1、Passage 1(Art)Self-Portrait with Straw Hat (1887), a van Gogh self-portrait done in Paris, is one of his most intriguing yet most neglected works. The artists gloomy eyes stare out from his face in half-profile, facing to the left, and the world-weary expression initially appears to support the view
2、 of critics such as James Risser, who explains van Goghs self-portraits as a sustained search for identity.Self-Portrait with Straw Hat (1887) initially appears to comply with Rissers evaluation. In this work, the painter depicted himself wearing a jumper of intense blue before a background done alm
3、ost entirely in gray but with noticeable blurs of bluemost notably in the top right corner. Overall the painting appears to be unfinished, a hastily done portrait that the painter abandoned to create more lasting works.In its incomplete state we can precisely read “an unfinished life,” and in the wi
4、ld strokes of casual blue in the background and splashed across the artists garments we are instantly confronted with the sense of growing “more and more out of control.” But is this an accurate evaluation? On the one hand, Risser seems to have legitimate cause for envisioning van Goghs self-portrai
5、t as psychological self-analysis, a painting that “reveals an emotional intensity hiding beneath the surface”. But is the chaotic surface effect of the blue in this painting actually a form of self-criticism, the artists own intense and emotional despair over his loss of controlor is it representati
6、ve of an underlying aesthetic whose focus is not the painter himself? An intriguing alternative exists: van Gogh may not have painted the self-portraits as psychoanalytical evaluations of himself, but instead merely as experiments in technique. The artist often stated that he painted himself only be
7、cause he lacked other models, a view found in the critical work of both Richard Kendall and T.J. Shackelford. Perhaps, then, van Gogh was not trying to learn about himself but about art as a whole while painting these portraits and hence we ought to read the self-portraits as a series of statements
8、about art itself. The key to this analysis may be a careful exploration of the special color symbolism van Gogh attached to the color blue. Unlike our everyday association of blue with melancholy or boredom, the artist imagined blue as a symbol for the infinite or the limitless. Such a view calls in
9、to question the idea that self-portraits such as van Goghs Self-Portrait with Straw Hat (1887) were a psychological profile of the artists melancholy or despair. Instead, when we consider blues special symbolic role as the infinite in van Goghs Paris self-portraits, we discover a new narrative descr
10、ibing the painters own aesthetic: his insistence that the future of art lay in expressive rather than realistic methods.1. What does James Risser think of van Goghs self-portraits?A. Different self-portraits represent van Goghs different attitude towards life.B. Many of his self-portraits have been
11、neglected by critics.C. Van Gogh sought for identity through all his self-portraits.D. Van Gogh expressed his weariness of the world in most of his self-portraits.2. Which description is mentioned in the second paragraph about van Goghs Self-portrait with a Straw Hat?A. The painting is not well done
12、.B. The painting mainly used gray.C. The painter used blue but erased it later.D. The portrait showed a depressed emotion.3. Who felt that the self-portrait showed “an unfinished life”?A. Van Gogh himself.B. Rissers opponents.C. The author.D. James Risser.4. According to Richard Kendall and T.J. Sha
13、ckelford, the Self-portrait with a Straw Hat may not have anything to do with _.A. van Goghs painting techniqueB. the symbolism of colorC. the psychological analysis of the painterD. the painters aesthetic5. According to van Gogh himself, his self-portraits were intended to be _.A. narrativeB. expre
14、ssiveC. analyticD. artisticPassage 2 (British customs and culture.)Scottish customs and traditions cover a very wide range of topics. Everything from kilts to golf, bagpipes to whisky, Celtic crosses to Protestant missionary work, the second sight to Nessie.The history of the bagpipes takes us a lon
15、g way back from today and far away from Scotland. Everyone thinks about Scotland when they hear the word “bagpipe”, but this instrument is so old that true age and origin are unknown. In some historical documents it is written that the pipes were first played somewhere around Asia Minor in 1000 BC.
