II. While Reading Tasks
• Vocabulary
Word Inference
1. Very few major American artists have ever been as productive, for so long, in so many mediums, as Georgia O’Keeffe…
medium |ˈmēdēəm|-noun ( pl. media |-dēə| or mediums )- a liquid (e.g., oil or water) with which pigments are mixed to make paint. • the material or form used by an artist, composer, or writer: oil paint is the most popular medium for glazing.
2. O’Keeffe’s life seemingly encompassed not mere decades, but ages…
encompass |enˈkəmpəs|verb–[ with obj. ] surround and have or hold within: a vast halo encompassing the Milky Way galaxy.
3. So much of her work… is so distinctive…
distinctive |disˈtiNGktiv|-adjective-characteristic of one person or thing, and so serving to distinguish it from others: juniper berries give gin its distinctive flavor.
4…a single photograph- John Loengard’s astonishing 1967 portrait…
astonishing |əˈstäniSHiNG|-adjective-extremely surprising or impressive; amazing: an astonishing achievement | I find it astonishing that they ever thought it could work.
5. Georgia O’Keeffe’s willful isolation…
isolation |ˌīsəˈlāSHən|-noun-the process or fact of isolating or being isolated: the isolation of older people.-isolate-verb |ˈīsəˌlāt| [ with obj. ]-cause (a person or place) to be or remain alone or apart from others: a country that is isolated from the rest of the world.
6. Loengard’s striking, unforgettable picture… is far more than just a study, or a sketch, of a formidable figure.
formidable |ˈfôrmədəbəl, fôrˈmidəbəl, fərˈmid-|adjective-inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable: a formidable opponent.
7. Framed against the sky and desert…that feels, in its simplicity, almost totemic…
totem |ˈtōtəm|-noun-a natural object or animal believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and adopted by it as an emblem.
8. LIFE [magazine] devoted more than a dozen pages to the artist…
devoted |diˈvōtid|-adjective-[ predic. ] (devoted to) given over to the display, study, or discussion of: there is a museum devoted to her work.
9. Whether emphatically realistic or starkly abstract… these works distill… something of her strong, adventurous spirit.
emphatically |emˈfatik(ə)lē|-adverb-in a forceful way.
10. Freedom — from cliché… from the expected and the tame — has always been the aim…of the greatest artists.
cliché |klēˈSHā kli-, kli-, ˈklēˌSHā|(also cliche )-noun-a very predictable or unoriginal thing or person: each building is a mishmash of tired clichés.
Reading Comprehension
True / False
- T- O’Keeffe had drawings as early as 1916.
- F- In the 1920s many of her later works were inspired by the natural beauty of New Mexico.
- T- Georgia O’Keeffe was born during the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee (1887).
- F- If any artist ever followed her own vision, no matter where it took her, it was Georgia O’Keeffe.
- T- This year marks her 125th birthday.
- F- She was born in Wisconsin
- F- …John Loengard’s astonishing 1967 portrait of the artist as an old woman.
- F- Loengard’s striking, unforgettable picture — made on the roof of O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch home in northern New Mexico.
- T- In a March 1968 cover story on O’Keeffe (Loengard’s rooftop portrait graced the issue’s cover)…
- T- The Whitney’s colorful show puts aside the Georgia O’Keeffe we know best — the Gray Lady of New Mexico.
• Grammar Focus
Identifying Parts of Speech
Adjectives as they appear in the paragraphs: striking, unforgettable, northern, formidable, simplicity, totemic, severe, Western, colorful, Gray.
• Pre-listening
Listening for New Vocabulary or New Terms
indelible |inˈdeləbəl|-adjective-• not able to be forgotten or removed: his story made an indelible impression on me.
transform |transˈfôrm|-verb -make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of: lasers have transformed cardiac surgery | he wanted to transform himself into a successful businessman.
torrent |ˈtôrənt, ˈtär-|-noun-a sudden, violent, and copious outpouring of (something, typically words or feelings: banks plowed torrents of money into the booming stock and property markets.
adobe adobe |əˈdōbē|-noun-a kind of clay used as a building material, typically in the form of sun-dried bricks: [ as modifier ] : adobe houses.
modernism |ˈmädərˌnizəm|-noun-• a style or movement in the arts that aims to break with classical and traditional forms.
dimension |diˈmenCHən|-noun-an aspect or feature of a situation, problem, or thing: sun-dried tomatoes add a new dimension to this sauce.
abstract-adjective |abˈstrakt, ˈabˌstrakt|-of or relating to abstract art: abstract pictures that look like commercial color charts.
Source: New Oxford American Dictionary.
• While Listening Tasks
True /False statements
According to the narrator:
- T- This is O’keefe country. The land the painter Gorgia O’keefe made indelibly her own.
- F- Northern New Mexico transformed the artists’s work and changed her life.
- T- That first summer in New Mexico resulted in a torrent of new paintings, that continued unabated for decades.
- F- In 1934 O’keeffe discovered the spectacular beauty of an areas known as Ghost Ranch, North of Santa Fe.
- F- For more than 40 years she spent every summer and fall in this adobe house she owned.
- F- New Mexico gave O’keefee the privacy and solitude that were essential to her, where she could live in intimate contact with nature.
- T- In O’keedff’s native Wisconsin where she first made art, nature was her subject.
- T- When she first started painting in New York, O’keeffe could imitate the work of other artists, but she wanted to paint in her own way.
- T- In 1915 O’keefe began a series of abstract experimental paintings.
- F- She had doubts about her new -style of painting.
- F- In June 1918 O’keefe went to paint in New York.
- T- Between 1918 and 1923 O’keefee created some of the most original and significant abstractions of American modernism.
- T- Her large-scale flowers added a new dimension to the tradition of flower painting.
- T- Whatever O’keefe painted It was her fusion of the abstract and real that gave solidity and strength to her painting.
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