7.5 Arts, Culture, Sport & Leisure
Key Takeaways
- Cultural vocabulary supplies the topic field for Part C literary and journalistic passages and for Section II interviews.
- La obra covers a play, a literary work, and a construction site, so context alone disambiguates it.
- Verbs of performance are specific: estrenar (to premiere), interpretar (to perform a role), and dirigir (to direct or conduct).
- Sport uses jugar a for games, practicar for disciplines, and hacer for general activity: hace deporte, practica natación.
- Festival and tradition vocabulary such as la feria, el desfile, and la romería appears in advertisements and notices.
7.5 Arts, Culture, Sport & Leisure
When a Part C passage is not journalism or science, it is almost always culture: a review, an interview with an artist, a literary excerpt, a festival notice. The vocabulary is finite and highly repetitive across forms.
1. Literature and Writing
| Term | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| la obra | work; play; construction site | Context-dependent; very frequent |
| el/la escritor/a | writer | |
| el/la autor/a | author | |
| la novela | novel | |
| el cuento | short story | Also tale |
| el relato | account, short narrative | |
| el ensayo | essay; rehearsal | Double meaning |
| la poesía / el poema | poetry / a poem | |
| el personaje | character | Not el carácter, which means temperament |
| el argumento | plot | Also argument in the reasoning sense |
| el/la protagonista | main character | Invariable in gender: el protagonista, la protagonista |
| el desenlace | ending, resolution | |
| la trama | plot, storyline | |
| el/la narrador/a | narrator | |
| la editorial | publishing house | Feminine; el editorial is an opinion piece |
| publicar / editar | to publish | |
| la reseña | review |
Two traps worth isolating: el personaje versus el carácter, and la editorial (publisher) versus el editorial (editorial column). Both are exploited in Part A vocabulary items.
2. Performing Arts, Film and Music
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| la película / el filme | film |
| el largometraje / el cortometraje | feature / short film |
| la pantalla | screen |
| el guion | script |
| el/la director/a | director; conductor |
| el reparto / el elenco | cast |
| el papel | role (hacer el papel de) |
| estrenar / el estreno | to premiere / premiere |
| rodar / el rodaje | to shoot / filming |
| la escena / el escenario | scene / stage |
| el telón | curtain |
| el ensayo | rehearsal |
| la función | performance, showing |
| la entrada / el boleto | ticket |
| el/la cantante | singer |
| la letra | lyrics |
| el conjunto / la banda | band |
| el/la compositor/a | composer |
| el concierto | concert |
| tocar | to play (an instrument) |
| interpretar | to perform (a role or piece) |
Verb precision matters here. Estrenar means to show something for the first time; interpretar means to perform a role or a piece; dirigir covers both directing a film and conducting an orchestra. An item offering tocar and interpretar for a theatrical role is testing this distinction.
3. Visual Arts, Museums and Architecture
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| el cuadro / la pintura | painting |
| el lienzo | canvas |
| el/la pintor/a | painter |
| la escultura | sculpture |
| el dibujo | drawing |
| la exposición / la muestra | exhibition |
| la galería | gallery |
| el patrimonio | heritage |
| el/la artesano/a / la artesanía | artisan / handicraft |
| el edificio | building |
| la fachada | facade |
| la torre | tower |
| el/la arquitecto/a | architect |
| restaurar / la restauración | to restore / restoration |
| la muralla | city wall |
| el yacimiento | archaeological site |
4. Sport and Physical Activity
Three verbs, three constructions:
| Verb | Used with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| jugar a | games and team sports | Juega al baloncesto. |
| practicar | disciplines and activities | Practica natación / yoga / esgrima. |
| hacer | general activity | Hace deporte / ejercicio / gimnasia. |
| Term | Meaning | Term | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| el equipo | team | el partido | match |
| el/la jugador/a | player | el/la entrenador/a | coach |
| el/la árbitro/a | referee | el campeonato | championship |
| la liga | league | el torneo | tournament |
| ganar / perder / empatar | to win / lose / draw | el marcador | scoreboard |
| la cancha / el campo | court / field | el/la aficionado/a | fan |
| la carrera | race; career | entrenar | to train |
| la natación | swimming | el ciclismo | cycling |
| el atletismo | track and field | el senderismo | hiking |
Empatar (to draw, to tie) has no single-word English equivalent in common use and is very frequent in Section II sports summaries.
5. Festivals, Traditions and Free Time
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| la fiesta / las fiestas | celebration, holiday period |
| la feria | fair |
| el desfile | parade |
| la romería | pilgrimage-festival |
| los fuegos artificiales | fireworks |
| la carroza | float (in a parade) |
| el disfraz / disfrazarse | costume / to dress up |
| la costumbre | custom |
| el/la anfitrión/anfitriona | host |
| el ocio / el tiempo libre | leisure |
| el pasatiempo / la afición | hobby |
| coleccionar | to collect |
| el ajedrez | chess |
| reunirse | to get together |
| divertirse (e->ie) | to have a good time |
| aburrirse | to get bored |
Register note: Aficionado means both fan (of a team) and amateur (as opposed to professional). Both senses appear.
6. Reading a Cultural Passage
A typical Part C cultural passage combines three vocabulary layers: the art form, the evaluation, and the historical framing.
"La exposición reúne más de cuarenta lienzos del pintor, muchos de ellos
restaurados recientemente. El comisario subraya que la muestra no pretende
ser una retrospectiva exhaustiva, sino un recorrido por su etapa más
innovadora. La crítica ha destacado sobre todo el tratamiento de la luz."
Layer 1 (form): exposición, lienzos, pintor, muestra. Layer 2 (evaluation): la crítica ha destacado. Layer 3 (framing): retrospectiva, etapa. The likely question — what the exhibition aims to do — is answered by sino un recorrido por su etapa más innovadora, which is why the no ... sino structure from Chapter 4 matters here.
7. Worked Items
Item 1. La novela tiene tres ________ principales cuyas historias se entrelazan. (A) caracteres (B) personajes (C) argumentos (D) escenarios
Reasoning: Figures in a work of fiction are personajes; carácter means temperament. (B).
Item 2. Mi hermana ________ natación tres veces por semana en el polideportivo. (A) juega a (B) practica (C) toca (D) interpreta
Reasoning: Non-game disciplines take practicar. (B).
Item 3. La compañía ________ la obra el próximo viernes en el Teatro Nacional. (A) estrenará (B) rodará (C) ensayará (D) publicará
Reasoning: A first public performance is an estreno; rodar is for film shooting and ensayar for rehearsal. (A).
En una reseña se lee: "El director consiguió que cada personaje resultara verosímil." ¿Qué significa 'personaje' en este contexto?
Which sentence uses the correct verb for the activity described?
Complete the sentence: "El partido terminó uno a uno, de modo que los dos equipos ________."