16、Also, it is said, by some, that Emperor Nero played the Pipes not the fiddle, while Rome burned. Some form of bagpipes are used in many European countries but in Scotland they have become an integral part of the countrys culture. Scotland is the ancestral home of the Great Highland Bagpipes known to
17、 all as the Great Pipes.A Pipe band is one thing that every visitor of Scotland wants to see. These are groups of men (in modern times it can be both men and women); each group has matching skirts, fancy jackets and strange little hats. They march around squeezing the air out of big tartan bags (kno
18、wn as bagpipes) and blowing it in again through a pipe attached to the bag. This results in a racket known as the skirl o the pipes which is almost indistinguishable from the noise made by the haggis during the mating season. These pipe bands often turn out to be Australians, not Scots at all!The ta
19、rtan kilt has long been the most recognizable cultural tradition of the Highland Scots, but just like the other symbols, kilts have also an unknown origin. One sure fact is that the wearing of the kilt has been developed in the 19th century during the reign of Queen Victoria. It had been created for
20、 some rational reasons: men who wore it could make very quick moves, wade through rivers and shelter in huts, woods and rocks, etc.There is a question which will always linger next to the word kilt and that is: Do people who wear kilts have underwear or not? Even though there are lots of people who
21、consider this immoral, the tradition says that underwear should not be present if one is dressed in a kilt, the only exception being the participation to some sportive games and the presence of women. In the 50s, soldiers were verified if they wore underwear by their sergeants who used a long stick
22、that had in the top a mirror.Other two reasons for which Scotland is famous are its traditional food and of course, whisky. No one could argue that traditional Scottish cooking has produced one of the great cuisines of the world. The quality of the ingredients has always been excellent: the worlds f
23、inest seafood including shellfish, lobster and crabs, and varieties of fish too numerous to mention; succulent lamb and beef; soft fruit including raspberries, strawberries and blackberries and a host of locally produced types of cheese, including cheddar from Ayrshire and Galloway. The national dis
24、h is the haggis, a type of food that combines mutton with other ingredients and which is served with turnip and potatoes.Whisky has been produced in Scotland for hundreds of years. It is well known that the Irish created this alcoholic drink, but the Scots were the ones who brought it to the form th
25、at we drink today. Whisky refers to a broad category of alcoholic beverages that are distilled from grains and aged in oak casks. The name means water of life.1. Emperor Nero was mentioned to illustrate _.A. the legendary origin of bagpipesB. the relation between bagpipes and Minor AsiaC. the higher
