Importance to composition and figure painting while romanticism laid stress on

personal and emotional expression, especially in colour and dramatic effect.

What is typical of realism/impressionism/cubism/expressionism/surrealism? 10.

What kinds of pictures are there according to the artist's theme? 11. Artists can

give psychological truth to portraiture not simply by stressing certain main

physical features, but by the subtlety of light and shade. In this respect Rokotov,

Levitsky and Borovikovsky stand out as unique. Isn't it surprising that they

managed to impart an air of dignity and good breeding to so many of their

portraits? 12. Is the figure painter justified in resorting to exaggeration and

distortion if the effect he has in mind requires it? 13. Landscape is one of the

principal means by which artists express their delight in the visible world. Do

we expect topographical accuracy from the landscape painter? 14. What kind of

painting do you prefer? Why?

COLOURS

A

There are an enormous number of words and expressions describing

colours in English. Try to remember and begin to use those of particular

use to you.

Vocabulary game

Student A: You and your partner have been invited to attend a dinner in aid of

charity. It is not an occasion for a suit and an evening dress, but you can't go in

jeans and a T-shirt. Below, for each garment you are going to wear, you are

given a choice of four colours. Choose an outfit for both of you which you think

will look attractive.

For him

jacket: navy blue white dark brown crimson

trousers: royal blue khaki fawn sea green

tie: multi-

coloured

yellow bright orange emerald green

shoes: reddish buff peach black

For her

skirt: deep blue russet lavender pale blue

blouse: salmon pink tangerine lilac pearl

jacket: olive green mauve rose yellowish

tights: flesh-coloured tan bright pink turquoise

shoes: rust-coloured violet greeny-blue jet black

Student B: You and your partner are going to decorate two of the rooms in a

flat. From the alternatives below, choose a colour scheme for each room.

The kitchen

ceiling: pure white greyish light green amber

walls: brick red sandy-

coloured

steel-blue lemon

tiles: whitish pitch-black shocking

pink

brownish

woodwork: reddish-

brown

coffee-

coloured

smokey-grey scarlet

The bedroom

ceiling: brilliant

white

off-white lime green sky blue

walls: copper dazzling

white

beige chocolate

woodwork: purple cream-

coloured

bronze straw-

coloured

carpet: mottled blue

and green

golden maroon charcoal grey

curtains: bottle green silvery grey indigo gingery red

VOCABULARY PRACTICE

1. Colours love to be used idiomatically. Complete each sentence with the

appropriate colour.

1. He was ... with envy as he watched his friend riding his new bike.

2. When his father told him later he couldn't have a new bike, he went... with

rage.

3. I'm all... and ... after being in that crowded underground train for half an

hour.

23

4. The student went as ... as a beetroot when the lecturer gave her one of his

famous ... looks.

5. You can be sure to find quite a few ... movies in that... light district.

6. I can't really believe that Nero was as . . . as he is painted.

7. I felt sorry for those ... recruits, getting Sergeant 'Squash 'em' Sanders on

their first day.

8. You're ...! You're just afraid of what your wife will do to you if you do.

9. I feel so ... when I see you, hand-in-hand with another man.

10. My fingers were ... with cold and I imagine my face was as ... as a sheet.

11. I'll need your resignation in ... and ... of course.

12. She came out of that... comedy about making pies from murder victims

with her face a ghastly shade of….. .

13. You've got to stop looking at the world through ... tinted spectacles, stop

considering these matters in terms of... and .... and start realising there's a huge

... area in between.

14. My father-in-law was hundreds of pounds in the . . . after paying for our

splendid ... wedding.

2. Each of the following concepts can be expressed with a word or phrase

that includes the colour given. Match the concept with the appropriate

idiom.

a black sheep a black leg a blacklist the black market

1) a person who refuses his union's instructions to strike;

2) a member of the family who fails to live up to the others' standards;

3) illegitimate trading, perhaps of goods in short supply;

4) a number of people under suspicion, or in danger of unfavourable treatment

the red carpet a red-letter day caught red-handed red-tape

1) caught in the act, in the middle of a crime;

2) a special, very important occasion

3) an excessive amount of bureaucracy

4) a very special welcome for a very special guest

out of the blue blue-collar workers someone with blue blood once in

a blue moon

1) very, very rarely;

2) suddenly and unexpectedly;

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3) those doing manual, not clerical or administrative work;

4) someone of noble birth, an aristocrat

B

LISTENING

1. Listen to a TV interviewer talking to a home design expert. Make notes

about the colours in this table. What positive or negative emotions are

associated with the colours? Which rooms are they good/not good for?

Colour

It’ s good for … because ...

Red

Purple

Pink

Blue

Yellow

Brown

Black

2. Listen again to the TV interview. For questions 1-7, choose the best

answer (А, В or C).

