Programme For International Student Assessment Pisa / Sample Reading Passage 3: Graffiti


I'm simmering with anger as the school wall is  cleaned and repainted for the fourth time to get  rid of graffiti. Creativity is admirable but people  should find ways to express themselves that do  not inflict extra costs upon society. 

Why do you spoil the reputation of young  people by painting graffiti where it's forbidden? 

Professional artists do not hang their paintings in  the streets, do they? Instead they seek funding  and gain fame through legal exhibitions. 

In my opinion buildings, fences and park  benches are works of art in themselves. It's  really pathetic to spoil this architecture with  graffiti and what's more, the method destroys  the ozone layer. Really, I can't understand why  these criminal artists bother as their “artistic  works” are just removed from sight over and  over again. 

Helga 

There is no accounting for taste. Society is full  of communication and advertising. Company  logos, shop names. Large intrusive posters on  the streets. Are they acceptable? Yes, mostly. Is  graffiti acceptable? Some people say yes, some  no. 

Who pays the price for graffiti? Who is  ultimately paying the price for advertisements? 
Correct. The consumer. 

Have the people who put up billboards asked  your permission? No. Should graffiti painters  do so then? Isn't it all just a question of  communication – your own name, the names  of gangs and large works of art in the street? 

Think about the striped and chequered clothes  that appeared in the stores a few years ago. And  ski wear. The patterns and colours were stolen  directly from the flowery concrete walls. It's  quite amusing that these patterns and colours  are accepted and admired but that graffiti in  the same style is considered dreadful. 

Times are hard for art.

Sophia 

Source: Mari Hankala. 
The two letters above come from the Internet and are about graffiti. Graffiti is illegal painting and writing  on walls and elsewhere. Refer to the letters to answer the questions below. 

 

Non MCQ Questions

1. Why does Sophia refer to advertising? 

2. Which of the two letter writers do you agree with? Explain your answer by using your own words to  refer to what is said in one or both of the letters. 

3. We can talk about what a letter says (its content). 

We can talk about the way a letter is written (its style). 
Regardless of which letter you agree with, in your opinion, which do you think is the better letter? 

Explain your answer by referring to the way one or both letters are written. 

 



The purpose of each of these letters is to

Explain what graffiti is.
Tell people how much is spent removing graffiti.
Demonstrate the popularity of graffiti.
Present an opinion about graffiti.