1 . Before the 1830s, most newspapers were sold through annual subscriptions in America, usually $8 to $10 a year. Today $8 or $10 seems a small amount of money, but at that time these amounts were forbidding to most citizens. Accordingly, newspapers were read almost only by rich people in politics or the trades. In addition, most newspapers had little in them that would appeal to a mass audience. They were dull and visually forbidding. But the revolution that was taking place in the 1830s would change all that.

The trend, then, was toward the “penny paper”—a term referring to papers made widely available to the public. It meant any inexpensive newspaper; perhaps more importantly it meant newspapers that could be bought in single copies on the street.

This development did not take place overnight. It had been possible(but not easy) to buy single copies of newspapers before 1830, but this usually meant the reader had to go down to the printer’s office to purchase a copy. Street sales were almost unknown. However, within a few years, street sales of newspapers would be commonplace in eastern cities. At first the price of single copies was seldom a penny—usually two or three cents was charged—and some of the older well-known papers charged five or six cents. But the phrase “penny paper” caught the public’s fancy, and soon there would be papers that did indeed sell for only a penny.

This new trend of newspapers for “the man on the street” did not begin well. Some of the early ventures(企业) were immediate failures. Publishers already in business, people who were owners of successful papers, had little desire to change the tradition. It took a few youthful and daring businessmen to get the ball rolling.

1. Which of the following best describes newspapers in America before the 1830s?

A．Academic.

B．Unattractive.

C．Inexpensive.

D．Confidential.

2. What did street sales mean to newspapers?

A．They would be priced higher.

B．They would disappear from cities.

C．They could have more readers.

D．They could regain public trust.

3. What can we say about the birth of the penny paper?

A．It was a difficult process.

B．It was a temporary success.

C．It was a robbery of the poor.

D．It was a disaster for printers.

2 . There are many interesting stories about Chinese fans in historical records, novels, and legends.    1    He was a famous military strategist during the Three Kingdoms period. And there are also stories about the plantain fan belonging to Princess Iron Fan, a fictional character in the classic novel Journey to the West.

    2     For example, men of letters preferred folding fans, military strategists preferred feather fans, girls of noble (贵族的) families liked circular fans while ordinary people usually used palm leaf fans.

The reason why fans evolved into artwork was largely related to men of letters, who liked to paint or write poetry on fans, and gave them to their friends as gifts.    3    That eventually led to fans becoming artwork.

It has been popular to draw fans or write poems about fans, and paint or write on paper fans. There is a story about Wang Xizhi, known for his Chinese calligraphy. Wang once saw an elderly lady selling fans. The business was not so good. She looked very upset, so Wang decided to help her.    4    On seeing Wang’s calligraphy on those fans, people all competed to buy them, which sold out very quickly.

It has been popular to paint on fans since Tang Dynasty. Artwork on fans is also a unique type of Chinese painting. As space is limited, the painters pay close attention to the composition on the half-circle fan.    5    

For thousands of years, Chinese people never stopped innovating fan design, and adopted different materials such as bamboo, paper, bones. They made fans of many shapes, such as circular and square shapes.

A．They asked for better decoration of fans.

B．Feather fans are famous due to Zhuge Liang.

C．Wang taught the old woman to draw on fans.

D．In ancient times, fans served as the symbol of social classes.

E．Some famous ones are the feather fan held by Zhuge Liang.

F．He wrote a few characters on each fan and told her to raise the price.

G．So the creation of imagery or scenery requires extra skill and accuracy.

9 . 阅读表达

A SHORT HISTORY OF WESTERN PAINTING

What is Western art? It is hard to give a precise definition. As there have been so many different styles of Western art, it is impossible to describe them all in a short text. Perhaps the best way to understand Western art is to look at the development of Western painting over the centuries.

The Middle Ages (from the 5th to the 15th century)

During the Middle Ages, the purpose of Western art was to teach people about Christianity. Thus, artists were not interested in painting realistic scenes. Their works were often primitive and two-dimensional, and the main characters were often made much larger than everyone else to show their importance. This began to change in the 13th century with Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337). While his paintings still had religious themes, they showed real people in a real environment. In particular, his paintings are set apart from other paintings by their realistic human faces and deep emotional impact.

