高考英语阅读理解专项突破：文学与艺术

文学与艺术

一、阅读理解

1. William Butler Yeats, a most famous Irish writer, was born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. His childhood lacked the harmony (和睦) that was typical of a happy family. Later, Yeats shocked his family by saying that he remembered “little of childhood but its pain”. In fact, he inherited (继承) excellent taste in art from his family—both his father and his brother were painters. But he finally settled on literature, particularly drama (戏剧) and poetry.

Yeats had strong faith in coming of new artistic movements. He set himself the fresh task in founding an Irish national theatre in the late 1890s. His early theatrical experiments, however, were not received favorably at the beginning. He didn’t lose heart, and finally enjoyed success in his poetical drama. Compared with his dramatic works, Yeats’s poems attract much admiring notice. The subject matter includes love, nature, history, time and aging. Though Yeats generally relied on very traditional forms, he brought modern sensibility to them. As his literary life progressed, his poetry grew finer and richer, which led him to worldwide recognition.

He had not enjoyed a major public life since winning the Nobel Price in 1923. Yet, he continued writing almost to the end of his life. Had Yeats stopped writing at age 40, he would probably now be valued as a minor poet, for there is no other example in literary history of a poet who produces his greatest works between the ages of 50 and 75. After Yeats’s death in 1939, W.H. Auden wrote, among others, the following lines:

Earth, receive an honoured guest: William Yeats is laid to rest. Let the Irish vessel (船) lie Emptied of its poetry.

1.Which of the following can describe Yeats’s family? A.It filled Yeats’s childhood with laughter. B.It was shocked by Yeats’s choice. C.It was a typically wealthy family. D.It had an artistic atmosphere.

2.According to the passage, what do we know about Yeats’s life? A.Yeats founded the first Irish theater. B.Yeats stuck to modern forms in his poetry.

C.Yeats began to produce his best works from the 1910s.

D.Yeats was not favored by the public until the 1923 Noble Prize. 3.What kind of feeling is expressed in W. H. Auden’s lines? A.Envy. B.Sympathy. C.Emptiness. D.Admiration.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

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A.Yeats’s literary achievements. B.Yeats’s historical influence. C.Yeats’s artistic ambition. D.Yeats’s national honor.

2. Chen Guotao,born in a Miao ethnic family in the mountains of

Yaoyang,Southwest China’s Chongqing,successfully made her way to the big

cities.But the love for the Miao embroidery(刺绣) made her quit the highly-paid job at a state-owned bank and returned home to promote the folk art.

“I love Miao embroidery and it is our Miao people’s cultural symbol,” she said.“Every Miao woman is good at this skill.”

Chen learned embroidery from her mother at the age of four and when she was eight years old,she could make a skirt by herself.

The Miao people live mainly in southern China’s mountains,such as in Chongqing and the provinces of Guizhou,Yunnan,Sichuan,Hubei and Hunan.Miao embroidery is a very essential part of Miao culture and a treasure of Chinese costume culture.It was named as China’s intangible (非物质) cultural heritage in 2006. In 2001,Chen returned to Chongqing and started to learn more about the embroidery skills.She paid visits to the Miao villages in Hunan and Guizhou provinces and learned the skills from the masters.She usually worked from six in the morning until 11 in the night.

At the same time,she researched the current situation of the Miao embroidery and collected the traditional patterns in order to keep this art form popular. In 2012,she finally set up her company to promote and preserve this folk art.Her artworks have been exhibited at home and abroad.

“Every piece of the Miao embroidery is all handmade with all kinds of complicated skills,” she said.“A square cloth of one-meter will take at least one year to complete,so it is time-consuming and very hard to make money.”

To let more Miao women inherit(传承) the skills,Chen partnered with local women’s association to set up training camps. 1.Why did Chen give up the highly-paid job? A.She didn’t like the job. B.She missed her hometown.

C.She wanted to promote Miao embroidery. D.Her parents asked her to go hometown.

2.What can we learn from the third paragraph? A.Chen is a beautiful girl. B.Chen is a very clever girl. C.Chen helps her mother a lot. D.Chen likes her mother very much.

3.What did Chen do in order to carry forward and protect this folk art? A.She founded her company. B.She donated a lot of money.

C.She travelled to many places all over the country. D.She studied the current situation of Miao embroidery.

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3. A Leonardo da Vinci painting of Jesus Christ that recently sold for a record $450 million is heading to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.The newly opened museum made the announcement this week. Last month,Christie’s auction(拍卖) house in New York City sold the painting for the most money ever paid for a piece of art at auction.The auction house did not say who the buyer was;it does not comment on the identities of buyers or sellers without their permission.

The 500-year-old painting is called Salvator Mundi,Latin for Savior of the World.It is one of fewer than 20 da Vinci paintings known to exist.

The 66-centimeter-tall painting dates to around 1500.It shows Jesus dressed in Renaissance-style clothing.His right hand is raised in blessing and his left hand is holding a crystal(水晶) ball.

The painting was in a private collection of King Charles Ⅰ of England.It disappeared from view until 1900,when a Brit …… 此处隐藏：7998字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……