People love to make their mark, and graffiti such as initials or drawings written or spray-painted onto subways, walls or footpaths is a universal phenomenon. It has existed since ancient times, and one of the oldest pieces of still-existing graffiti is an advertisement for a brothel in the ancient town of Ephesus, in Greece. There are many types of graffiti, and also a variety of views about it. Some see it as an art form, some use it as a form of protest against authority, others regard it as needless and destructive vandalism, and it is often seen as the precursor of gang-related crime in a neighbourhood. The heyday of graffiti was in New York City in the 1970s. At that time, there was little money for the policing of graffiti, and artists targeted the subways and subway cars in particular. Graffiti became so popular at this time that artists wanted to identify their own particular work. They began to create distinctive stylised signatures and thus the art of tagging was born. Sales of spray paint increased significantly at this time, as more and more street artists began to explore this new medium of expression, and graffiti became bigger and more elaborate. Artists were competing to cover the whole city of New York with their work, and finally the Metro Transit Authority began to battle with graffiti artists, locking gates and removing pictures from subway trains. At the same time, graffiti began making its way into art galleries, as the established art world began to recognize it as a legitimate modern art form. By the 80s, graffiti culture in New York was beginning to decline. It was becoming associated with the local drug scene, and legal penalties for vandalism became more severe at this time. In particular, the MTA hugely increased its anti-graffiti budget, and it became much harder for artists to create elaborate pieces on subway cars, so graffiti was restricted to the streets, where it has stayed until today. By mid-1986, the "war on graffiti" was being Won, and there were fewer graffiti artists in New York. In the 90s, under Mayor Rudolph Guiliani, the anti-tagging task force set out to eradicate graffiti vandals by banning sales of spray paint to under 18s and by hugely increasing fines for the offence. Of course, graffiti is not only a North American phenomenon, and there are thriving cultures throughout the world, especially in Brazil where graffiti is endemic. Some people say that the huge clap between rich and poor in the country has fuelled the growth of graffiti as a form of anonymous political protest against economic injustice. It is also becoming more common in various countries in the Middle East, probably also as a protest by people who feel marginalized or repressed by existing political regimes. In general, cities around the world have problems with graffiti artists, who are often seen by the establishment as mindless, drug-fuelled vandals. This is particularly the case with tagging, as one common use of tags is as turf markers for gangs, who use them to mark out territory in a neighbourhood. Tagging is seen as the first sign of gang activity in an area and, consequently, many cities seek to stamp it out to prevent the growth of crime and lawlessness. Common methods for fighting graffiti include banning sales of spray paint, the creation of online tagging databases, fines, and even imprisonment, but the taggers continue, seeing an arrest as a badge of honour rather than as a deterrent. At the same time, graffiti has become a recognized art form with commercial uses by companies such as Sony and even ultraconservative IBM, which was recently fined to pay for the cleanup of a graffiti-based advertising campaign. So is graffiti a form of mindless, criminal vandalism, or is it a vibrant and exciting modern art form? As with so many phenomena of modern life, this is all in the eye of the observer. Now briefly answer the following questions;

问答题 What is, according to the passage, the oldest piece of existing graffiti?

问答题 What did the anti-tagging task force do in order to put an end to graffiti in the 1990s?

问答题 What measures were taken by New York Metro Transit Authority when fighting against graffiti artists?

问答题 What's the feature of graffiti culture in Brazil?

问答题 What's the main reason that graffiti culture was limited to the streets in the 1980s?

问答题 What's the time of prosperity for graffiti?

问答题 What happened to the graffiti culture in New York in the 1980s?

问答题 What's the possible usage of graffiti culture in the countries in the Middle East?

问答题 According to the passage, what's the ordinary use of tags?

问答题 How did Sony and IBM treat graffiti in business? What's the consequence?