Università degli Studi di Udine

Prova di Ammissione alla Scuola Superiore a.a. 2016-17 – LINGUA INGLESE

Part 1: Reading comprehension

Introduction to a book about the history of colour

This book examines how the ever-changing role of colour in society has been reflected in manuscripts,
stained glass, clothing, painting and popular culture. Colour is a natural phenomenon, of course, but
it is also a complex cultural construct that resists generalization and, indeed, analysis itself. No doubt
this is why serious works devoted to colour are rare, and rarer still are those that aim to study it in
historical context. Many authors search for the universal or archetypal truths they imagine reside in
colour, but for the historian, such truths do not exist. Colour is first and foremost a social
phenomenon. There is no transcultural truth to colour perception, despite what many books based on
poorly grasped neurobiology or – even worse – on pseudoesoteric pop psychology would have us
believe. Such books unfortunately clutter the bibliography on the subject, and even do it harm.

The silence of historians on the subject of colour, or more particularly their difficulty in conceiving
colour as a subject separate from other historical phenomena, is the result of three different sets of
problems. The first concerns documentation and preservation. We see the colours transmitted to us
by the past as time has altered them and not as they were originally. Moreover, we see them under
light conditions that often are entirely different from those known by past societies. And finally, over
the decades we have developed the habit of looking at objects from the past in black-and-white
photographs and, despite the current diffusion of colour photography, our ways of thinking about and
reacting to these objects seem to have remained more or less black and white.

The second set of problems concerns methodology. As soon as the historian seeks to study colour, he
must grapple with a host of factors all at once: physics, chemistry, materials, and techniques of
production, as well as iconography, ideology, and the symbolic meanings that colours convey. How
to make sense of all of these elements? How can one establish an analytical model facilitating the
study of images and coloured objects? No researcher, no method, has yet been able to resolve these
problems, because among the numerous facts pertaining to colour, a researcher tends to select those
facts that support his study and to conveniently forget those that contradict it. This is clearly a poor
way to conduct research. And it is made worse by the temptation to apply to the objects and images
of a given historical period information found in texts of that period. The proper method – at least in
the first phase of analysis – is to proceed as do palaeontologists (who must study cave paintings
without the aid of texts): by extrapolating from the images and the objects themselves a logic and a
system based on various concrete factors such as the rate of occurrence of particular objects and
motifs, their distribution and disposition. In short, one undertakes the internal structural analysis with
which any study of an image or coloured object should begin.

The third set of problems is philosophical: it is wrong to project our own conceptions and definitions
of colour onto the images, objects and monuments of past centuries. Our judgements and values are
not those of previous societies (and no doubt they will change again in the future). For the writer-
historian looking at the definitions and taxonomy of colour, the danger of anachronism is very real.
For example, the spectrum with its natural order of colours was unknown before the seventeenth
century, while the notion of primary and secondary colours did not become common until the

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nineteenth century. These are not eternal notions but stages in the ever-changing history of
knowledge.

I have reflected on such issues at greater length in my previous work, so while the present book does
address certain of them, for the most part it is devoted to other topics. Nor is it concerned only with
the history of colour in images and artworks – in any case that area still has many gaps to be filled.
Rather, the aim of this book is to examine all kinds of objects in order to consider the different facets
of the history of colour and to show how far beyond the artistic sphere this history reaches. The
history of painting is one thing; that of colour is another, much larger, question. Most studies devoted
to the history of colour err in considering only the pictorial, artistic or scientific realms. But the
lessons to be learned from colour and its real interest lie elsewhere.

Exercise 1. General Comprehension. Circle the correct answer.

1 What problem regarding colour does the writer explain in the first paragraph?
A Our view of colour is strongly affected by changing fashion.
B Analysis is complicated by the bewildering number of natural colours.
C Colours can have different associations in different parts of the world.
D Certain popular books have dismissed colour as insignificant.

2 What is the first reason the writer gives for the lack of academic work on the history of colour?
A There are problems of reliability associated with the artefacts available.
B Historians have seen colour as being outside their field of expertise.
C Colour has been rather looked down upon as a fit subject for academic study.
D Very little documentation exists for historians to use.

3 The writer suggests that the priority when conducting historical research on colour is to
A ignore the interpretations of other modern day historians.
B focus one’s interest as far back as the prehistoric era.
C find some way of organising the mass of available data.
D relate pictures to information from other sources.

4 In the fourth paragraph, the writer says that the historian writing about colour should be careful
A not to analyse in an old-fashioned way.
B when making basic distinctions between key ideas.
C not to make unwise predictions.
D when using certain terms and concepts.

