Academic Reading 5
PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART’S FAMOUS STEPS
More money is spent on art in Philadelphia than in any other American city. In fact, about one percent of the total city budget is spent on art. Philadelphia’s art museum houses an unparalleled collection from the Middle Ages onward. It has exhibits from all over the world and has a superb collection from the Orient. It is a palatial structure set in the middle of beautiful Fairmount Park. The museum is the city’s number one tourist attraction and you would be forgiven for thinking that this has something to do with its collection of 500,000 paintings. However, the museum’s popularity has more to do with another form of art, the film. During the film ‘Rocky’, the hero, played by Sylvester Stallone, runs up the front steps of the building while he was training for a fight. Tourists arrive in bus loads, but many don’t even bother to enter the building. They come merely for a glimpse of the scene from the Academy Award winning film, Rocky.
1- We learn from the passage that the museum is very popular with tourists because ……….. .
A) Sylvester Stallone runs there every day
B) it has a wonderful collection of pieces of art from the Orient
C) it has over 500,000 paintings
D) the steps in front of it were used as a film set
E) so much money has been spent on it
2- According to the facts in the passage. ………… .
A) the steps of the art museum are regularly used by boxers to train for fights
B) Philadelphia’s art museum has the largest collection of oriental art in the world
C) more tourists visit Philadelphia than any other American city
D) the film Rocky was the most expensive film ever made
E) for every dollar spent of the city budget, one cent is spent on art
3- It’s stated in the passage that Philadelphia’s art museum is ………… .
A) too expensive for many of the city’s visitors to afford to enter
B) overshadowed by the beauty of Fairmount Park
C) visited by more tourists than all the other attractions in the city
D) the most elaborate and stately building in the entire city
E) the former residence of the film star Sylvester Stallone
1. D
2. E
3. C