 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
140
mass and weight as well as movement. The sea in itself absorbed him, but especially the sea as it affected ships.
To a sailor, and Turner was at heart a sailor, a ship is a living creature, courageous and loyal, resourceful, yet
pathetically in need of help. Her curves, like those of a human figure, are beautiful because they are of use. In
drawing ships Turner shows a knowledge that springs from love; his actual manual dexterity, which is always
remarkable, being never more astonishing than when he is firmly yet delicately delineating masts and rigging.
If Turner sympathised with ships, he sympathised equally with the men within them and loved to depict
fishermen pulling at oars or sailors grappling with ropes. He only cared in fact to portray the mood of the sea as
it affected the experiences of man.
After his continental tour in 1802, his eyes seemed to have been opened to the beauty of a type of English
scenery that he had hitherto neglected. Up till now he had painted mainly ruins, stormy seas, and frowning
mountains, now he began to choose subjects from agricultural or pastoral country and often from scenes with
trees and water. If the spirit of his earlier works was akin to Byron's, this new mood might be
called
Wordsworthian, though Turner had probably not read Wordsworth's poetry, but ratherwas inspired, like the
poet, by the spirit belonging to the age. His greatest masterpieces of the period are Windsor and Sun Rising
through Vapour.
After over forty years of severe discipline as a draughtsman, his hold upon structure has began to relax; and
he is now absorbed exclusively in rendering colour, light and atmosphere.
The vast total quantity of Turner's work is one of the marks of his genius.
(From English Painting from the 17th Century to the Present Day by Ch.Johnson)
Admission procedures
Students are admitted to British universities largely on the basis of their performance in the examinations for
the General Certificate of Education at ordinary and advanced level. The selection procedure is rather
complicated. It has been designed to combine as much freedom as possible tor the universities to choose the
students they want with as much freedom as possible for students to choose the university they want. This was
done by setting up in 1954 the Universities Central Council on Admissions (UCCA).
A student who wants to go to university usually applies tor admission before he takes his Advanced level
examinations. First of all he must write to the Universities Central Council on Admissions and they send him a
form which he has to complete. On this form he has to write down the names of six universities in order of
preference. He may put down only two orthree names, stating that if not accepted by these universities he
would be willing to go to any other. This form, together with an account of his out-of-school activities and
references, one of which must be from the headteacher of his school, is then sent back to the UCCA.
The UCCA sends photocopies of the form and enclosures to the universities concerned. Each applicant is
first considered by the university admission board. In some cases the board sends the applicant a refusal. This
may happen, for example, if the board receives a form in which their university already has many candidates. If
there are no reasons for immediate refusal, the university admission officer passes the candidate's papers on to
the academic department
concerned. One or two members of this departmentwill then look at the candidate's
application: see what he says about himself, look at his marks at the ordinary level examinations, see what his
headteacher and other referee say about him. On the basis of this, the department may make the candidate an
offer (either a definite offer or a conditional one) or send him a definite rejection. A definite offer is usually
made if the candidate has already two passes atAdvanced level.
The minimum requirement for admission is a pass in four subjects at Ordinary level and in two subjects at
Advanced level, but most universities demand three passes at Advanced level.
When the Advanced level examination results come out in August, the university admissions sends him a
definite offer. The candidate must accept or refuse within 72 hours.