Copying the Picture

When Polly left school, she had no idea what she wanted to do. A friend of hers, who was a year older, and whose name was Josephine, was at art college, and she persuaded Polly to join her there.

Polly's father worked in a factory, and her mother worked in a shop. They were saving their money to buy their own house, and they had hoped that Polly would start earning too as soon as she left school, so when she told them that she wanted to go to art college, she expected them to have objections. But in fact they had none.

"You'll have to find some kind of a job to pay for your college," Polly's mother warned her. "Your father and I will be very happy to keep you at home, but we have no money for your college courses, and none for paints and all the other things you'll need."

"Thank you very much," Polly answered. "I'm really very grateful to you both. And there's no problem about getting a job; the head of the art college has offered me one in their library."

After a few months, Polly's parents really felt very proud that their daughter was going to college, especially when she brought home some of the things she had painted, for which she had received high praise from her teachers.

Polly sometimes went to museums to see paintings by famous artists, and one day she said to her parents, "why don't you come to a museum with me one day? Then I can tell you all about the paintings, and you can see the kinds of thing I'm trying to do myself."

Polly's mother was free on Thursday afternoon and on Saturdays, but her father sometimes had to work on those days. They waited until one Saturday when he didn't have to work, and then they all went off to the museum that Polly had chosen.

She showed her parents some famous paintings, and then they came to one that they recognized.

"This," Polly said, pointing to it, "is Van Gogh's sunflowers."

"What cheek!" her father answered. "He's copied the picture we've had in our hall for the last 10 years!"

Short Answer Questions

1. What made Polly go to art college?
2. Why didn't her parents have much money to give her?
3. How did Polly pay for her college course?
4. Was Polly a good student?
5. Where did Polly see paintings by famous artists?

(Keys.)