There Has Always Been a Sense in Which America and Europe Owned Film Reading Answers

Nov 9, 2022

There Has Always Been a Sense in Which America and Europe Owned Film Reading Answers has 13 questions that have to be answered in 20 minutes. There Has Always Been a Sense in Which America and Europe Owned Film Reading Answers comprises three types of questions, namely- True/False/Not Given, Complete the Notes and choose the correct title. For True/False/Not Given questions, candidates must read the passage and understand the statement provided. For completing the notes, candidates need to skim the passage for keywords, understand the concept and choose the appropriate answer. Choosing the correct heading requires candidates to identify the relevance of the options given within the passage. Candidates must read the IELTS reading passage, identify keywords, and recognize synonyms to answer the question.

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Reading Passage Question

There has always been a sense in which America and Europe owned film. They invented it at the end of the nineteenth century in unfashionable places like New Jersey, Leeds and the suburbs of Lyons. At first, they saw their clumsy new camera projectors merely as more profitable versions of Victorian lantern shows, mechanical curiosities which might have a use as a sideshow at a funfair. Then the best of the pioneers looked beyond the fairground properties of their invention. A few directors, now mostly forgotten, saw that the flickering new medium was more than just a diversion. This crass commercial invention gradually began to evolve as an art. D W Griffith in California glimpsed its grace, German directors used it as an analogue to the human mind and the modernising city, Soviets emphasised its agitational and intellectual properties, and the Italians reconfigured it on an operatic scale.

So heady were these first decades of cinema that America and Europe can be forgiven for assuming that they were the only game in town. In less than twenty years western cinema had grown out of all recognition; its unknowns became the most famous people in the world; it made millions. It never occurred to its financial backers that another continent might borrow their magic box and make it its own. But film industries were emerging in Shanghai, Bombay and Tokyo, some of which would outgrow those in the west.

Between 1930 and 1935, China produced more than 500 films, mostly conventionally made in studios in Shanghai, without soundtracks. China's best directors - Bu Wancang and Yuan Muzhi - introduced elements of realism to their stories. The Peach Girl (1931) and Street Angel (1937) are regularly voted among the best ever made in the country.

India followed a different course. In the west, the arrival of talkies gave birth to a new genre - the musical - but in India, every one of the 5000 films made between 1931 and the mid-1950s had musical interludes. The films were stylistically more wide ranging than the western musical, encompassing realism and escapist dance within individual sequences, and they were often three hours long rather than Hollywood's 90 minutes. The cost of such productions resulted in a distinctive national style of cinema. They were often made in Bombay, the centre of what is now known as 'Bollywood'. Performed in Hindi (rather than any of the numerous regional languages), they addressed social and peasant themes in an optimistic and romantic way and found markets in the Middle East, Africa and the Soviet Union.

In Japan, the film industry did not rival India's in size but was unusual in other ways. Whereas in Hollywood the producer was the central figure, in Tokyo the director chose the stories and hired the producer and actors. The model was that of an artist and his studio of apprentices. Employed by a studio as an assistant, a future director worked with senior figures, learned his craft, gained authority, until promoted to director with the power to select screenplays and performers. In the 1930s and 40s, this freedom of the director led to the production of some of Asia's finest films.

The films of Kenji Mizoguchi were among the greatest of these. Mizoguchi's films were usually set in the nineteenth century and analysed the way in which the lives of the female characters whom he chose as his focus were constrained by the society of the time. From Osaka Elegy (1936) to Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) and beyond, he evolved a sinuous way of moving his camera in and around a scene, advancing towards significant details but often retreating at moments of confrontation or strong feeling. No one had used the camera with such finesse before.

Even more important for film history, however, is the work of the great Ozu. Where Hollywood cranked up drama, Ozu avoided it. His camera seldom moved. It nestled at seated height, framing people square on, listening quietly to their words. Ozu rejected the conventions of editing, cutting not on action, as is usually done in the west, but for visual balance. Even more strikingly, Ozu regularly cut away from his action to a shot of a tree or a kettle or clouds, not to establish a new location but as a moment of repose. Many historians now compare such 'pillow shots' to the Buddhist idea that mu - empty space or nothing - is itself an element of composition.

As the art form most swayed by money and market, cinema would appear to be too busy to bother with questions of philosophy. The Asian nations proved and are still proving that this is not the case. Just as deep ideas about individual freedom have led to the aspirational cinema of Hollywood, so it is the beliefs which underlie cultures such as those of China and Japan that explain the distinctiveness of Asian cinema at its best. Yes, these films are visually striking, but it is their different sense of what a person is, and what space and action are, which makes them new to western eye.

Solution and Explanation
Questions 1-5:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 1 -5 on your answer sheet write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

Question 1: The inventors of cinema regarded it as a minor attraction.

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: At first, they saw their clumsy new camera-projectors merely as more profitable versions of Victorian lantern shows, mechanical curiosities which might have a use as a sideshow at a funfair.
Keyword: Victorian lantern shows, mechanical curiosities
Keyword Location: Para 1, 3-5 lines
Explanation: In the beginning, the inventors saw cinema as merely a profitable version and considered it as a sideshow at a funfair.

Question 2: Some directors were aware of cinema's artistic possibilities from the very beginning.

Answer: False
Supporting Sentence: A few directors, now mostly forgotten, saw that the flickering new medium was more than just a diversion.
Keyword: directors, diversion
Keyword Location: Para 1, 7-8 lines
Explanation: The directors saw cinema as a medium that was more than just a diversion.

