LTE

London Tests of English

Session Two: 2006

Tape Script

Level 3

L29003

RUBRIC:

Hello everyone! Today’s test is the London Tests of English Level Three.

The theme of this test is Modern Art Galleries. This test lasts two hours.
There are five tasks. Tasks One and Two are listening. You must listen to
the tape and write your answers in this booklet. Good luck!

Task One:

Art Galleries in London

Your teacher is planning a class visit to London, and before you leave
you decide to get some information about different art galleries that you

could visit. You telephone a recorded information line to find out details
about three galleries.

Listen to the recorded message and complete the notes in the table
below. Some have been done for you as examples. You will hear the
recorded message twice. Do as much as you can the first time and finish
your work the second time. You have one minute to look at the table.

[ONE MINUTE PAUSE]

Listen carefully. The recorded message starts now.

[TONE/BEEP]

[FIVE SECOND PAUSE}

Hello. This is the Art in London recorded information line, with information

about three galleries in London: the Saatchi Gallery, the National Gallery,

and Tate Modern.

The Saatchi Gallery specialises in work by young and international artists. It

brings new work to a wide audience. It opened 20 years ago, and has rapidly

become popular. If you visit the Saatchi before the end of November you

can see the special exhibition ‘The Triumph of Painting’. The gallery now

receives over 600,000 visitors each year. It is open every day. From Sunday

to Thursday opening hours are from 10 am until 6 pm, and on Saturday it

closes slightly later, at 8 pm. Last admission is 45 minutes before the gallery

closes. The normal admission price is £9.00 for adults, but the special price

for students is £6.75. You can get to the Saatchi gallery by underground or

bus. The nearest underground station is Waterloo, or you can take the

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number 12 or 53 bus to Westminster Bridge.

The National Gallery in London houses the national collection of European

painting. There are over 2,300 pictures dating from 1250-1900, including

many masterpieces by great artists. There is no special exhibition at the

moment, but the next one starts on 26 October featuring the work of the

Dutch painter Rubens. The National Gallery is open daily from 10 am until 6

pm, and until 9 pm on Wednesdays. There is no charge to visit the National

Gallery, and there is also a restaurant and café suitable for families. Meal

prices start from £4.95. The National Gallery is in Trafalgar Square, and the

nearest underground station is Charing Cross. If you want to take the bus,

the best ones to get are either the 13 or 159 to Trafalgar Square.

Finally, Tate Modern is one of London’s newest galleries. It features British

art from 1500 and international modern art. The current special exhibition

is of the work of the Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo. Opening hours are from

10 am until 6 pm every day: late opening is on Friday, when closing time is

10 pm. Please contact Tate Modern for opening times of special exhibitions.

Admission to the gallery is free, but donations from visitors are needed to

support the gallery’s work. You can also help by visiting the shops, café or

restaurant. Tate Modern is located on the south bank of the River Thames at

Bankside, near Blackfriars Bridge. The closest Underground is Blackfriars,

approximately ten minutes walk away. A number of buses service the area,

including the 45 and the 381. We do not advise visitors to take the 344 bus

as it can get very busy. You can also access the gallery by the Tate Boat,

which runs every 40 minutes.

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For any further information, please contact the individual galleries, or Art in

London on 0207 654 6643.

[FIVE SECOND PAUSE]

You will now hear the recorded message again.

[TONE/BEEP]

[REPEAT RECORDED TEXT]

[FIVE SECOND PAUSE]

That is the end of Task One. Now go on to Task Two.

Task Two:

The Life of Frida Kahlo

After listening to the recorded information about the galleries, you think

you would like to visit Tate Modern. They have a special exhibition of
the work of the artist, Frida Kahlo. That evening there is a programme
on the radio about her life.

Listen to the programme and write short answers to the questions below.
The first one is an example. You will hear the programme twice. Do as
much as you can the first time and finish your work the second time. You
have one minute to look at the questions.

[ONE MINUTE PAUSE]

Listen carefully. The programme starts now.

[TONE/BEEP]

[FIVE SECOND PAUSE]

Good afternoon. Welcome to ‘Modern Art’, Culture Radio’s programme

about the world of art and media. Today’s programme is about the life of

Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist whose work is currently in a major exhibition

at Tate Modern Gallery. Her work is very popular today, and her life was

very interesting.

Frida was born in Mexico City. Throughout her life she gave her birth date as

July 7 1910, although her birth certificate shows July 6 1907. This is just

one of the many lies that she told about her life, and which make her such a

mysterious character.

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Frida had a tragic life. At the age of 6 she was taken ill with polio, which

made her right leg appear much thinner than the other. It remained this

way for the rest of her life. Then, on September 17, 1925, when she was 18,

Frida had a serious bus accident, which left her with many broken bones.

For a month afterwards, she had to lie flat on her back, encased in a plaster

cast, and enclosed in a giant box. She began painting shortly after the

accident because she was bored: a carpenter fixed an easel at the end of

her bed, and placed a mirror above her so that she could see what she was

painting.

Doctors thought that Frida would die, and although her recovery was

miraculous, she experienced great pain and tiredness throughout her life.

This meant that she had many more visits to hospital.

On August the 12

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1929, Frida married the Mexican artist Diego Rivera.

They were divorced in 1940, but remarried after a year, this time for good.

Their marriage was difficult, but they admired each other and encouraged

each other to produce wonderful paintings.

Frida was highly educated, but had no formal training in art. Her work was

influenced by several European traditions, such as cubism and futurism. Her

painting style also reflected her political beliefs. As a child, Frida lived

through the Mexican revolution, and this made her interested in politics

from a young age.

Frida was proud of being Mexican, although her family background was

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mixed. Her father was German, and many of her paintings, especially ‘My

Nurse and I’ show her mixed race heritage. After her marriage to Diego

Rivera, she often wore traditional Mexican dress, and this linked her very

strongly with her mother’s Mexican family background. She also often wore

men’s suits, and several family photographs show her wearing these.

As an artist, Frida Kahlo is probably most famous for her self-portraits, a

series of paintings of herself, often at difficult points in her life. She died on

July the 13

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1954, aged 47. Though her life was short, her paintings are

famous, and continue to give pleasure to people all over the world.

[FIVE SECOND PAUSE]

RUBRIC:

You will now hear the programme again.

[TONE/BEEP]

[REPEAT RECORDED TEXT]

[FIVE SECOND PAUSE]

That is the end of the listening tasks. The other tasks test your reading
and writing of English. Now go on to Task Three.

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