UNIT 15? Practice 3

Reading Passage 1 Graffiti

Graffiti-Art or Crime?

詞匯講解:

graffiti：涂鴉

A

　　People love to make their mark, and graffiti such as initials or drawings written or spray-painted onto subways, walls or footpaths is a universal phenomenon. It has existed since ancient times, and one of the oldest pieces of still-existing graffiti is an advertisement for a brothel in the ancient town of Ephesus, in Greece. There are many types of graffiti, and also a variety of views about it. Some see it as an art form, some use it as a form of protest against authority, others regard it as needless and destructive vandalism, and it is often seen as the precursor of gang-related crime in a neighbourhood.

B

　　The heyday of graffiti was in New York City in the 1970s. At that time, there was little money for the policing of graffiti, and artists targeted the subways and subway cars in particular. Graffiti became so popular at this time that artists wanted to identify their own particular work. They began to create distinctive stylised signatures and thus the art of tagging was born. Sales of spray paint increased significantly at this time, as more and more street artists began to explore this new medium of expression, and graffiti became bigger and more elaborate. Artists were competing to cover the whole city of New York with their work, and finally the Metro Transit Authority began to battle with graffiti artists, locking gates and removing pictures from subway trains. At the same time, graffiti began making its way into art galleries, as the established art world began to recognise it as a legitimate modern art form.

C

　　By the 80s, graffiti culture in New York was beginning to decline. It was becoming associated with the local drug scene, and legal penalties for vandalism became more severe at this time. In particular, the MTA hugely increased its anti-graffiti budget, and it became much harder for artists to create elaborate pieces on subway cars, so graffiti was restricted to the streets, where it has stayed until today. By mid-1986, the ‘war on graffiti’ was being won, and there were fewer graffiti artists in New York. In the 90s, under mayor Rudolph Guiliani, the anti-tagging task force set out to eradicate graffiti vandals by banning sales of spray paint to under 18s and by hugely increasing fines for the offence.

D

　　Of course, graffiti is not only a North American phenomenon, and there are thriving cultures throughout the world, especially in Brazil where graffiti is endemic. Some people say that the huge gap between rich and poor in the country has fuelled the growth of graffiti as a form of anonymous political protest against economic injustice. It is also becoming more common in various countries in the Middle East, probably also as a protest by people who feel marginalised or repressed by existing political regimes. In general, cities around the world have problems with graffiti artists, who are often seen by the establishment as mindless, drug-fuelled vandals.

E

　　This is particularly the case with tagging, as one common use of tags is as turf markers for gangs, who use them to mark out territory in a neighbourhood. Tagging is seen as the first sign of gang activity in an area and, consequently, many cities seek to stamp it out to prevent the growth of crime and lawlessness. Common methods for fighting graffiti include banning sales of spray paint, the creation of online tagging databases, fines, and even imprisonment, but the taggers continue, seeing an arrest as a badge of honour rather than as a deterrent. At the same time, graffiti has become a recognised art form with commercial uses by companies such as Sony and even ultra-conservative IBM, which was recently fined to pay for the cleanup of a graffiti-based advertising campaign.

F

　　So is graffiti a form of mindless, criminal vandalism, or is it a vibrant and exciting modern art form? As with so many phenomena of modern life, this is all in the eye of the observer.

　　

Multiple Choice

Choose the appropriate letters A, B, C or D.

1.???????? Graffiti includes

　　A. drawings on walls.

　　B. initials on footpaths.

　　C. drawings and initials on subways.

　　D. all of the above.

2.???????? According to the reading passage,

　　A. graffiti was common in ancient Greece.

　　B. one of the oldest known examples of graffiti is in Ephesus.

　　C. graffiti has only existed in the last hundred years.

　　D. all of the above.

3.???????? The ‘heyday’ of graffiti means

　　A. the time it was the most popular.

　　B. the time there was the least graffiti.

　　C. the way graffiti artists talked to each other.

　　D. all of the above.

4.???????? ?‘Tagging’ refers to

　　A. graffiti done with spray paint.

　　B. graffiti on subway cars and walls.

　　C. personal stylised signatures.

　　D. all of the above.

5.???????? To say graffiti became a ‘legitimate modern art form’ meant

　　A. it was often sold for large sums of money.

　　B. it was not removed, like other graffiti was.

　? C. some people considered it a valid style of art.

　　D. all of the above.

詞匯講解：

initial：最初的；

initials：字體。

heyday：巔峰時(shí)期，全盛期；

legitimate：合理的，正當(dāng)?shù)模?/p>

distinctive：有區(qū)分度的；

signature：簽名。