Oxford Exam Trainer B1 Unit 9 test

Reading. Read the text and for questions 1–5 circle the correct answer A–D.

ART OR MATERIAL?

A huge, modern sculpture has disappeared from a university campus in west London, raising fears that monumental bronzes are becoming popular with thieves as they can be melted down for pure metal.

One of The Three Watchers, a set of figures created by Lynn Chadwick in 1960 and worth around £300,000, was stolen from the grounds of Roehampton University after being cut off at the feet. This crime happened less than a month after Henry Moore’s three-million-pound gigantic Reclining Figure was driven away from a sculpture park in Hertfordshire. Both statues were taken at night by thieves probably using a lorry with special lifting equipment. The Metropolitan Police said yesterday that as many as twenty similar thefts of bronze artworks had been reported in and around the capital within the past year.

The price for pure metal has risen greatly and this has opened up an opportunity for gangs to make a quick profit. The Henry Moore sculpture, taken in mid-December, is believed to be worth around £5,000 if melted down; the Chadwick may bring as little as £1,000. Reduced to pure metal, the figures are worth only a fraction of their art market value but neither police nor art dealers believe such large objects would be stolen for a private collection. In many cases, the sculptures have been badly damaged.

Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley, the head of the Metropolitan Police’s arts and antiques unit, refused to name any of the artworks apart from the Henry Moore. ‘They were all large bronzes,’ he said. ‘Not in any one particular style. They included human figures, abstracts and even a seven-foot cockroach. In one case, the thieves stole part of a sculpture. We don’t know whether this is one gang or a number of thefts looking very alike. The only thing the sculptures had in common was the material: bronze.’

 In 1960, The Three Watchers …

15.   Both The Three Watchers and Reclining Figure …

Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure …

The police said that all the artworks …

The writer of this text …

Yesterday, we had a class discussion about spare-time activities. A lot of people said that they were interested ___ computers. 

When we got into detail, we found out, that most of them were ___ on playing online games. 

I find that a waste of time, I prefer to spend time ___ something more active, like sports.

Some girls mentioned, that they were ___ arts or music. And one boy said he loved drama. 

He has to learn lots of lines, which helps him at school, too. I realized that I would like to go and see one of their ___, and maybe I could join in later. 

I’m always looking for a new ___ 

I feel happy to learn new ___. 

And if I realize that I am not good enough at acting, I might help them advertise their new show as a ___.