cold ones. People who are romantic like fireplaces, cushions, carpets, flowers, romantic pictures and souveniers. Big fans are keen on decorating their bedrooms, with posters of the celebrities they admire.

 

 

№ 18

I. 1. Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

The most mystique¹ picture

Every hour about 1, 500 people visit the Louvre Museum in Paris with the specific intention of seeing one particular painting: the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. Most of these visitors look at the painting for about three minutes before they walk back to the tourist buses outside.

Leonardo loved the painting very much and people say that he took it everywhere with him. The painting was originally ordered by a rich businessman in Florence, who wanted a portrait of his wife, Lisa. Leonardo began the painting in 1503 and he finished it about three or four years later. The fact that Leonardo wanted to keep the painting himself, adds to the Mona Lisa’s mystique.

Mona Lisa’s mysterious smile has fascinated everyone who has ever seen the painting. In his Lives of the Artists, written just a few years after Leonardo’s death, Giorgio Vasari wrote, ‘While painting Mona Lisa Leonardo employed singers and musicians to keep her happy and so avoid the sadness that painters usually give to portraits. As a result, there was a smile that seemed divine² rather than human; and those who saw it were amazed to find how alive and real it appeared.’

Modern art critics also emphasise how the portrait seems alive and real. ‘She is like a living person, ’ writes art historian E.H. Gombrich, ‘She seems to change before our eyes. Even in photographs we can experience this strange effect. Sometimes she seems to be looking down on us, and sometimes we can detect sadness in her smile. All this sounds rather mysterious, and it is; that is so often the effect of a great work of art.’

The Mona Lisa is certainly a masterpiece, a magnificent work of art, but it is also a part of modern popular culture. Her image appears on plates, T­shirts, mouse pads and in advertisements. Perhaps for this reason, officials at the Louvre Museum placed the painting in a specially built area in a room with other great 16th century Italian paintings. In this way, visitors have a better chance to appreciate the painting as a work of art rather than as a tourist attraction.

¹ mystique [mɪ ˈ stiː k] таинственный

² divine [dɪ ˈ vaɪ n] божественный

2. Why is Mona Lisa smiling? Read aloud the extract which says about it.

3. What makes the Mona Lisa so special?

4. Why is the painting displayed in an exceptional way?

 

 

II. Listen to the conversation between two friends and answer the questions below.

1. What does Christian want to become?

2. Why does Kate need to learn English?

3. What piece of advice does Christian give to his friend?

III. Let’s talk about your family.

Family 1. Let's talk about family. What role does it play in each person's life?

Family is important for every person, because it gives you a sense of stability and tradition, a feeling of having support and understanding. In happy families parents are frank and honest with their children, they treat their children with respect without moralizing or bossing them around and children in their turn learn how to treat other people, how to form relationship among their equals. In a friendly family people are gentle, respectful and loving. This is how things should be in all families.

I enjoy the honest and open relationship in my family. I like it when parents trust their children, give them enough freedom and respect them. I think these things make family relations warm and pleasant. There is no so-called “generation gap” in our family, though we may argue and disagree on certain issues. I can always bring my friend home and my parents are very positive about it, although they don’t always approve of our tastes, views and clothes.

My family consists of ………I’ll start with saying a few words about my Dad. He is 39. He is the best father in the world. He has got dark hair, and blue eyes. My Dad is a policeman. He is very busy, and he has little time for private life. My mother’s name is ….. She is 39. She is an economist. She has got short fair hair and blue eyes. She is kind, clever, caring and sociable. My younger brother is ……

2. Do you have your own family traditions? Yes, at weekends we have breakfast together, sometimes we go to the park, picnic or to the cinema. It’s also a tradition in our family to go to the country at the weekends to help our grandparents. All our family traditions are connected with some holidays. But apart from national holidays there are family holidays like birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. Birthdays are always a happy event in our family. On these days we usually have a party.

⇐ Предыдущая3456789101112Следующая ⇒

Поделиться: