The Development of Museums

2014-2015

READING

Time: 30 minutes

Read the text and do the tasks after it.

(1)The conviction that historical relics reflect real life of the past is rooted in the

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when science was regarded as objective

and free of human attitudes. As one writer observes: ‘Although it is now evident

that material objects are as easily changed as chronicles, public belief in their

authenticity is still very strong: a tangible relic seems real.’ Such conviction was,

until recently, reflected in museum displays. Museums used to look – and some

still do – much like storage rooms of objects packed together in showcases: good

for scholars who wanted to study the subtle differences in design, but not for the

ordinary visitor, to whom it all looked alike. Similarly, the information

accompanying the objects often made little sense to the general public. The content

and format of explanations dated back to a time when the museum was the

exclusive domain of the scientific researcher.

(2)Recently, however, attitudes towards history and the way it should be presented

have changed. The key word in heritage display is now ‘experience’, the more

exciting the better and, if possible, involving all the senses. Good examples of this

approach in the UK are the Jorvik Centre in York; the National Museum of

Photography, Film and Television in Bradford; and the Imperial War Museum in

London. In the US the trend emerged much earlier: Williamsburg has been a

prototype for many heritage developments in other parts of the world. No one can

predict where the process will end. On so-called heritage sites the re-enactment of

historical events is increasingly popular, and computers will soon provide virtual

reality experiences, which will present visitors with a vivid image of the period of

their choice, in which they themselves can act as if part of the historical

environment. Such developments have been criticized as vulgar, but the success of

many historical theme parks and similar locations suggests that the majority of the

public does not share this opinion.

(3)In a related development, the sharp distinction between museum and heritage

sites on the one hand, and theme parks on the other, is gradually evaporating. They

already borrow ideas and concepts from one another. For example, museums have

adopted story lines for exhibitions, sites have accepted ‘theming’ as a relevant tool,

and theme parks are moving towards more authenticity and research-based

presentations. Similarly, animals in zoos are no longer kept in cages, but in great

spaces, either in the open air or in enormous greenhouses, such as the jungle and

desert environments in Burgers’ Zoo in Holland. This particular trend is regarded

as one of the major developments in the presentation of natural history in the

twentieth century.

(4)Theme parks are undergoing other changes, too, as they try to present more

serious social and cultural issues, and move away from fantasy. This development

is a response to market forces and, although museums and heritage sites have a

special, rather distinct, role to fulfil, they are also operating in a very competitive

environment, where visitors make choice on how and where to spend their free

time. Heritage and museum experts do not have to invent stories and recreate

historical environments to attract their visitors: their assets are already in place.

However, exhibits must be both based on objects and facts as we know them, and

attractively presented. Those who are professionally engaged in the art of

interpreting history are thus in a difficult position, as they must steer a narrow

course between the demands of ‘evidence’ and ‘attractiveness’ , especially given

the increasing need in the heritage industry for money-generating activities.

(5)It can be said that in order to make everything in heritage more ‘real’, historical

accuracy must be more and more adapted to today’s reality. For example,

Pithecanthropus erectus is depicted in an Indonesian museum with Malay facial

features, because this corresponds to public perceptions. Similarly, in the Museum

of Natural History in Washington, Neanderthal man is shown making a dominant

gesture to his wife. Such presentations tell us more about contemporary

perceptions of the world than about our ancestors. There is one compensation,

however, for the professionals who make these interpretations: if they did not

provide the interpretation, visitors would do it for themselves, based on their own

ideas, misconceptions and prejudices. And no matter how exciting the result, it

would contain a lot more bias, or lack of objectivity, than the presentations

provided by experts.

(6)Human bias is inevitable, but another source of bias in the representation of

history has to do with the transitory nature of the materials themselves. The simple

fact is that not everything from history survives the historical process. Castles,

palaces and cathedrals have a longer lifespan than the dwellings of ordinary

people. The same applies to the furnishings and other contents of the premises. In a

town like Leyden in Holland, which in the seventeenth century was occupied by

approximately the same number of inhabitants as today, people lived within the

walled town, an area more than five times smaller than modern Leyden. In most of

the houses several families lived together in circumstances beyond our

imagination. Yet in museums, fine period rooms give only an image of the lifestyle

of the upper class of that era. No wonder that people who stroll around exhibitions

are filled with nostalgia; the evidence in museums indicates that life was so much

better in the past. This notion is caused by the bias in its representation in museums

and heritage centres.

Task 1. Questions 1-7.

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?

In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, circle:

A (TRUE)if the statement agrees with the information;

B (FALSE)if the statement contradicts the information;

C (NOT GIVEN)if there is no information on this.

1. Many people believe that material objects kept in museums are true relics of the

past.

2. More people visit museums in the UK than in the US.

3. In zoos, animals are kept in the environments similar to their natural habitats.

4. Today theme parks tend to avoid serious issues.

5. Stories about historical events are specially written by experts in order to attract

tourists.

6. The boundaries of Leyden have changed little since the seventeenth century.

7. Museums can give a wrong impression of what life was like in the past.

Task 2. Questions 8-15.

Choose option A, B, Cor Dwhich best fits according to the text. Circle the correct

letter in boxes 8-15 on your answer sheet.

8. The author begins by comparing today’s museums with those of the past and says that the latter

A did not present history in a detailed way.

B were not primarily intended for the public.

C were more clearly organized.

D preserved items with greater care.

9. According to the second paragraph, current trends in the heritage industry

A emphasise personal involvement.

B have their origins in York and London.

C rely on computer images.

D reflect minority tastes.

10. What process is meant in the sentence 'No one can predict where the process will end' in the second paragraph?

A Vulgarisation of historical events.

B Turning traditional museums into theme parks and heritage sites.

C Computerisation of museums.

D Further involvement of scientists into creating new museums.

11. In the third paragraph, the writer says that museums, heritage sites and theme parks

A often work in close partnership.

B try to preserve separate identities.

C have similar exhibits.

D are less easy to distinguish than before.

12. The writer concludes the forth paragraph by saying that in preparing exhibits for museums, experts

A should pursue a single objective.

B have to do a certain amount of language translation.

C should be free from commercial constraints.

D have to balance conflicting priorities.

13. In the fifth paragraph, the writer suggests that some museums

A fail to match visitors’ expectations.

B are based on the false assumptions of professionals.

C reveal more about present beliefs than about the past.

D allow visitors to make more use of their imagination.

14. Historians interpret past events when presenting them in the museums because

A historians don’t want visitors to make wrong assumptions.

B facts can never be presented without judgments.

C historians also have misconceptions and prejudices.

D historians can be legally prosecuted for wrong interpretations.

15. In the last paragraph, the writer notes that our view of history is biased because

A we fail to use our imagination.

B only very durable objects remain from the past.

C we tend to ignore things that displease us.

D museum exhibits focus too much on the local area.

USE OF ENGLISH

Time: 15 minutes

For items 1-15fill in the gaps in the text choosing an appropriate word from the

column on the right. Choose one word once only. There are two extra wordsin

the right column which you don’t have to choose.

Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered that people who live in areas jostling with fast food outlets are constitutionally less able to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. Apparently, it's not just a question of additives and sugar ruining their powers of 1)__: the Toronto research showed that just looking at a photograph of the McDonald's golden arch or KFC chicken is 2)__to give you the fidgets. As a result, you're less likely to 3)__images of natural beauty or an operatic aria than if you had dined at home with a proper knife and fork. The panic around the moral and psychological damage of fast food – 4)__the obesity debate – is a familiar one. Behind Jamie Oliver’s abhorrence of the Turkey Twizzler’s empty calories was always a much deeper suspicion of what it represented: ignorance, indifference, a wilful 5)__to imagine a better way of feeding the future. It's for that reason that, back in the early 19th-century, moralists including William Cobbett churned out a whole array of 'cottage economies' and 'penny cookbooks' aimed at stopping the working classes from squandering money in the pie shop. These prim moral primers were full of bright suggestions for turning the scraggy end of lamb and on-the-turn turnips into 6)__that not only nourished body and soul but also saved pennies for a rainy day. Fifty years later, Mrs Beeton had the moral dangers of fast at the end of a long working day, desperate for a quick supper. Beeton's solution was to set 9)__the weary homecomer a series of delicious labour-intensive dishes – the sort of thing no short order cook would contemplate. Her soups often took 15 10)__ and required a 10-hour simmer. The point of all these initiatives, from Cobbett to Oliver, has always been 11)__about getting nutritious food inside people than to teach them a lesson. Learning how to make and eat slow food is to develop a capacity for delayed gratification that, in turn, fits 12)__maker and consumer for life under capitalism. What all those Victorian moralists missed –13)__as the Toronto report ignores – is that fast food is the emblematic product of maturing and late capitalism. Urban workers, forced to work longer and longer hours, do not have the time to invest in 14)__ from scratch. Those who are obliged to live in shared accommodation and rented digs may not have the right equipment for making real food slowly (Agas don't fit into bedsits; microwaves do). When you are 15)__after a 10-hour shift, then soup is fiddly to consume on the way home. Burgers and kebabs, by contrast, are easy to eat with one hand and require neither plates nor knives. Far from being the refuseniks of capitalism, unable to master its first principle of delayed gratification, the people who rely on fast food outlets are its honourable foot soldiers. We should salute them.	appreciate
before
both
concentration
cooking
enough
exhausted
fine
forget
inability
ingredients
just
less
lure
publicity

something
which

2015-2016

Part 3 (15 minutes)

Use of English

For items 1–10 fill in the gaps in the text choosing an appropriate word from the column on the right. Choose one word once only. There are two extra wordsin the right column which you don’t have to choose. Write the letter which marks the word next to the number of the gap on the answer sheet.

An 11-year-old piano prodigy from Indonesia will appear at the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival after taking the American jazz (1)___________by storm. Joey Alexander, who releases his debut album My Favorite Things this week, has attracted high (2)___________from trumpeter and director of Jazz at Lincoln Centre Wynton Marsalis, who has said: "There has never been anyone that you can think of who could play like that (3)___________his age. I loved everything about his playing – his rhythm, his confidence, his understanding of the music." Marsalis said he found out about Bali-born Alexander after a friend suggested he watched a YouTube clip of the then 10-year-old (4)___________tunes by John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Chick Corea. Now, to (5)___________his debut album, Alexander is set to play at the Montreal and Newport jazz festivals. Newport producer George Wein says he's always been reluctant to (6)___________so-called child prodigies, but he made an exception after Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, tennis legend Arthur Ashe's widow, brought Alexander over to his Manhattan apartment to (7)___________for him. "The thing that differs him from most young players is the maturity of his harmonic approach," Wein told AP reporter Charles J Gans. "His playing is very contemporary but he also has a (8)___________of the history of the music." Alexander's parents were jazz fans and he himself admires the playing (9)_________Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans and Brad Mehldau. He also loves the Avengers and Sponge Bob Squarepants. "For me jazz is a calling. I love jazz because it's about freedom to express yourself and being spontaneous, full of rhythm and full of improvisation," said the young pianist. "Technique is important, but for me first when I play it's from the (10)_________and feeling the groove. I want to develop by practicing and playing, and challenging myself to get better every day," said Alexander.	A) at
B) book
C) for
D) heart
E) of
F) performing
G) play
H) praise
I) promote
J) pushing
K) scene
L) sense