Mid – term assessment Variant 3 Task Reading section. Multiple choice question

Q6. The train company believed there was no real problem because

A) the new time table was not yet uploaded.

B) there were plenty of convenient alternative services.

C) they recommended the new service.

D) the price was so reasonable.

Q7. In the Passenger Survey, the train company

A) showed that passengers approved of engineering work.

B) proved that other travel arrangements were unnecessary.

C) scored a satisfaction rating of 81%.

D) met its commitments to customers.

Task 2

Read the passages and answer the questions 1-5, which are based on passage below.

Art at the Olympic Games

With the founding of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, and the celebration of the first modern Olympic Games, French aristocrat Pierre, Baron de Coubertin saw his vision – men being educated in both mind and body, and competing in sport rather than war - fulfilled. One of his other desires was to combine both sport and art, and he thus considered including artistic competition in the Olympic Games. In May 1906, Baron de Coubertin organised a meeting in Paris for both IOC members and representatives of organisations of artists.

The meeting ended with a proposal to the IOC to organise artistic competitions at the Olympic Games in five areas (architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture). The works of art entered had to be inspired by sports. Preparations got underway to hold such competitions at the 1908 Summer Olympics, which were scheduled to take place in Rome, Italy. But the Italian Olympic organizers faced unexpected financial problems and were soon forced to halt preparations for the games, which the IOC then awarded to London instead. Initially, the British organizers were committed to holding the art competitions, but because of the limited amount of time available in which they had to get ready for the games, they were eventually forced to abandon the idea and focus only on the main Olympic events. The organizers felt that the artists would not have had enough time to prepare and submit their work.

Pierre de Coubertin was not discouraged, and sought to include the artistic events in the programme of the 1912 Summer Olympics, to be held in Stockholm, Sweden. Although the Swedes initially objected, opposing the idea of art combined with competition, they eventually gave in. The number of entrants was rather disappointing though; only 35 artists are known to have sent in their submissions. Nonetheless, gold medals were awarded in all five categories. When the first post-war Olympic Games were held in war- ravaged Belgium, art contests were again on the programme, although they were little more than a sideshow. The 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris were different, however. The contests were taken seriously for the first time, and 193 artists submitted samples of their work. Remarkably, this figure also includes three Soviet artists, even though the Soviet Union did not officially take part in the Olympic Games, at that time, viewing it as nothing more than a ' bourgeois'' festival.

The growth continued at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, where over 1,100 works of art were exhibited in the Municipal Museum, not including the submissions in literature, music and architecture. Artists were allowed to sell their works at the close of the exhibition, which was rather controversial given the IOC's amateurism policy, which required all competitors to be amateurs. In Amsterdam, four of the original five recognized fields of art were also subdivided into additional

categories, creating several new events for artists to compete in.

On account of economic problems and the host city, Los Angeles, being so far away from Europe, participation in the athletics events of the 1932 Games was lower than it was in 1928. The art competition did not suffer in the same way, however, and the number of art works entered remained stable. The exhibition drew 384,000 visitors to the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art.

Art contests were also held in the Berlin (1936) and London (1948) Games, with reasonable success, although the number of entered works had significantly dropped by 1948. From 1912 to 1948, although some of the art competitions' rules varied from Games to Games, the core of the rules remained the same. All of the entered works had to be inspired by sport, and had to be original (that is, not published before the competition). Like in the athletics events at the Olympics, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to the highest-ranked artists, although not all medals were awarded in each competition. On a few occasions, no medals were in fact handed out at all. Generally, artists were allowed to enter multiple works, although the exact number was sometimes restricted. This made it possible for an artist to win multiple prizes in a single competition.

In 1949, a report was presented at the IOC meeting in Rome which concluded that practically all contestants in the art competitions were professionals, and that the competitions should therefore be abolished, and replaced with an exhibition without awards or medals. This sparked a heated debate within the IOC. At a 1951 meeting, the IOC decided to reinstate the competitions for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. However, the Finnish organisers claimed there was insufficient time, and, in the end, neither an art competition nor an exhibition was held. The issue continued to be debated within the Olympic Movement, and at the 49th IOC Session in Athens, 1954, the IOC members voted to replace the art contests with an exhibition for future Olympics. Several attempts have since been made to reinstate them, but without success. The Olympic Games continue to be connected with art exhibitions, however. The Olympic Charter requires organisers of the Olympic Games to include a programme of cultural events, to "serve to promote harmonious relations, mutual understanding and friendship among the participants and others attending the Olympic Games". While several of the Olympic art medal lists have achieved at least national fame, few of them can be considered well- known artists globally. In fact, the 1924 Games featured better known jury members than entrants, with artists like Selma Lagerlof and Igor Stravinsky judging the works. Two presidents of the IOC have also been among the entrants in the Olympic art competitions. In 1912 Pierre de Coubertin, under the pseudonym "Georges Hohrod and Martin Eschbach", entered 'Ode to Sport', which won the gold medal. Avery Brundage, who competed as an athlete at the 1912 Games, entered literary works at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, earning an honorary mention in 1932. He would later serve as the IOC's president from 1952 to 1972.