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Printedby: LauraGodleskY
Printedon: August24,2015
TheOrbit:Artor Not?
A newtowerwas builtin London.Many peopledont like it. They say it's not goodart. \Mrat do you think?
Good art is art that is liked by many people.
Agree
Disagree
Explainwhy you votedthe way you did.
Article
PAGE 1
July 12,2012).Londonwonthe bidto
LONDON,England (Achieve3000,
holdthe 2012SummerOlympics.So city leadershiredarchitectCecil
Balmondand arlistAnishKapoor.Leadershiredthe pairto designa huge
towerin honorof the Games.About sevenyears later,a towercalledThe
Orbitwas built.lt is 377feet (114.5meters)tall.The Orbitis madewith
red,twistingsteel.The toweroffersvisitorswide,sweepingviews of
Londonand its beautifulskyline.But not everyoneagreesthat The Orbit
itselfis a thingof beauty.
Kapooris knownfor his enormousworksof art. Evenfor Kapoor,though,
The Orbitis huEe.The towerstands72feet (22 meters)higherthan the
Statueof Liberty.London'sleadersproudlyboastthat The Orbitis the
tallestsculpturein Europe.
Duringthe Olympics,ticketholdersto the Gamesrodethe elevatorto the
top of the hugetower.Kapoorsaid that visitorsentera "darkand heavy"
areaat the tower'sbase.They then step out intothe light highabove
ground.There'sa wrap-around
viewingdeck. lt has a pair of hugecurved
offer
viewsthat stretchfor 20 miles (32
minors.The deck and mirrors
kilometers)
acrossLondon.
AP Photo
The Orbitwasbuilt in Londonforthe
2012 Olympics-but not everyone
loves it.
for looking,"Kapoorsaid.
"lt's as if one is in an instrument
But is the toweritselfa beautifulsightto see?Thatdependson who'sdoingthe looking.
Some peoplesay The Ortit is ugly.They pointto the ruby-redsteeltwistingaroundit. Britishnewspapershave
nicknamedit "theGodzillaof publicart."
Fansof the tower,however,say it's wonderful.They claim it's like one of the world'smost famoustowers:the Eiffel
aroundthe world.He saidthe twisting
Towerin Paris,France.Balmondhas beenpraisedfor his inventivearchitecture
buildingshouldmakeyou changeyourideaof
that a groundbreaking
toweris like "a curvein space."He explained
beauty.
"St. Paul's[Cathedral]
was hatedwtrenit was begun,"Balmondsaid.But noq the greatchurchis beloved,he said.
It was the samewith the EiffelTower,Kapoornoted.Whenit was first built,manypeoplethoughtit was "the
most...ugly
object."
KapoorhimselfthinksThe Orbitis a greatwork of art.
"Therewill be thosewho loveit andthosewtrohateit. And that'sOK," he said.
BorisJohnsonis the mayorof London.Johnsonis a hugefan of The Orlcit.He hopesthe towerwill drawmany
visitors.
"lt is a genuineKapoor,"Johnsonsaid."lt has all the [mystery]of someof his greatpieces."
cometo likethe tower,too.
Johnsonbelievesit's onlva matterof time untilhis fellowLondoners
"l think[theywillloveit],"he said,"in the end."
lnformationforthis story came from AP.
PAGE 2
Dig Deeper
lf you saw a pictureof the Statueof Liberty,what'sthe firstthingyou wouldthinkof? For manypeople,the answer
wouldbe NewYork City-or perhapsthe UnitedStates.That'sbecause"LadyLiberty"has becomecloselyidentified
with its location.Thestalueis an importanta partof the culture.Manypeoplesee it as partof the naturallandscape.
We can'timagineit not beingthere.Thesetypesof landmarksexist all overthe world.
Peoplecomefromall overto visit the GreatWallof China.But the GreatWallwasn'texactlybuiltfor tourists.
lnstead,it was builtto protectagainstinvaders.Construction
beganin 220 BCE andcontinuedfor morethan 1,000
years.Today,the GreatWallis no longerneededfor protection.
Still,no one is talkingabouttearingit down.Thewall
has becomean importantpartof China'sidentity.
St. Basil'sis oneof the city'smostfamouslandmarks.
Manytravelersto Moscow,Russia,visit St. Basil'sCathedral.
domes.St. Basil'sdatesback to the 16thcentury.
