The art of sleeping – listening comprehension exercise

Listen to the article and then choose the right anser to the questions.

1) How many hours does the actress sleep a day for the exhibit?
a) eleven 
b) ten
c) seven

2) The Oscar winning actress
a) thinks this is a very demanding role.
b) plans to do this until she is very old.
c) sleeps in a glass case with a mirror.

3) The time of the art act
a) is the same every day.
b) is planned in advance by the museum staff.
c) is not fixed in advance.

4) Tilda Swinton’s sleeping box
a) is moved around in the musuem.
b) is totally closed while the actress is sleeping in it.
c) is totally empty except the actress.

5) The exhibition called ‘The Maybe’
a) is the first of its kind in the world
b) shows Tilda Swinton sleeping in the same position every day.
c) is labelled like the other piece of artwork.

Answers: 1) c, 2) b, 3) c, 4) a, 5) c

Now try to fill in the gaps with the words from the list (there will be more words than you need):

a) asleep
b) act
c) arrive
d) still
e) advance
f) replay
g) sleep
h) intervals
i) different
j) silent
k) fact
l) appear
m) forward
n)  spend
o) repeat
p) sheet
q) times
r) piece
s) various
t) awake

Tilda Swinton’s audience is only the thickness of a 1) ………. of glass away.The Scottish actress will 2) ………. up to seven hours a day 3) ………. in a glass case, in a 4) ‘………. life’ at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The title is said to refer to the 5) ………. that not even staff know in 6) ……….  just when Swinton, 52, will 7) ………. in the glass cage. Museum sources said she will 8) ………. the act half a dozen times this year, at random 9) ……….  and in 10) ………. rooms.

Answers: 1) p, 2) n, 3) a, 4) d, 5) k, 6) e, 7) l, 8) o, 9) h, 10) i

Now decide if the statements are TRUE or FALSE

1) This is not the first time the actress is sleeping in public.                                           T/F
2) Tilda Swinton’s cage is made of glass, platinum, steel and linen.                               T/F
3) The actress shows a lot of skin while sleeping.                                                          T/F
4) You can read the materials used for the ‘sleep-artwork’ on the glass case.              T/F
5) The display is called ‘The Maybe’ because it is always at an unknown time.             T/F

Answers: 1) T, 2) F, 3) F, 4) F, 5) T

The art of sleeping: Oscar winner Tilda Swinton sleeps in a glass box at New York museum for seven hours a day for an exhibit

It is not her most demanding role, but there’s no room for error – Tilda Swinton’s audience is only the thickness of a sheet of glass away.The Scottish actress will spend up to seven hours a day asleep in a glass case, in a ‘still life’ at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. A sign describes the Oscar winner, known as the White Witch of the Narnia films, as a ‘living artist’ and the display as ‘The Maybe’. The title is said to refer to the fact that not even staff know in advance just when Swinton, 52, will appear in the glass cage. Museum sources said she will repeat the act half a dozen times this year, at random intervals and in different rooms.The actress has said the ‘piece is really about the audience. It acts like a mirror’. She added she wants to keep doing it until she is 100. ‘Museum staff doesn’t know she’s coming until the day of, but she’s here today. She’ll be there the whole day,’ a MoMA employee told Gothamist. Her raised glass box will also move around the museum, rarely if ever appearing in the same location according to the source. On her first day the iconic platinum blonde actress was seen lying fully clothed while wearing jeans, sneakers and a buttoned up shirt. Various photographs of her display showed her in just a few changing positions, leaving open questions on her full state of consciousness. A white card adorning a wall near her aquarium labels her like any other piece of artwork in the building, showing the work’s title, artist, dates, and materials used. In her case it reads: ‘Living artist, glass, steel, mattress, pillow, linen, water, and spectacles.’ This isn’t the first time the world has been offered a very public eye to her sleeping, however. Swinton’s art installation, The Maybe, first débuted in 1995 at London’s Serpentine Gallery. 
source: dailymail.co.uk

demanding – megerőltető
no room for error – nincs helye a tévedésnek
audience – (néző)közönség
thickness – vastagság
sheet – lap, lemez, ív
case – láda, doboz, tartály, tok
sign – jel
to describe – körbe/leírni
display – kiállítás
to refer to – utalni valamire
fact – tény
in advance – előre
to appear – felbukkanni, feltűnni
cage – ketrec
source – forrás
to repeat – (meg)ismételni
at random intervals – véletlenszerű/random időközönként
to act – szerepelni
to add – hozzátenni/adni
to keep doing something – továbbra is csinálni valamit
to raise – emelni
according to – valami/valaki szerint
iconic – híres, legendás, ikonikus
sneaker – tornacipő
to button up – fel/begombolni
various – különféle, változatos 
changing – változó, váltakozó
state of consciousness – tudatállapot
to adorn – díszíteni, ékesíteni 
to label – címkézni, kategorizálni
in someone’s case – valaki esetében
steel – acél
pillow – párna
linen – ágynemű
spectacles – szemüveg
to offer – ajánlani, nyújtani
however – azonban