The Renaissance (from the 14th to the 17th century)

New ideas and values gradually replaced old ones from the Middle Ages. As a result, painters concentrated less on religious themes. They began to adopt a more humanistic attitude to life. An important breakthrough during this period was the use of perspective by Masaccio (1401-1428). Influential painters such as Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519), Michelangelo(1475-1564), and Raphael (1483-1520) built upon Giotto and Masaccio's innovations to produce some of the greatest art that Europe had ever seen.

Another innovation was the use of oil paints. With their deep colours and realism, some of the best oil paintings look like photographs. While painters as early as Da Vinci had used oil, this technique reached its height with Rembrandt(1606-1669), who gained a reputation as a master of shadow and light.

In subject matter, the emphasis increasingly shifted from religious themes to people and the world around us. Kings, nobles, and people of high rank wanted to purchase accurate pictures of themselves and the people they loved. Others wanted paintings showing important historical events or stories from mythology. Finally, most clients wanted paintings that were beautiful and interesting to look at.

Impressionism (late 19th to early 20th century)

The development of Western art slowed until the invention of photography in the mid-19th century. After that, paintings were no longer needed to preserve what people and the world looked like Hence, painters had to find a new way of looking at their art. From this, Impressionis emerged in France. The name of this new movement came from the painting by Claude Monet (1840-1926) called Impression, Sunrise. In this work, Monet's aim was to convey the light and movement in the scenethe subjective impression the scene gave him-but not a detailed record of the scene itself.

While many Impressionists painted scenes of nature or daily life, others, such as Renoir (1841-1919), focused on people. Unlike the cold, black-and-white photographs of that time period, Renoir’s paintings are full of light, shadow, colour, and life. He sought to show not just the outer image of his subjects, but their inner warmth and humanity as well.

Modern Art (from the 20th century to today)

After Impressionism, subsequent artists began to ask, "What do we do next?" Painters such as Picasso (1881-1973tried to analyse the shapes which existed in the natural world but in a new way, with Cubism. Others gave their paintings a realistic but dream-like quality. Still others turned to abstract art. What they attempted to do was no longer show reality, but instead to ask the question, “What is art?”

1. 快速阅读文章，总结文章主旨大意。

The text mainly tells us _______ major styles of _______________, showing the __________________ of it.

A. The Renaissance B. The Middle Ages C. Introduction D. Modern Art E. Impressionism

Part 1(Para.1)___________
Part 2(Para. 2)____________
Part 3(Paras. 3～5)_____
Part 4(Paras. 6～7) ______
Part 5(Para. 8)_________
2. 精读文章，完成下面表格。

What is Western art?	·Because of so many different styles of Western art, it is hard to give a precise ______.
How the Middle Ages developed	·This began to change in the 13th century with Gitto di Bondone (1267-1337). His paintings showed real people in a ______ environment.
How the Renaissance developed	·From the Middle Ages, painters began to adopt a more ______ attitude to life. ·An important breakthrough during this period was the use of perspective by Masaccio (1404-1428). ·Another   ______ was the use of oil paints.
How the Impressionism developed	·Because of the invention of photograhy in the mid-19th century, Impressionism emerged in ______. ·Monet’s aim was to convey the light and ______ in the scene. ·Renoir’s paintings are full of light, ______, color, and life
How the Modern Art developed	·What they attempted to do was no longer show ______, but instead to ask the question, “What is art?”

10 . 语法填空

It is hard to give a precise     1     (definite) about what Western art is. Maybe the best way     2     (understand) Western art is to look at the development of Western painting over the     3     (century). The goal of Western art was to teach people about Christianity during the Middle Ages. New ideas and values     4     (gradual) replaced old ones from this period. During the Renaissance,     5     important breakthrough was the use of perspective. Another innovation was the use of oil paints. In subject matter, the emphasis     6     (increasing) shifted from religious themes to people and the world around us. The development of Western art     7     (slow) until the invention of photography in the mid-19th century.     8    , painters had to find a new way of looking at the art. From this, Impressionism     9     (emerge) in France. After Impressionism,     10     the artists attempted to do was no longer show reality, but instead to ask, “What is art?”