The uniquecathedralis knoumfor its colorful,onion-shaped
Historianssay it was builtto celebratea militaryvictory.In the 20thcentury,St. Basil'swas nearlytorn down' Dictator
JosephStalinfelt it stoodin the way of militaryparades.Today,the cathedralis foreverlinkedto Russia'
Visitorsto pisa, ltaly,will find an unusualbelltower-one that leans.The LeaningTowerof Pisawas supposedto
standvertically.Shorly afterconstructionbeganin 1183,however,it startedleaning.The groundundemeathit wasn't
the
havetriedto stabilizethe tower.TheyVehadmixedsuccess.Meanwhile,
stable.Overthe years,engineers
famousleaningtowerhas becomelinkedwith ltaly.
The LeaningTowerof pisa was once consideredugly by many people.Today,it's seen as a beautifulnational
treasure.Maybesomeday,that'showmost peoplewill thinkof The Orbitin London.
Dictionary
architect(noun) someonernhodesignsbuildings
beloved(adjective) much loved
genuinehdjectitte) real
groundbreaktng (adjective) ne\ ': neverhaving beendone before
sculpturc (noun) art, like a statue,madeof hardmaterial
Activity
PAGE1
1,
S'Iain Iden
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Detnils
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The Grbit is
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s gre;rtwcrk sf
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@ London'sleadersboastthat The Orbit is the tallest sculpturein Europe
@ London mayorBoris JohnsonhopesThe Orbit will drawmanytourists
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leople clisagree
asto w'hetherThe Orbit is a thing of beauty
$
Olyrnpicticket holderswereable to take an elevatorto the top of The Orbit
2. The readercan tell from the articlethat
@ Cecil Balmondand AnishKapoorprobablyworkedtogetherto designSt. Paul'sCathedral.
@ Attisf,Kapoorand Cecil llalmond wereprobablyagainstbuilding sucha largetor.ver.
ffi MostOlympicathletesprobablyagreethatll'heOrbitis "theGodzillaof public art."
@ BorisJohnsonuould probablyhire AnishKapoorfor tnorcwork in London.
3. \lV|richtwo wordsfrom the neus articleare lhe closestsynonyms?
@ Wonderful an<lfamous
@ nelovedand inventive
S
Hugeandenormous
@ wia. andheavy
4. The newsarticlesays all of the followingexcept
S
fne Orbit offersviewsof London and its beautiful sk-vline
S
fict"t holdersto the Gamesrodethe elevatorto the top ofthe torver
6
Cecil Balmond zrrrdAnish Kapooralsodesignedthe Eiftbl Torver.
@ Londonwon the bid to hold the 2012 SummerOlympics.
of theseis an oPinion?
5. Wl"rich
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lbr his enolrnousr,l'orksof art
fupoo, is knor,r,lr
S
noris Johnsonis a hugefan of The Orbit.
Q
nl" Orbit is thetallestsculpturein Europe.
S
rne Orbit is an amazingwork of art.
6. The newsarticlestates:
There's a wrap-argundviewing deck. lt has a pair of huge curued mirrors,
Wrich is the closest antonym for the word curvefr
6
6
Husky
Straight
@ Distant
@ Long
to includein the summary?
7. Supposeyou werewritinga summaryof the newsarticle.\Mrichis most important
@ fne Orbit hasruby-redsteeltuiistingaroundit.
S
of.Ters
visitorssrveepingviewsoi l-ondon
fn. tor,r,er
e
The towerrvasdesignedin honorol the Olympics.
@ The Orbit is beautilirlto someandugly to others.
L The newsarticlestates:
British newspapenihave nicknamedit "the Godzilla of public art."
Theauthormostlikelyincludedthissentenceinorderto-.
@ eraiseThe Orbit asan inventive rvorkof art
S
to everyone
Snor that The Orbit is not a thing of beaut-v
@ Prou. that the tor,veris higherthan the Statueof Liberty
@ foltrt nut a dark and heavy areaat the towels base
Nowthatyou havereadthe article,indicatewhetheryou agreeor disagreewiththisstatement.
Goodart is art thatis likedby manypeople.
Agree
Disagree
Somepeoplelove The Orbit.Othersdo not. \Mrat do the two sides say aboutthe tower?\Mrichside do you agreewith?
fromthe lessonin youranswer.
Explainwhy. Use information
Writeyour answerin the box below
Poll Results
Good aft is art that is liked by many people.
STATEMENT:
OPINION
AFTER READIF{G
BEFORE READTIIG
HOW YOU VOTET)
Agree
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
WORLDWIDE RESULTS
Agree
680
Agree
68o/"