Question 3: The development of cinema's artistic potential depended on technology.

Answer: Not Given
Explanation: The line is not mentioned anywhere in the whole passage.

Question 4: Cinema's possibilities were developed in varied ways in different western countries.

Answer: True
Supporting Sentence: D W Griffith in California glimpsed its grace, German directors used it as an analogue to the human mind and the modernising city, Soviets emphasised its agitational and intellectual properties, and the Italians reconfigured it on an operatic scale.
Keyword: D W Griffith in California , diversion
Keyword Location: Para 1, 7-8 lines
Explanation: Cinema’s possibilities were developing in varied ways in different western countries. Some thought of it as an analog to the human mind, some focused on its intellectual properties and some on an operatic scale.

Question 5: Western businessmen were concerned about the emergence of film industries in other parts of the world.

Answer: False
Supporting Sentence: It never occurred to its financial backers that another continent might borrow their magic box and make it its own
Keywords: financial backers, magic box
Keyword Location: Para 2, last 3 lines
Explanation: The Businessmen were relieved and didn’t even have any concerns as mentioned.

Questions 6-12:
Complete the notes below using the list of words (A-K) from the box below.
Write the correct letters in boxes 6-12 on your answer sheet.

Chinese cinema

large number of 6 films produced in 1930s
some early films still generally regarded as 7

Indian cinema

films included musical interludes
films avoided 8 ABCDEFGHIJK topics

Japanese cinema

unusual because film director was very 9 ABCDEFGHIJK
two important directors:

Mizoguchi - focused on the 10 ABCDEFGHIJK restrictions faced by women

- camera movement related to 11 ABCDEFGHIJK content of film

Ozu - 12 camera movement

A emotional	B negative	C expensive	D silent	E social
F outstanding	G little	H powerful	I realistic	J stylistic
K economic	-	-	-	-

Question 6:

Answer: D
Supporting Sentence: Between 1930 and 1935, China produced more than 500 films, mostly conventionally made in studios in Shanghai, without soundtracks.
Keyword: Shanghai
Keyword Location: Para 3, ome there’sis mowagtl=link
Explanation: The supporting sentence suggests that the films were without soundtracks, that is, silent.

Question 7:

Answer: F
Supporting Sentence: The Peach Girl (1931) and Street Angel (1937) are regularly voted among the best ever made in the country.
Keyword: The Peach Girl (1931) and Street Angel (1937)
Keyword Location: Para 3, lines 1-2
Explanation: The word ‘are’ in the supporting sentence suggests that these movies are still the best.

Question 8:

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: Performed in Hindi (rather than any of the numerous regional languages), they addressed social and peasant themes in an optimistic and romantic way and found markets in the Middle East, Africa and the Soviet Union.
Keyword: The Peach Girl (1931) and Street Angel (1937)
Keyword Location: Para 3, lines 1-2
Explanation: The supporting sentence and passage suggest that the films were optimistic and realistic and negative topics were avoided.

Question 9:

Answer: H
Supporting Sentence: in Tokyo the director chose the stories and hired the producer and actors.
Keyword: The Peach Girl (1931) and Street Angel (1937)
Keyword Location: Para 3, lines 1-2
Explanation: The supporting sentence suggests that the director had power.

Question 10:

Answer: E
Supporting Sentence: Mizoguchi's films were usually set in the nineteenth century and analysed the way in which the lives of the female characters whom he chose as his focus were constrained by the society of the time.
Keyword: The Peach Girl (1931) and Street Angel (1937)
Keyword Location: Para 6, lines 1
Explanation: The supporting sentence suggests that Mizoguchi’s films were based on the restrictions and struggles faced by women.

Question 11:

Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: From Osaka Elegy (1936) to Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) and beyond, he evolved a sinuous way of moving his camera in and around a scene, advancing towards significant details but often retreating at moments of confrontation or strong feeling.
Keyword: The Peach Girl (1931) and Street Angel (1937)
Keyword Location: Para 6, lines 1
Explanation: The supporting sentence suggests that Mizoguchi’s camera moved in a very strong and emotional way.

Question 12:

Answer: G
Supporting Sentence: Where Hollywood cranked up drama, Ozu avoided it. His camera seldom moved.
Keyword: The Peach Girl (1931) and Street Angel (1937)
Keyword Location: Para 6, lines 1
Explanation: The supporting sentence suggests that Ozu barely moved his camera.

Questions 13:

Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage?

Blind to change: how is it that the west has ignored Asian cinema for so long?
A different basis: how has the cinema of Asian countries been shaped by their cultures and beliefs?
Outside Asia: how did the origins of cinema affect its development worldwide?
Two cultures: how has western cinema tried to come to terms with the challenge of the Asian market?

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: There has always been a sense in which America and Europe owned film. They invented it at the end of the nineteenth century in unfashionable places like New Jersey, Leeds and the suburbs of Lyons.; India followed a different course. In the west, the arrival of talkies gave birth to a new genre - the musical - but in India, every one of the 5000 films made between 1931 and the mid-1950s had musical interludes.
Keywords: nineteenth century, musical, 5000 films
Keyword Location: first para, first lines; fourth para, first four lines
Explanation: The second passage focuses more on the Asian development of cinema and how it got shaped due to the culture and beliefs of the locals.

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