Related To Cinema
A The Lumière Brothers opened their Cinématographe, at 14 Boulevard des
Capucines in Paris, to 100 paying customers over 100 years ago, on December 8,
1895. Before the eyes of the stunned, thrilled audience, photographs came to life
and moved across a flat screen.
B So ordinary and routine has this become to us that it takes a determined leap of
the imagination to grasp the impact of those first moving images. But it is worth
trying, for to understand the initial shock of those images is to understand the
extraordinary power and magic of cinema, the unique, hypnotic quality that has
made film the most dynamic, effective art form of the 20th century.
C One of the Lumière Brothers’ earliest films was a 30-second piece which showed a
section of a railway platform flooded with sunshine. A train appears and heads
straight for the camera. And that is all that happens. Yet the Russian director Andrei
Tarkovsky, one of the greatest of all film artists, described the film as a ‘work of
genius’. ‘As the train approached,’ wrote Tarkovsky, ‘panic started in the theatre:
people jumped and ran away. That was the moment when cinema was born. The
frightened audience could not accept that they were watching a mere picture.
Pictures were still, only reality moved; this must, therefore, be reality. In their
confusion, they feared that a real train was about to crush them.’
D Early cinema audiences often experienced the same confusion. In time, the idea of
film became familiar, the magic was accepted -but it never stopped being magic.
Film has never lost its unique power to embrace its audiences and transport them to
a different world. For Tarkovsky, the key to that magic was the way in which cinema
created a dynamic image of the real flow of events. A still picture could only imply the
existence of time, while time in a novel passed at the whim of the reader. But in
cinema, the real, objective flow of time was captured.
E One effect of this realism was to educate the world about itself. For cinema makes
the world smaller. Long before people travelled to America or anywhere else, they
knew what other places looked like; they knew how other people worked and lived.
Overwhelmingly, the lives recorded – at least in film fiction — have been American.
From the earliest days of the industry, Hollywood has dominated the world film
market. American imagery – the cars, the cities, the cowboys – became the primary
imagery of film. Film carried American life and values around the globe.
F And, thanks to film, future generations will know the 20th century more intimately
than any other period. We can only imagine what life was like in the 14lh century or
in classical Greece. But the life of the modern world has been recorded on film in
massive, encyclopaedic detail. We shall be known better than any preceding
generations.
G The ‘star’ was another natural consequence of cinema. The cinema star was
effectively born in 1910. Film personalities have such an immediate presence that,
inevitably, they become super-real. Because we watch them so closely and because
everybody in the world seems to know who they are, they appear more real to us
than we do ourselves. The star as a magnified human self is one of cinema’s most
strange and enduring legacies.
H Cinema has also given a new lease of life to the idea of the story. When the
Lumière Brothers and other pioneers began showing off this new invention, it was by
no means obvious how it would be used. All that mattered at first was the wonder of
movement. Indeed, some said that, once this novelty had worn off, cinema would
fade away. It was no more than a passing gimmick, a fairground attraction.
I Cinema might, for example, have become primarily a documentary form. Or it might
have developed like television – as a strange, noisy transfer of music, information
and narrative. But what happened was that it became, overwhelmingly, a medium for
telling stories. Originally these were conceived as short stories – early producers
doubted the ability of audiences to concentrate for more than the length of a reel.
Then, in 1912, an Italian 2-hour film was hugely successful, and Hollywood settled
upon the novel-length narrative that remains the dominant cinematic convention of
today.
J And it has all happened so quickly. Almost unbelievably, it is a mere 100 years
since that train arrived and the audience screamed and fled, convinced by the
dangerous reality of what they saw, and, perhaps, suddenly aware that the world
could never be the same again – that, maybe, it could be better, brighter, more
astonishing, more real than reality.
YES, if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO, if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN, if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
6. It is important to understand how the first audiences reacted to the cinema.
7. The Lumière Brothers’ film about the train was one of the greatest films ever
made.
8. Cinema presents a biased view of other countries.
Choose the correct letter: A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
10. The writer refers to the film of the train in order to demonstrate:
A The simplicity of early films.
B The impact of early films.
C How short early films were.
D How imaginative early films were.
11. In Tarkovsky’s opinion, the attraction of the cinema is that it:
A Aims to impress its audience.
B Tells stories better than books.
C Illustrates the passing of time.
D Describes familiar events.
12. The sudden announcement of the merger left the employees utterly ______,
struggling to process the implications.
A. narrative
B. magnified
C. stunned
D. preceding
13. While initially captivating, the ______ of the social media trend quickly faded as
users sought new forms of entertainment.
A. dynamic
B. novelty
C. imagery
D. intimately
14. The city's urban landscape is ______; constant redevelopment and infrastructure
projects shape its evolving identity.
A. dynamic
B. narrative
C. preceding
D. magnified
15. The poet's use of evocative ______ created a vivid and immersive experience for
the reader, transporting them to the scene.
A. intimately
B. preceding
C. narrative
D. imagery
16. Having worked in the field for decades, she understood the intricacies of the
industry ______, possessing a deep and nuanced comprehension.
A. intimately
B. magnified
C. stunned
D. dynamic
17. The evidence presented in the ______ chapters of the report laid the foundation
for the subsequent conclusions.
A. preceding
B. narrative
C. magnified
D. novelty
18. Under the microscope, the cellular structures were ______ to reveal their
intricate details, allowing for a more thorough analysis.
A. stunned
B. intimately
C. magnified
D. dynamic
19. The historian presented a compelling ______ of the war, weaving together
personal accounts and historical data to create a comprehensive picture.
A. narrative
B. imagery
C. preceding
D. magnified
20. The speaker's voice had a ______ quality, holding the audience's attention with
its rhythmic cadence and soothing tone.
A. encyclopaedic
B. gimmick
C. hypnotic
D. convinced
21. The scholar's knowledge of ancient civilizations was truly ______, encompassing
a vast array of historical periods and cultures.
A. encyclopaedic
B. objective
C. grasp
D. gimmick
22. The marketing campaign employed a clever ______ to generate buzz, but some
critics questioned its ethical implications.
A. objective
B. grasp
C. gimmick
D. overwhelmingly
23. After reviewing all the evidence, the jury was ______ of the defendant's guilt,
rendering a unanimous verdict.
A. convinced
B. objective
C. grasp
D. hypnotic
24. It took considerable effort to fully ______ the complexities of the economic
model, requiring a deep understanding of its underlying principles.
A. grasp
B. gimmick
C. convinced
D. overwhelmingly
25. The journalist strived to present an ______ account of the events, avoiding any
personal bias or subjective interpretations.
A. objective
B. hypnotic
C. gimmick
D. convinced
26. The team's performance was ______ successful, exceeding all expectations and
setting a new record.
A. grasp
B. objective
C. gimmick
D. overwhelmingly
