Make Your Way 7, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD und CD-ROM

Language booster: Negative inversion 13 Look at these three sentences from the text in • 12 . Concentrate on the underlined parts and answer the questions below them. A The horrid truth seems to be that our response to art rests on a foundation much less secure than we like to think. When we visit an art gallery, we look first for the label to find out who painted the picture, and only then do we look at the picture. B I really don’t know. But supposing van Meegeren had died before his trial: his Vermeer would presumably be accepted to this day and would be worth a fortune. If people could be profoundly affected by the majesty and power of the picture, why should their feelings have changed just because it was painted by van Meegeren and not Vermeer? C Although Vermeer is considered one of the greatest artists of his time, his paintings have never quite reached the heady heights paid for some of the more collectable masters of the last century. Even so, when van Meegeren exposed his unique talent, it was clear he could make a fortune in this pursuit. D And this was precisely what he did. However, no sooner had he finished than the Dutch authorities arrested him for forgery and he was sentenced to a year in prison, where he died. E Now what happens when we are looking at a Rembrandt with the right feelings, and we are told that it is a fake? The answer is that we switch off the good feelings, and instead experience anger and indignation, because we have been fooled by a forgery. The picture has not changed. So what has? F Well, maybe we still have a secret admiration for someone skilled enough to outwit both the Nazis and the art experts. Indeed, shortly before his death in 1947, in an opinion poll of the Dutch people, van Meergeren was voted second only to the Prime minister in popularity. G Van Meegeren, however, pleaded not guilty, and his defence was to cause quite a sensation. He claimed that not only should the charges against him be dropped but also that he should be praised for making the enemy look like fools for he had, in fact, painted the “Christ at Emmaus” himself! He claimed that not only should the charges against him be dropped but also that he should be praised for making the enemy look like fools. No sooner had he finished than the Dutch authorities arrested him for forgery. When we visit an art gallery, we first look at the label to find out who painted the picture and only then do we look at the picture. Do they follow the word order of a question? • Are these sentences questions? • One way of adding emphasis to your written English is to use a negative inversion . This is when the usual word order for a sentence (subject-verb-object) is broken by adding certain negative adverbial words or phrases at the beginning of the sentence. The word order then follows that of a question . 81 4 Extensive unit 4: Art attack! Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv