İstanbul 29 Mayıs University

English Language Preparation Program

Skills Homework
Name: Week:1
Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko, one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century, was born in Latvia in 1903. His father
immigrated to the United States, afraid that his sons would be drafted into the Czarist army. Mark stayed in Russia
with his mother and older sister; they joined the family later, arriving in the winter of 1913, after a 12-day voyage.
Mark moved to New York in the autumn of 1923 and found employment in the garment trade and took up
residence on the Upper West Side. It was while he was visiting someone at the Art Students League that he saw
students sketching a model. According to him, this was the start of his life as an artist. He was twenty years old and
had taken some art lessons at school, so his initial experience was far from an immediate calling.
In 1936, Mark Rothko began writing a book, which he never completed, about the similarities in the
children's art and the work of modern painters. The work of modernists, which was influenced by primitive art,
could, according to him, be compared to that of children in that "child art transforms itself into primitivism, which is
only the child producing a mimicry of himself."
B

It was not long before his multiforms developed into the style he is remembered for; in 1949 Rothko
exhibited these new works at the Betty Parsons Gallery. 2_C Rothko had, after painting his first multiform, secluded
himself to his home in East Hampton on Long Island, only inviting a very few people, including Rosenberg, to view
the new paintings. The discovery of his definitive form came at a period of great grief; his mother Kate died in
October 1948, and it was at some point during that winter that Rothko chanced upon the striking symmetrical
rectangular blocks of two to three opposing or contrasting, yet complementary colors.
As part of this new uniformity of artistic vision, his paintings and drawings no longer had individual titles;
from this point on they were simply untitled, numbered or dated.  However, to assist in distinguishing one work from
another, dealers would sometimes add the primary colors to the name. Additionally, for the next few years, Rothko
painted in oil only on large vertical canvasses. 3_____A.
On February 25, 1970, Oliver Steindecker, Rothko’s assistant, found him in his kitchen, lying on the floor in
front of the sink, covered in blood. His arms had been cut open with a razor. The emergency doctor arrived on the
scene minutes later to pronounce him dead as the result of suicide; it was discovered during the autopsy that he had
also overdosed on anti-depressants. He was just 66 years old.

A. Put the sentences into the paragraphs correctly.

a. This was done to overwhelm the viewer, or, in his words, to make the viewer feel enveloped in the
picture.
b. In this same work, he said that "the fact that one usually begins with drawing is already academic. We
start with color."
c. For critic Harold Rosenberg, the paintings were a revelation.
1
 B. Choose the correct option.
1. Mark Rothko immigrated to the United States… a. was primitive
a. with his father and elder sister. b. could be compared to children’s pictures.
b. with his mother and brothers c. was already academic.
c. with his mother and elder sister. d. was childish.
d. with all his family.
4. Rothko’s distinctive style…
2. Rothko wanted to be an artist… a. was inspired by Rosenberg.
a. from his early childhood b. resulted from moving to Long Island.
b. when he joined the Art Students League. c. resulted from his grief.
c. when he watched students drawing. d. evolved in 1948.
d. when he moved to the Upper West Side.
5. Who named paintings by their colors?
a. Rosenberg
b. Rothko
c. Dealers
d. Steindecker
3. Rothko thought that modern art…

Listening Homework
Part 1
1 Listen to three people talking about getting married. Match two statements from a–h to each speaker.
Speaker 1 c_g__, __f_
Speaker 2 c_h__, c__a_
Speaker 3 c_c__, c_d__
a. wants to go diving for his/her wedding ceremony
b. hates being on top of high buildings
c. is considering the idea of getting married abroad
d. thinks they will have an impromptu ceremony
e. is not sure his/her wedding day will happen in the near future
f. was inspired by an old movie
g. he/she and his/her partner have families in different countries from where either of them live
h. wants something different from everyone else
2 Listen to the people again. Are these statements true (T), false (F), or not stated (NS)?
1. Speaker 1 is probably going to have a conventional church wedding. c_F __
2. Speaker 1 is a firm believer in having a long engagement. c_ns__
3. Speaker 2 isn’t keen on having her wedding at a fast food restaurant. c_T__
4. Speaker 2 isn’t in a relationship at the moment. c_ns__
5. Speaker 3 believes there is no point in planning a wedding. c__ns_
6. Speaker 3 would only invite family members. c_F__

Part 2

2
3 Listen to two more people talking about their weddings. Do the following statements apply to Speaker 4,
Speaker 5, both of them, or neither of them?
1. He got married abroad.
Speaker 4 / Speaker 5 / Both / Neither
2. His wedding lasted for days.
Speaker 4 / Speaker 5 / Both / Neither
3. He was moved by an ancient custom.
Speaker 4 / Speaker 5 / Both / Neither
4. His anniversary is today.
Speaker 4 / Speaker 5 / Both / Neither
5. He bought his wife some jewellery.
Speaker 4 / Speaker 5 / Both / Neither
6. He got married in the evening.
Speaker 4 / Speaker 5 / Both / Neither
7. He felt obliged to get married.
Speaker 4 / Speaker 5 / Both / Neither

WRITING – WEEK 1

In recent years, people get a real feel for camping. Instead of spending a few days in a five star hotel, they prefer
having a simple and long holiday. Moreover, they mostly go off the beaten track and enjoy discovering new
sights. How did holiday habits change in time? What’s your opinion about it?

Please write min 200 words and use,

● At least 1 Present Simple, 1 Present Cont, 1 Past Simple, 1 Past Cont, 1 Past Perfect Simple Sentence

● Underline or make bold these specified sentence

I would like to tell you about the changing holiday habits over time. Previously, society thought it was better to have
a holiday in hotels. However, in recent years, instead of five-star hotels, the tendency towards bungalow houses or
tents in natural environments has increased. I think the reason for this is that people are longing for the past. In the
old times, people lived intertwined with nature, so they had a less stressful and more happy life. With the industrial
revolution, migration from villages to cities started. People moved away from nature and soil. The number of people
in cities increased. However, the amount of land in the cities decreased. In fact, this was the distancing of people
from themselves. Since going to hotels was seen as wealth, he was spending his holidays in those places. Now that
they realize that this harms themselves, they go to nature whenever they find the opportunity. As a result, interest
in camping during holidays is increasing