Graffiti: Street art or crime?

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1 WYNBERG BOYS HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE LANGUAGE EXAM Grade 9 Examiner: PK June 2012 Time: 1hr 30min Moderator: EM Total: 60 marks Instructions: Write clearly and neatly. Ensure that your name and your teacher s monogram are at the top of every page. All answers must be in full sentences where necessary, and must be in your own words as far as possible. Number your answers correctly according to the numbering of the questions. Question One: Comprehension Carefully read the article below and answer the questions that follow: Graffiti: Street art or crime? A group of south London graffiti artists were jailed last week for up to two years for defacing public property. Yet as they begin their sentences, their work is to be championed by a New York gallery. As a society, we seem to be a little mixed-up when it comes to "graffiti", as you call it if you work in the local council's cleansing department, or "street art" as you say if you're the chap and they do mainly seem to be blokes wielding the spray can. But the confusion now runs deeper than those who spray and those who remove the paint. Great British institutions have been polarised. Last week the might of English law delivered its verdict at Southwark Crown Court where five members of the DPM graffiti crew were jailed one, Andrew Gillman, for two years after admitting conspiracy to cause criminal damage costing the taxpayer at least 1m. By contrast, just down the road, the riverside facade of Tate Modern had been covered in giant murals by six urban artists with international reputations, including Blu from Bologna, Faile from New York, and Sixeart from Barcelona, in the first display of street art at a major museum. The courtroom and the museum were so close that supporters of the men on trial popped down to the Tate to do a bit of retouching during one lunchtime adjournment

2 A gallery in New York launches an exhibition next week based on the work of those convicted at Southwark. "DPM Exhibit A", at the Anonymous Gallery Project in SoHo, will display large photographs of the convicts' work alongside copies of their charge sheets to ask whether the men are criminals or artists. It is a question which prompts different answers in different parts of the world, says Cedar Lewinsohn, the curator of the exhibition at Tate Modern. "Brazil for instance is more relaxed about it," he says. In parts of Australia, they are like the UK and people really hate graffiti and tags on vans and trains, but in Melbourne van drivers compete with each other as to whose is more decorated. Street art, you see, is a highly polarising phenomenon. On the one hand there are those like the American artist Elura Emerald, who is also involved in next week's New York exhibition, who insist that "artists who paint on the street are merely expressing themselves, not hurting anyone" and should not be punished "but appreciated and celebrated". Then there are those like Judge Christopher Hardy who, in court in Southwark, described the activities of the DPM Crew as "a wholesale self-indulgent campaign to damage property on an industrial scale". The judge had little patience with Gillman's notion that "trains were like a moving canvas" on which to create something artistic and thought-provoking that made "commuters look up from their paper". Judge Hardy admitted that "it would be wrong of me not to acknowledge that some examples of your handiwork show considerable artistic talent", but he concluded, "the trouble is that it is has been sprayed all over other people's property without their consent and that is simply vandalism." Over the two years the bill must have run into millions of pounds. Peterborough City Council recently tried to find a compromise. It erected two 8ft by 4ft boards to allow artists there to express themselves freely. The trouble was that they were pulled down by vandals Why would the city council be frustrated by graffiti? 1.2 Which gender is more involved in graffiti? Quote from the text to support your answer. (2) 1.3 What word in paragraph 1 refers to the confusion spoken about in paragraph 2? 1.4 What are murals? (paragraph 3) What does the phrase a bit of retouching mean? (paragraph 3) (2) What is the reason behind this retouching? 1.6 Which two countries have a similar attitude towards graffiti? (2) 1.7 Are all parts of Australia against graffiti? Quote from the text to support your answer. (2) Name the figure of speech in trains were like a moving canvas. (paragraph 7) Explain the use of the figure of speech above. (2) 1.9 Provide a synonym for consent. (paragraph 8) 1.10 Why is the concluding paragraph ironic? (3) 1.11 What message is the graffiti artist trying to convey in the picture? [20] 2

