Ø  ЧИТАННЯ            Body Art        Tattooing can be found the world over, though its style and its meaning vary dramatically. Tattooing has long featured in the cultures of the Japanese, Polynesians and Native Americans. The practices of the Maoris of  New Zealand provide a striking example of tattooing. They are well known for the elaborate patterns with which they. Integration with white settlers led to a decline in the custom, but it is now regaining popularity amongst young Maoris. Native American Indians are known to have pierced the lower lip, and today this practice is found in tribes across Africa and South America. A long cane is often pushed through the skin around the mouth or nose as decoration. The Sara tribe of central Africa, for example, traditionally pierce and then stretch their lips with saucer-like disks. Nose piercing is as common in India, South America and Africa, as is ear piercing. In some societies, a piercing through the ear lobe is gradually stretched to create a visible hole. This is more and more common in the West.    In non-Western cultures, tattooing and piercing have recently declined, as these societies try to “catch up” with the West. On the contrary, in the West, their popularity is ever-increasing. Until recently, body art in our culture was mainly found in groups such as sailors and convicts, of those wanting to rebel against society, like the punks of the 1970s. Over the last decade body art has moved into the mainstream and it is increasingly socially acceptable. Just about every part of the body can be pierced or tattooed. In the West, facial piercings are popular (especially through the eyebrow, lip and tongue), as are navel piercings. David Beckham, the famous British footballer recently sparked a craze for tattoos in foreign languages when he had his wife’s name, Victoria, tattooed on his forearm in Hindi. Polynesian-style tattoos of large swirling blocks of colour are currently fashionable with men, while women still tend to favour smaller, less visible tattoos. People use body art for a range of reasons. In the past tattoos have been used as a mark of social status, to ward off demons and ill health. They have also been used as a means of identifying and punishing convicts, slaves and outcasts. However, these days most people use body art simply as decoration.    As tattooing and piercing become increasingly common, however, some people are resorting to more extreme methods of body modification to stand out from the crowd. “Body branding”, for example, is a dramatic (and dangerous) practice which is gaining in popularity. It involves searing the skin with red-hot metal, in some shape or pattern, to leave a permanent scar. Implanting is another extreme way in which people alter their body’s appearance. Somewhat similar to body piercing, it involves the painful insertion of metal objects under the skin. One example of implanting is the insertion of horn-shaped objects under the skin of the forehead, giving a “devil-like appearance.    It seems unlikely that branding and implanting will ever become as popular as tattooing and piercing. But fifty years ago, who would have thought that businessmen would go to work hiding pierced nipples under their suits, or that kids would be asking their parents for tattoos for their sixteen birthdays. Whether branding or implanting will become popular or not, one thing is certain – body art, in one form or another, is here to stay. Task 1. Finish each of the following sentences with the words and word combinations from the text.                       Example for answering: 1. ….. + write only your answer! 1. A striking example of tattooing we usually name  … 2. They traditionally decorated their faces with … 3.It is now regaining popularity … 4 . Around the mouth or nose as decoration you can see … 5. People stretch their lips with saucer-like disks in … Task 2. On your answer sheet circle (+ ) if the statement is true, (-) if it is false. 1. People have been tattooing and piercing their bodies for thousands of years.                                         2. Nose and ear piercings are common in India, America and Africa.                                                3. Tattooing and piercing have declined in the West and are growing dramatically in non-Western cultures.                                                                                                                                                          4 Sailors and convicts changed their appearance by piercing and tattooing in order not to be recognized. 5. Facial piercing is as popular in the West as in South America and Africa.                                               Task 3. Circle the right answer A, B, C, or D 16. A famous footballer strokes the audience by tattooing his wife’s name in …                                                      A. Hindi.     B.  Hungarian.    C. Spanish.      D.  Japanese. 17. motivations for body art are…                                                                                                                              A. different for a range of reasons.   B. the same for all people. C. rarely important  D. never changed. 18. The extreme methods of tattooing and piercing involve…                                                                                   A. moving.           B. sewing.           C. branding.             D. infecting.  19. People always changed their body’s appearance by…                                                                                        A. wrestling.       B.  keeping fit.     C. becoming popular.    D. implanting. 20. Body art has been popular with the present-day people for…                                                                          A. five years.        B.  fifteen years.          C.  fifty years.     D.  fifty-five years.           Task 4. Write about your attention to tattooing.