When the Maori people first came to New Zealand, they brought the mulberry plant from which they made bark cloth. However, the mulberry did not flourish in the new climate so they found a substitute in the native flax. They used this for baskets, mats, and fishing nets and to make intricate fibre ceremonial cloaks. Maori identified almost 60 types of flax, and propagated flax nurseries and plantations to supply the integral material. They chopped the leaves near the base of the flax plant using a sharp mussel shell or shaped rocks. The flesh of the leaf was stripped off right down to the fibre which went through several processes of washing, bleaching, softening, dyeing and drying. Flax ropes and cords had such great strength that they were used to bind together sections of hollowed-out logs to create huge ocean-going canoes, and to provide rigging, sails and lengthy anchor warps for them. It was also used for roofs for housing. The ends of the flax leaves were fanned out to make torches to provide light at night.

For which of the following purposes does the passage say the Maori used flax?

a) special clothing
b) cleaning cloth
c) equipment for boats
d) walls for their huts
e) cooking tools

The Neue National Gallery in Berlin was designed by Mies van der Rohe. Built in 1968, it is a jump from the traditional museum concept of a closed building with exhibition rooms. Instead it is an open-plan, flexible space. With only two steel columns on each side, the corners are ‘free’, giving the building a lightweight look.

The gallery was the first building completed as part of a cluster of buildings dedicated to culture and the fine arts. It is often said that the building is a work of art in itself. The unusual natural illumination in the building, coming from around and below the viewer rather than above, has the effect of shocking the viewer out of their usual way of seeing and encouraging visitors to bring a fresh eye to the art.

The upper level is mainly used for special exhibits, for example, large-scale sculptures or paintings. The vast lower level has space for themed shows, and contains shops, a cafe, and the museum’s permanent collection, which ranges from early modern art to art of the 1960s. The podium roof plaza is an open air gallery for public sculpture.

On request, guests may enter the garden to see figurative and abstract sculptures on display there. Special exhibits are attended by specially trained, very personable staff, who field questions, explain the exhibits, and enthuse about their favourite works.

What does the passage say can be found at the Neue National Gallery?

a) overhead lighting to showcase artwork
b) substantial pillars in the corners of the building
c) artwork on top of the building
d) several separate gallery rooms on each floor
e) helpful guides to give information about the art