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BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 526
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 526 – PASSAGE – 1

IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 526
READING PASSAGE – 1
A Japanese Art Form
Here’s the plot of a ‘manga’ book I have just purchased. It starts with an earthquake, in the midst of which four young girls are infused with the DNA of specific animals. This allows them to transform at will into powerful, yet ever-appealing, animal girls, known as ‘Mew Mews’. These scantily-clad pre-teen heroines, with their huge eyes, little mouths, short skirts, bows, frills, and occasionally emerging animal appendages, have a mission to defeat monster aliens which regularly appear on earth. Yes, it’s the ultimate in fantasy magic-girl escapism, but those pictures, as silly and childish as they are, are difficult to resist.
‘Manga’ is a Japanese word, translating as ‘whimsical drawing’. This actually refers to comic books in general, but the term is now used by other countries specifically for this most distinctive of Japanese art forms. ‘Anime’ is the Japanese word for ‘animation’ (adapted from the English language), and now refers to the animated versions of manga storylines. But the comic books are the true centre of creative output, now a multi-billion dollar industry. In recent years, this has expanded internationally, with distribution companies in America licensed to reprint manga in English, giving it a significant, and growing, global readership.
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Those who study the history of manga have proposed two main influences. One places emphasis on American culture, particularly after World War Two. The American soldiers who occupied Japan brought with them their own comic books, often distributed to the local children throughout the long occupational period. With this also came other aspects of American culture, such as the Disney Empire and its range of cartoon characters. This could logically have had a strong effect on a war-torn nation seeking hope for the future.
Yet Japan’s own artistic traditions have certainly played a role. Manga is seen by some as a mere extension of this, shown, for example, in the animal characters in early Japanese Buddhist scrolls. Ancient legends and traditional childhood stories tell also of incarnated animals and their exciting and often unearthly adventures and quests. No one doubts the influence of these on manga, but historians argue, sometimes heatedly, over whether this or American culture played the greater role.
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Manga originally had action-adventure stories, often involving robots, space-travel, and re-occurring themes of bravery and honor, all to appeal to young male readers. Female artists entered the field in the 1970s with ‘sho-jo’ manga, presenting storylines targeting the readership of girls and young women. Here, the plots involved romance and self-discovery, with super-heroines or groups of armed female warriors, or teams of normal women co-operating together to overcome unearthly obstacles- which is presumably where our ‘mew mew’ girls fit in.
Yet it would be a mistake to view manga as a single style. It varies from artist to artist, studio to studio, and is constantly evolving. There does, however, exist some common traits that serve to define the genre to the world. Immediately noticeable is the exaggeration of physical features-limbs and hands, but particularly the eyes-large, sparkling, and full of expression. Yet completely contrasting this is the ‘gekiga’ style of the more serious Japanese cartoonists, who rebelled at the cuteness and frivolity of traditional manga.
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Grim and realistic, emotionally dark and often violent, the storylines and style target older audiences. If there is anything in common with traditional manga, it is in the determined central characters, an aspect also said to be representative of the Japanese nation.
All that being said, most of the manga protagonists, human or animal, possess a significant degree of cuteness, often totally overpowering. Cuteness, apparently, remains an unashamedly valued aesthetic quality in Japanese society, without any feelings of the infantisation, triviality, or silliness, with which it may be regarded elsewhere. Examples of this can be seen everywhere, from the ubiquitous ‘Hello Kitty’ logos, to the ‘bunny’ guard-rails at Narita airport, to the doll-like creatures used to represent many organisations, even serious government ones such as the Tokyo Police Department (who utilise an orange-skinned rabbit-eared elf with an antenna on its head).
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Cuteness is seen by some as a long ingrained aspect of Japanese culture, defining the country and its identity. It simply strives to avoid direct conflict, and promote harmony, qualities for which Japan has long been famous. But in manga this is sometimes criticised as lacking in exoticism, showing absolutely no uniquely Japanese traditions or looks. In other words, although the stylisation of manga is clearly linked to the Japanese nation, the characters themselves do not look Japanese at all. They are bland and international, but this is certainly one reason why these comics are so easily marketed around the world.
Whatever the merits, one can see it all in our ‘mew mew’ girls. They work in tandem (unlike the lone superheroes of the western genre). The long and very popular serialised storyline eventually finishes with a dead boyfriend being revived by the cat-girl’s powers. In doing this, the cat-girl dies, but the boyfriend returns the favour, and they both, in human form once again, unite in a happy, and irresistibly ‘cute’, ending. What’s not to like about that?
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Questions 1 – 4
Write True, False, or Not Given, according to the information given in the reading passage.
1. The ‘Mew Mews’ are teenagers.
2. The author likes the ‘Mew Mew’ manga.
3. Manga earns more money than anime.
4. Historians disagree about which factors influenced manga.
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Questions 5 – 8
Answer the questions using no more than THREE words.
5. What did US soldiers give to Japanese children?
6. Who were the first manga designed for?
7. What themes does ‘sho-jo’ manga use?
8. What feature does ‘gekiga’ share with traditional manga?
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Questions 9 – 11
Which THREE factors (A-F) typify Japanese society?
Write down three letters.
A. Serious government
B. Cute dolls
C. Determination
D. Aesthetic qualities
E. Harmonious relationships
F. Company mascots
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Questions 12 and 13
Complete the sentences with no more than THREE words.
12. Global sales of manga have increased because the characters look ………………..
13. A dead ………………..being revived by the cat-girl’s powers.
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ANSWERS
1. FALSE
2. TRUE
3. NOT GIVEN
4. FALSE
5. (THEIR) COMIC BOOKS
6. YOUNG MALE READERS
7. ROMANCE AND SELF-DISCOVERY
8. DETERMINED CENTRAL CHARACTERS
9. C/E/F
10. C/E/F
11. C/E/F
12. BLAND AND INTERNATIONAL
13. BOYFRIEND
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