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Reading-Exam-guide 10/12/2013 8:47 μμ Page 8

IELTS EXAM GUIDE Reading

Sample Reading Passage 1.2
In order to examine the different task types individually, this text has been broken up into sections. Read the second section now and
then answer the questions which follow.

A brief history of Punk cont.
It is thought that punk became popularised as a youth move-
ment for much the same reasons in both New York and Lon-
don. Many working class youths felt socially excluded in the
era of post-war consensus politics. They had few opportuni-
ties and felt isolated and left behind. Punk was a way to ex-
press their frustration and anger at the rest of the world, and
their dislike of what was becoming of the mainstream. In
New York, the ‘punk’ label was first used to describe bands
that played regularly at the CBGB and Max’s Kansas City
clubs. Regulars included the likes of The Ramones, Blondie
and Talking Heads. In 1976, Punk Magazine first appeared and
punk music was officially born.

Though New York had been its birthplace, and influential in
determining the early sound of punk, the London punk scene
would come to define this subculture. Malcolm McLaren and
Vivien Westwood opened up their punk-clothing store there In the 80s, a watered-down version of punk began to emerge.
in 1975, producing radical new outfits which were bold, The anti-establishment message was replaced with a more
colourful and in-your-face – encapsulating the essence of commercially viable product; pop punk, as it came to be
punk. It wasn’t long before punk had a cult following in Lon- known. Bands like the Ramones and Generation X led the
don. Bands like the Pistols were also coming on to the scene shift towards a more upbeat and fun brand of punk dealing
at the same time - London had an appetite for rebellion and with more light-hearted subjects like relationships. And al-
soon the punk movement really took off. Inspired by the Pis- though hardcore punk made a brief comeback, the real legacy
tols, new bands were sprouting up all over the city; the Clash, of the eighties punk scene was to inspire a new movement
the Banshees, the Buzzcocks and the Damned, to name but a termed alternative rock.
few. In the winter of ’76, some of the biggest names in punk,
including the Clash and the Pistols, united for the so-called By the beginning of the 90s, bands like Nirvana had become
Anarchy Tour. A publicity coup or nightmare, depending on the superstars and were enjoying the kind of commercial success
way you viewed it, the tour was dogged by scandal and allega- the founders of punk could only have dreamed about. Al-
tions of lurid behaviour. Punk very quickly earned a reputation though they labelled themselves punk rockers, Nirvana were,
as a crass, underground movement of violent and ignorant in truth, producing a hybrid form of music, inspired by but no
slackers; the so-called slackers and their followers embraced longer truly resembling original punk. Indeed, the very fact
this notion and could care less what the public at large, who that this new form of music went mainstream essentially dis-
were by now their sworn enemies, thought of them. Many qualifies it from being considered true punk. Nirvana’s punk-
were writing punk’s obituary after the tour, but, against the rock/alternative rock/grunge style developed in tandem with
odds, the movement continued to grow and soon working- the pop punk subgenre. New bands like Blink 182 and Green-
class youths in other areas of Britain, America and beyond day took on the mantle and carried pop punk forward into
started to ride the wave. Punk was going viral. the noughties. Bands like Greenday have since enjoyed enor-
mous commercial and critical success on the global stage.
In the late 70s, punk diversified and became more sophisti- That said, rumblings of discontent continue, and many a self-
cated. The minimalist approach was slowly replaced as bands styled punk would argue that, by effectively selling out to
like the Clash started to incorporate other musical influences major labels and embracing the mainstream, bands like
like reggae, rockabilly and jazz into their work. Everyone re- Greenday have stripped themselves of all their punk creden-
mained on message, however, and punk was still a subversive, tials. Whether you agree or not though, pop punk is here to
counter-cultural, rebellious and outspoken movement. Punk stay and has continued to go from strength to strength in the new
artists released lyrics that dealt with social problems, the op- millennium.
pression of the lower classes, the threat of nuclear war, the
problems of unemployment and the agony of mental illness.
The message was simple; not all was well and not everyone
was equal, and that needed to change. If good came from the
belligerent approach punk took, it was in how, through its
music, it brought issues like mental illness, which, up until
then, had largely been ignored and stigmatised, into the public
arena for discussion.

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