In my view, all students would ​ (a)   from the creative experience that art can ​ (b)   . ​ (c)   confidence and ​ (d)   skills are ​ (e)   qualities that can help students do better throughout their academic lives.

Artists, ​ (a)   many creative people, have to work hard to survive ​ (b)   the income they receive from selling their products. Some artists become popular and can ​ (c)   a lot of money for their work, while many others never ​ (d)   success. I think there are ​ (e)   reasons why this happens, and there is nothing that governments can or should do about it.

Generally, people are willing to pay for something that they admire and would like to ​ (a)   . In the ​ (b)   of art, this may be because they feel something is unique, or is ​ (c)   beautiful or skilful. Whatever the reason, I would argue that it would be quite unfair for any government to ​ (d)   the artist from asking a high price for it. Surely the public has to decide what something is ​ (e)   , even if it means that less admired artists find it hard to earn a living?

In many ​ (a)   , artists are like business people. Those who can sell a lot of their work develop a ​ (b)   and can raise their prices over time. This may seem unfair to others who remain ​ (c)   , but if they choose to ​ (d)   with a career in art, it seems they must ​ (e)   the situation.

In most cases, ​ (a)   artists have spent years ​ (b)   their skills, studying their subject and exhibiting their work. ​ (c)   , people have to be free to spend their money as they wish. If this means that some artists have to make the ​ (d)   choice of finding another way to earn a living, no one can ​ (e)   that fact. After all, not much in life is fair!

In many secondary education systems around the world, there comes a point where pupils who lack talent in ​ (a)   -academic subjects like Art and Music are encouraged or made to ​ (b)   subjects. It is generally believed that there is no ​ (c)   in making children do something that they have no ​ (d)   for. In my view, this is the correct ​ (e)   .

It is true that there are several reasons why children should continue to learn painting and drawing at school, even if they lack the ​ (a)   skills. For a start, they might develop a talent for art if they are ​ (b)   time and encouragement. In fact, some of the world's greatest artists showed little artistic ​ (c)   at school, but ​ (d)   to produce paintings that now sell for millions of pounds. Secondly, evidence ​ (e)   that creative activities like painting can improve overall academic performance and help children make sense of the world around them, even if they are not good at it. Above all, painting is pleasurable, and learning should be fun as well as educational.

However, I believe that there are more persuasive counter-arguments. For a ​ (a)   , pupils who are taken out of Art classes will be ​ (b)   much better use of their time at school. ​ (c)   subjects like woodwork or IT skills, for example, will be far more useful to them later in life. A second point is that trying, and failing, to do something you are not good at can be extremely demoralising, and this can have a powerful negative impact on a child's sense of self-​ (d)   . Furthermore, by removing untalented pupils from Art classes, they will not be slowing other pupils down. Being held back by other pupils in a class can ​ (e)   resentment and anger among those who are more capable.

​ (a)   the whole, I feel that all pupils benefit from ​ (b)   to paint and draw, regardless of their artistic ​ (c)   . However, where talent is clearly ​ (d)   , it makes sense to move them on to something that they will not only ​ (e)   more practical, but which they may be better at.