5 In the fifth paragraph, the writer says there needs to be further research done on
A the history of colour in relation to objects in the world around us.
B the concerns he has raised in an earlier publication.
C the many ways in which artists have used colour over the years.
D the relationship between artistic works and the history of colour.

6 An idea recurring in the text is that people who have studied colour have
A failed to keep up with scientific developments.
B not understood its global significance.
C found it difficult to be fully objective.
D been muddled about their basic aims.

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Exercise 2. Textual and Stylistic analysis:

1. Macro text type: is the text expository, argumentative or

instructive?
………………………………

2. Micro text type: is the text a story, newspaper article, essay, book introduction, scientific
review, interview, manual, biography, speech or editorial?
……………………………………………………………………….

3. Is the overall register: formal /informal /neutral /colloquial?

…………………………………………

4. How would you define the general style of the text?

………………………………………………………………………………………………....
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Exercise 3. Linguistic analysis. The following is a list of synonyms for words/expressions

which appear in the text. Find the corresponding words/expressions and write them down.

1. (par 1) in spite of ___________________

2. (par 2 ) conveyed ___________________
3. (par 3) deal with ___________________
4. (par 3) relating to ___________________
5. (par 3) inferring ___________________
6. (par 4) idea ___________________
7. (par 5) besides ___________________

Part 2: Syntax and lexis

Exercise 4 Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using
the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three and six words,
including the word given.

1. James would only speak to the head of department alone.

ON
James ………………………………… to the head of department alone.

2. My brother now earns far less than he did when he was younger.
NEARLY
My brother …………………………………. much now as he did when he was younger.

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 3. They are demolishing the old bus station and replacing it with a new one.
PULLED
The old bus station is …………………………………. with a new one.

4. The number of students now at university has reached an all-time high, apparently.
THE
The number of students now at university is …………………………………. been, apparently.

5. I’m disappointed with the Fishers’ new album when I compare it to their previous one.
COMPARISON
I think the Fishers’ new album is ……………………………….... their previous one.

6. Anna got the job even though she didn’t have much experience in public relations.
SPITE
Anna got the job ……………………………….... of experience in public relations.

7. ‘I must warn you how dangerous it is to cycle at night without any lights,’ said the police
officer to Max.
DANGERS
Max received a ……………………………….... at night without any lights from the police
officer.

Exercise 5. Read the following extract and choose the most appropriate word to complete the text.

Studying black bears

After years studying North America’s black bears in the (1) …….. way, wildlife biologist Luke
Robertson felt no closer to understanding the creatures. He realised that he had to (2) …….. their
trust. Abandoning scientific detachment, he took the daring step of forming relationships with the
animals, bringing them food to gain their acceptance.

The (3) …….. this has given him into their behaviour has allowed him to dispel certain myths about
bears. (4) …….. to popular belief, he contends that bears do not (5) …….. as much for fruit as
previously supposed. He also (6) …….. claims that they are ferocious. He says that people should not
be (7) …….. by behaviour such as swatting paws on the ground, as this is a defensive, rather than an
aggressive, act.

However, Robertson is no sentimentalist. After devoting years of his life to the bears, he is under no
(8) …….. about their feelings for him. It is clear that their interest in him does not (9) …….. beyond
the food he brings.

1 A straight B common C everyday D conventional

2 A catch B win C achieve D receive
3 A perception B awareness C insight D vision
4 A Opposite B Opposed C Contrary D Contradictory
5 A care B bother C desire D hope
6 A concludes B disputes C reasons D argues
7 A misguided B misled C misdirected D misinformed
8 A error B doubt C illusion D impression
9 A expand B spread C widen D extend
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Exercise 6: read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only
one word in each gap.

The origin of language

The truth (1) …….….. nobody really knows how language first began. Did we all start talking at
around the same time (2) ………... of the manner in which our brains had begun to develop?

Although there is a lack of clear evidence, people have come up with various theories about the origins
of language. One recent theory is that human beings have evolved in (3) ………... a way that we are
programmed for language from the moment of birth. In (4) ……..….. words, language came about as
a result of an evolutionary change in our brains at some stage.

Language (5) …….. well be programmed into the brain but, (6) …….….. this, people still need
stimulus from others around them. From studies, we know that (7) …….….. children are isolated
from human contact and have not learnt to construct sentences before they are ten, it is doubtful they
will ever do so. This research shows, if (8) ……….. else, that language is a social activity, not
something invented (9) ………... isolation.

Part 3. Writing
Briefly comment on how you think language, culture and society are related and influence each
other? (max 600 words)