A.Japan. | B.India. | C.Vietnam. |
1. Where were films first shown?
A.In France. | B.In Britain. | C.In America. |
A.In 1890. | B.In 1895. | C.In 1927. |
A.The first film was called The Jazz Singer. |
B.There were words on the screen in some early films. |
C.Films became really popular in 1910s. |
A.Al Jolson. |
B.Roundhay Gorden Scene. |
C.The Jazz Singer. |
1. How many aspects of the United Kingdom does the man refer to?
A.Two. | B.Three. | C.Four. |
A.Windsor Castle. |
B.The Tower of London. |
C.The National Gallery. |
A.James Bond. | B.Star Wars. | C.Harry Potter. |
A.Badminton. | B.Basketball. | C.Golf. |
Xu Xiake was born in 1587.
China has more famous explorers. There was: Zhang Qian,
“On the surface, Xu’s travels can neither be classified as great affairs of state nor great adventures that changed the course of history,” writes cultural historian Cheng Pei-kai. “Xu travelled to satisfy his own
Scholar Julian Ward agrees, describing the lonely Chinese wanderer like the Middle Kingdom’s version of John Muir: “Deep in love with nature and eager to find freedom
“The few coins
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
A. The Renaissance B. The Middle Ages C. Introduction D. Modern Art E. Impressionism |
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 |
How the Renaissance developed | ·From the Middle Ages, painters began to adopt a more ·An important breakthrough during this period was the use of perspective by Masaccio (1404-1428). ·Another |
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 ·Renoir’s paintings are full of light, |
How the Modern Art developed | ·What they attempted to do was no longer show |
It is hard to give a precise
be fond of emerge influential in particular purchase realistic subjective theme |
Unlike the earlier Realists who painted in a
1. What is the conversation mainly about?
A.A picture. | B.A designer. | C.A building. |
A.Math. | B.Music. | C.History. |
9 . Gettysburg National Military Park was established in 1895, 32 years after the deadly battle. Gettysburg is the most-visited of the Civil War battlefields.
Many visitors start their visit at the Gettysburg Museum of the Civil War. The museum has the world’s largest collection of Civil War objects. The museum has more than 1 million items, from soldiers’ private notebooks and uniforms to original maps of the battlefield. The museum also houses the Gettysburg cyclorama (风景画幕) painting, showing the final attack in the Battle of Gettysburg: Pickett’s Charge. George Pickett was a Confederate general. On July 3, 1863, he led a charge against stronger Union forces. It was a disaster for the Confederate soldiers.
French artist Paul Phillippoteaux and a team of 20 artists created the painting in the 1880s. Phillippoteaux and his team visited the battlefield. It took more than one year for the huge painting to be complete. The cyclorama is 114 metres long and almost 13 metres tall. It has long been one of the most popular parts of the Gettysburg experience. But by the 1990s, the painting was in poor condition. Experts warned that if the cyclorama was not repaired, the painting could be lost.
A restoration project began in 2003. The painting was cleaned and separated into its 14 parts, and later moved into the new centre. There, the original canvas (帆布) was sewn onto new cloth made in China. Park service officials say China was one of the few countries able to produce cloth in the sizes needed. Then each part was hung and sewn together.
A team of cyclorama experts from Poland worked on the project in Gettysburg. The repair work of the Gettysburg Cyclorama marked one of the largest art conservation effort ever in North America.
After the museum, tourists can visit the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, where many of the Union soldiers who died during the Battle of Gettysburg are buried. The cemetery was dedicated on November 19, 1863, the same day President Lincoln gave his “Gettysburg Address”. Historians agree that Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address defined Americans as a people who believed in freedom, democracy and equality.
1. What is displayed in the Gettysburg cyclorama painting?A.Several battlefield sites. |
B.Supplies during the American Civil War. |
C.The speech delivered by President Lincoln. |
D.The intense scene of the final battle of Gettysburg. |
A.The repair material for the project. |
B.The country producing the canvas. |
C.The key steps of the entire repair process. |
D.The comment of the park service officials. |
A.France. | B.China. | C.Poland. | D.The US. |
A.To tell a historical event. |
B.To introduce a travel destination. |
C.To explain American culture. |
D.To remember Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. |
1. What does the speaker want to tell the audience about?
A.Some kinds of money used in the early days. |
B.The things which will serve as money in the future. |
C.The development of money. |
A.Salt. | B.Tea. | C.Nuts. |
A.Difficult to get. |
B.Being used widely in daily life. |
C.Being highly valued by most people. |
A.The Europeans. | B.The Chinese. | C.The American Indians. |