Text 8

THE BEST PRESENT IS A BOOK

Exercise 1. Read the text and say:

1. if you agree with the criteria of “true” literature;

2. what is your favorite literature genre.

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters". In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction. People may perceive a difference between "literature" and some popular forms of written work.

Critics may exclude works from the classification "literature," for example, on the grounds of a poor standard of grammar and syntax, of an unbelievable or disjointed story-line, or of inconsistent or unconvincing characters. Genre fiction (for example: romance, crime, or science fiction) may also become excluded from consideration as "literature."

The most general genres in literature are epic, tragedy, comedy, novel, short story, and creative nonfiction. They can all be in the genres prose or poetry. Additionally, a genre such as satire, allegory or pastoral might appear in any of the above, not only as a sub-genre, but as a mixture of genres.

Genres are often divided into sub-genres. Literature, for instance, is divided into three basic kinds of literature, classic genres of Ancient Greece, poetry, drama, and prose. Poetry may then be subdivided into epic, lyric, and dramatic.

Exercise 2. Say if the following statements true or false. Give your reasons.

1. All people perceive a difference between “literature” and some popular forms of written work.

2. A written work is judged not only by its contents but also by the form it is written in.

3. There are two main literary genres: prose and poetry.

4. Fiction is not considered to be one of the genres of “true” literature.

Text 9

Exercise 1. There are 900 museums and art galleries in Britain. Do you know the number of museums in your republic (region, district, town)? Do you often go to museums? What kind of museums do you prefer?

Exercise 2. Read about one of Russian picture galleries and be ready to answer questions.

The tretyakov gallery

One of the best-known picture galleries in Russia is the State Tretyakov Gallery. It is housed in a small but very Russian-looking building in the centre of Moscow. The Gallery takes its name after its founder P.M. Tretyakov, who began to collect Russian paintings in 1856 for the purpose of bringing art close to all people.

The gallery contains halls devoted to Old Russian painting, to great painters of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, and to modern art.

Probably the best-known among the Old Russian painters is Andrei Rublyov. His “Trinity” painted about the year 1411, is remarkable because, although it is the manner of the old icon painters, it is more humanistic and reflects in a new way the life and soul of Russian people.

Tretyakov began his collection with the works of the “peredvizhniki” – the artists who belonged to the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions, so it is natural that canvases of masters such as Kramskoy, Perov and Ghe have a big place there. Well-known to lovers of art all over the world are “Morning in a Pine Wood” by Shishkin and “Ivan Tsarevich on the Grey Wolf” by Vasnetsov, “Golden Autumn” by Levitan, “Volga Boatmen” by Repin.

There are a lot of exhibits in the gallery of the Soviet period in art. For example, the gallery contains a lot of works by Ioganson, Gerasimov, Plastov and others.

The Tretyakov Gallery also organizes exhibitions in other towns and cities. Thus it continues the tradition of its founder to bring real art to people.

Exercise 3. Questions:

1. Why is the gallery named in this way?

2. Whose works can we see in the halls of the gallery?

3. What was and is the main task of the gallery?