Graffiti

You can travel almost anywhere in the world, and you will probably see graffiti. Although graffiti is more common in big cities, today you may find it in almost any region or district, big or small. It's everywhere: on trains, walls, bridges and buildings.

The word graffiti itself probably comes from the old Greek verb which means "to write". Writings on walls already existed in ancient Rome. The Romans cut graffiti on walls and monuments. It showed phrases of love, political ideas, simple thoughts, magic spells, alphabets, and famous quotations from literature.

Modern graffiti dates back to the US of the 1960s. At that time for young people it was a form of self-expression and a political protest. Teenage groups in New York, for example, painted graffiti to mark their territory. Later, there started competitions between different groups.

Today graffiti has travelled all over the world. However, it is still an illegal art. It has been always painted on private or public property, like cars, trains, fences and house walls. As a result most people see it as vandalism. Besides, it's rather hard to clean graffiti paints, and cities spend millions every year on it. So, in most countries graffiti is forbidden.

On the other hand, modern graffiti is, by its nature, a form of painting. After all, the artist uses the same methods and materials. However, instead of paints a graffiti artist prefers sprays, markers, and crayons. Some of their works are really impressive and fascinating; they are powerful and have a deep meaning.

Probably, the most famous graffiti artist is Banksy, who comes from Bristol, England. He strongly believes that writing graffiti on buildings is an effective way to communicate with people. His works are very often aggressive, provocative and even rude.

Choose the correct option according to the text:

1. What does the word ‘graffiti’ originally means?

1. to paint

2. to draw

3. to write

4. to see

5. to work

2. Where did modern graffiti begin?

1. the UK

2. the US

3. Greece

4. Ancient Rome

5. Australia

3. Why do teenagers in New York use graffiti for?

1. to make their territory nice

2. for fun

3. to show their area

4. to show their drawing skills

5. without any aims

4. Where you can find graffiti?

1. in big cities

2. on trains

3. on bridges

4. on buildings

5. all answers are correct

5. Why do some people think graffiti is vandalism?

1. it is difficult to clean

2. sometimes people paint on monuments and properties of others

3. it was a form of a disagreement

4. some people don’t like art

5. it takes much money to draw

6. What things are NOT preferred by graffiti makers?

1. crayons

2. markers

3. spray

4. paints

5. all answers are correct

7. Why does Bansky use different styles on buildings?

1. to present his ideas

2. to show his rudeness

3. to stay in touch with people

4. to forget about rules

5. to share his drawing skills

8. According to the text, graffiti is

1. rather modern and useful

2. modern and ineffective

3. very old with strong sense

4. spread only in Europe

5. permitted everywhere

9. One can make a conclusion that graffiti in general helps

1. to express yourself using painting

2. to think of ancient times

3. to build new bridges, buildings

4. to talk to people

5. to make friends

10. The underlined phrase means something is

1. correct

2. prohibited

3. interesting

4. unique

5. impressive

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