3 Question Two: Summary IN NO MORE THAN 49 WORDS, write down SEVEN ways suggested in the passage in which people can prevent street crime. INSTRUCTIONS: - List 7 facts in FULL sentences. - Each sentence should not be longer than 7 words. - NUMBER your sentences from 1 to 7. - Write down only ONE fact per sentence. - Use your OWN words as far as possible. - Indicate the number of words per sentence at the end of each sentence and the total at the end of the summary. PROTECT YOURSELF FROM STREET CRIME Millions of street crimes are committed every year. It is something we fear and we must do all we can to protect ourselves. A self-assured walk makes you look confident and strong, even if you re not. Walk with your head up and keep your eyes on the people around you. Criminals go for the weak, the absent-minded, the clumsy. Criminals carefully watch you with the intention of snatching your bag. If your bag has a flap, tuck it against you. Carry your bag under your coat if there s room. Also, don t keep your keys in your bag. If it is stolen, anyone can get into your house. We need to be aware that many criminals wait around cash machines or ATMs. For this reason we must use these cautiously. For example, do not use a cash machine that is in an isolated place or walk away counting your notes. Choose an ATM where are people nearby and put your money away immediately. One would think sensible people would know this, but watch how easily people walk away, counting their notes. People are often very careless about locking their car doors. Perhaps they re too busy to take the precaution. While doing research for a television news show, a team of investigators tried to open the doors of 15 cars at a busy intersection. Only two were locked. Criminals look for people sitting in stationary cars. Sometimes they distract you by pretending that there is something wrong with your car, to tempt you out of your vehicle. Whatever you do, don t get out. If someone appears, saying he is a policeman, ask for his ID; if he has none, drive away. You can report the incident later by phone. 7+3=[10] 3

4 Question Three: Dictionary Use Study the dictionary entry below and answer the following questions: graffiti gruh-fee-tee. markings, as initials, slogans, or drawings, written, spray-painted, or sketched on a sidewalk, wall of a building or public restroom. [It.] 3.1 What is the etymology of graffiti? 3.2 What is the purpose of the word in italics appearing immediately after the headword graffiti? 3.3 What part of speech is the word graffiti? [3] Question Four: Editing There are a number of errors in the below. Read the and answer the following questions: Hi, My name is Elena and I live into Russia. I have a little daughter, but not a husband. In result of recent crisis I lost my job and cannot pay the bills for heating our home anymore. We urgent need an oven because winter is coming and our home is very cold. We forced to sleep in old sleeping bags. If you have old moveable wood burner and you don't using it, I pray you can gift it to us and organize transport of it to our adress. I send this message from a public library and am hope for an answer. Elena 4.1 Correct the incorrect preposition in line Correct the first clause of the sentence in line 2. (2) 4.3 An adjective has been used instead of an adverb in line 3. Write the correct adverb. 4.4 Add an auxiliary verb in line 4 to make the sentence correct. 4.5 Write the sentence in line 6 in the present continuous tense. (2) [7] 4

5 Question Five: Visual Literacy Study the advert below and answer the questions that follow: 5.1 At which two target markets is the advert aimed? (2) 5.2 Why is the image of the shaved grass used? (2) 5.3 Create your own slogan for the advert. [5] Question Six: Visual Literacy Study the cartoon below and answer the following questions: 5

6 6.1 Why are snakes appropriate in a cartoon about speech defects? 6.2 Change the following sentence into indirect speech with the correct spelling. The snake asked, You mean to say we all have sssspeach imedimentssss? (2) 6.4 Identify the infinitive in the sentence. [4] Question Seven: 7.1 Write down only the missing preposition: The coach proved to be very popular his team. 7.2 Write in the passive voice: The tide forced us to turn back. 7.3 Write in the active voice: Our match was abandoned at 6pm. 7.4 Identify the type of verb in bold in the sentence below: I was sprinting home when I collapsed. 7.5 Is the following sentence simple, compound or complex? I passed the ball to him but he dropped it. 7.6 Use a suffix to make the following into an adverb: Ridiculous 7.7 Change the following sentence into the negative: The snake would have been killed if he had crossed the road. 7.8 Complete the following proverbs: A fool and his money Two heads are better than 7.9 Explain the meaning of the idiom: The soccer player was all at sea about his position Write down only the indirect object in the sentence below: The postman handed my sister a huge box. [11] TOTAL = 60 marks 6