1. What is the first thing many of us think about when we decorate?

A the layout of the room

В the contents of the room

С the colour scheme of the room

2. What does Laurence say colour tells a visitor?

A the mood we are in

В the sort of person we are

С whether they will like you

3. What does Laurence think about the choice of colours these days?

A there aren't enough of them

В that people still tend to prefer white or pale colours

С people find it hard to choose

4. What don't people often think of when they choose a paint colour?

A whether everything in the room will match

В whether they will be able to relax with it

С that some colours are no longer fashionable

5. How do interior designers appear to know what to do?

A through following strict rules of design

В through doing courses

С through natural talent and experience

6. What kind of colours do you need for rooms facing?

A dark

В pale

С bright

7. In order to learn more, Laurence recommends that

A experiment with colour and do what feels right.

В hire a decorator.

С always follow the rules of colour.

You are going to read an article about the medical condition synesthesia.

For questions 1-8, choose the answer (А, В, С or D) which you think fits

best according to the text.

1. What happens to people with synesthesia?

A They cannot see certain colours.

В They do not see things in the same way as other people.

С They have problems with counting and numbers.

D They are unable to taste and smell most things.

2. What do experts think about synesthesia?

A It is an illness.

В It is imaginary.

С It does not really exist.

D It is possible to prove.

3. How quickly do synesthetes see the triangle in Ramachandran and Hubbard's

picture?

A Very quickly.

В Very slowly.

С The same speed as 'normal' people.

D They cannot find the triangle.

4. What colour do synesthetes see the number 4?

A Different synesthetes will see a different colour.

В Most synesthetes think it is orange.

С Most synesthetes think it is green.

D For most synesthetes the colour is constantly changing.

5. What kind of colours do synesthetes see when they look at numbers?

A Vague colours.

В Unpleasant colours.

С Very precise colours.

D Very basic colours.

6. How do many artists feel about their synesthesia?

A They feel depressed.

В They feel frightened.

С It has been a major problem in their life.

D They think it has been beneficial.

7. It is likely that a synesthete knows someone else with the condition because

A a large percentage of people have it.

В people in the same family often have it.

С most people know they have the condition and they tell other people about it.

D it is very common nowadays.

8. How many synesthetes associate the same number with the same colour after

a year?

A all of them

В about half of them

С the same number as ordinary people

D the minority of them

Wednesdays are red, but Mondays are green

Look at the numbers at the top of the page. What colours do you see?

Probably none as the numbers are all in black and white, but there is a small

group of people who would see these numbers in many different colours.

These people have the condition synesthesia, which means that their five

senses react to things in unusual ways. When they hear a sound, they may see

a colour. When they touch something, they may smell something too – and

smell something that no one else can. These people, synesthetes, see, hear,

smell and touch things that other people do not. When they see a number, like

those at the top of this page, they may see a colour. They may also associate

colours with days of the week so that Wednesdays are red and Mondays are

green. And this condition is not that rare: experts believe that 1 in 2,000

people are synesthetes.

There is an argument that synesthesia is just imagination, that it is not real.

But two scientific researchers, Ramachandran and Hubbard have proved that it

does exist.

They use a picture with five examples of the number 2 mixed up with lots

of examples of the number 5, because the two figures look very similar. The

examples of number 2 were all placed in the shape of a triangle.

When the picture was shown to synesthetes, they instantly saw the triangle

made out of the number 2. Most people can only find the triangle by checking

every number in the picture.

The strange thing is that synesthesia is different for everyone. So one

synesthete may say that 4 is blue, and another might say that it is orange. Even

more strange is that synesthetes do not just say that the number is red or green:

they actually give a detailed description of the colour, such as 'tomato red' or

'lime green'. So is synesthesia a form of madness? The answer is simple: no.

Most synesthetes lead normal lives and often do not know that they see the

world differently to other people. Interestingly, many writers, composers

and artists have been synesthetes and they credit it with being an inspiration in

their work. For many of these people, their artistic life would have been very

different if they had not had the condition. Indeed, now that more is known

about it, scientists and historians are hypothesising about historical figures who

may have been synesthetes.

So finally, how do the experts discover if someone is a synesthete? Firstly,

many people with the condition are female, left-handed, and of normal, or

higher than normal, intelligence. They possibly have relatives with the

condition, as it is genetic. In addition to this, although there are hundreds of

different forms of synesthesia, those who associate colours to numbers 65

always associate the same colour with the same number. In tests held in 1993,

non-synesthetes did not connect the same colour with a number after one week.

Every one of the synesthetes could still identify the same colour with the same

number twelve months later.

DISCUSSION

Which of the following do you prefer? Why?

 sunrise or sunset?

 April or October?

 black and white photos or colour ones?

 pastel colours in rooms or strong, bright colours?

 paintings by six-, eleven- or sixteen-year-olds?