26、 importance of bagpipes over fiddlesD. the cultural significance of bagpipes2. Which of the following descriptions is suitable for the bagpipe performance?A. Bagpipe bands used to consist of male Australians only.B. Bagpipes are played to imitate the noise of mating haggis.C. Bagpipe bands must dres
27、s in specific performance costumes.D. Bagpipes are too heavy to carry around during the performance.3. A lot of people consider it “immoral” to _.A. ask whether people who wear kilts have underwearB. wear a kilt without having underwearC. have underwear when wearing a kiltD. set up such a privacy-vi
28、olating rule of kilt-wearing4. Ayrshire and Galloway are most probably famous for _.A. their excellent fruitB. their cheese productionC. the national dish, the haggisD. the traditional Scottish cooking5. The author chose to only introduce bagpipes, kilts, food and whisky because _.A. the author had
29、greatest delight in themB. the author was best-informed about themC. they are more interesting than other customs and traditionsD. they are more famous than other customs and traditionsPassage 11. C【定位】根据题干中的James Risser定位到首段末句。【解析】首段末句的定语从句表达了James Risser对梵高自画像的看法，选项C是对这个定语从句的同义改写，为本题答案。【点睛】第1段、第2段
30、和第4段都提到了James Risser对梵高自画像的评价，但只要根据James Risser这个专有名词为定位工具逐一查对James Risser的观点，不难发现其它选项都缺乏原文依据。James Risser在谈论凡高自画像时，一是总体评价了凡高所有的自画像，二是单独评价了“戴草帽的自画像”，因此，选项A中的different ，选项B中的many，选项D中的most这些数量都难以证实。2. A【定位】第2段。【解析】第2段末句中的appears to be unfinished, hastily done等表明这幅自画像虽然已完成，但质量不高，因此选项A符合原文的说法。该段第2句表明自画
31、像的背景多用灰色，但选项B说的是全画多用灰色，这是不符合原文的；选项C中说到“蓝色后来被擦掉了”，这在原文并无提及，原文提到了蓝色是noticeable（显而易见）的；如果根据第1段的第2句，选项D的内容是正确的，但别忘了本题针对的是第2段，与第1段无关。3. D【定位】根据题干中的 “an unfinished life”定位到第3段。【解析】第3段虽然没有明确写到这一段是谁的观点，但是，我们要知道本文前三段和第4段第2句都是Risser的观点，由此可知，本题应选选项D。本题虽然看起来只关于一个细节，但要正确解答本题，必须理清全文结构才行。另外，不要因为第4段第2句开头的On the oth
32、er hand而误以为前一段的观点是与Risser观点相反的人提出的。4. C【定位】根据题干中的人名Richard Kendall and T.J. Shackelford定位到第4段第5句。【解析】根据对段落结构的分析，我们可以发现，Richard Kendall和T.J. Shackelford的观点是与Risser不同的，而Richard Kendall和T.J. Shackelford的观点分散在第4段第4句到最后一句当中。仔细阅读这些句子，可以发现倒数第2句提到他们这一派不赞同凡高自画像与凡高的心理分析有关，由此可见，他们最不认同的应该是选项D的内容。第4段第4句明确指出了凡高自画
33、像与凡高的绘画技术有关，可见选项A不合题意；第6局指出研究凡高自画像应以凡高赋予颜色的象征意义为基础，可见选项B不符合题意；最后一句提到了选项D的内容，可见选项D也不符合题意。5. B【定位】全文最后一句。【解析】最后一句中的lay in rather than 表明凡高认为将来的艺术应强调“表现力”，而非“现实主义”，结合本段其它内容可知，梵高将这种理念贯彻到了他的自画像当中，由此可见，本题应选选项B。本题的前两个选项都出自最后一句，在这一句中，narrative不用来形容梵高的艺术理念，而是一个名词，指某一篇记叙文而已；选项C是Risser的观点；选项D是art的派生词，原文提及梵高认为他
34、的画作是为了表达艺术，而不是表达自己，重点还是“表达”二字，他要讨论的是画作的“表达形式”，而非笼统的“艺术性”，因此选项D也是不正确的。Passage 21. A【定位】根据题干中的Emperor Nero定位到第2段第4句。【解析】第2段第一句中的history是该段的主题词，该段其他句子就是为了说明风笛的历史的，因此，有关Emperor Nero的故事也是为了说明风笛的历史和起源，由此可见，本题应选选项A。本段考查的是例子观点的关系，或者说主题细节的关系，答题时需要先理清哪个是观点/主题，哪些是例子/细节。选项B中的Minor Asia在该段第3句提到，这一句提到的内容和第4句的内容并列
35、，是风笛的历史的两种不同的猜测，互不相干，所以选项B是不正确的；选项D的内容隐含在该段第5句中，但这一句和第4句的内容同样是互不相关的，所以选项D也不能选；选项C利用了原句的一些词语，但从原句难以推断bagpipes和fiddles存在如选项C的比较关系。2. C【定位】第3段第2句。【解析】原文该句中的第2个分句对服装的描述暗示风笛乐队表演时要穿上特定的演出服，由此可见，选项C的说法是正确的。该段最后一句表明现在风笛乐队“常常”是澳洲人，但often一词也暗示乐队并不“绝对”都是澳洲人，而且，从该段第2句我们只能知道以前乐队都有男性组成，至于是男性的苏格兰人还是澳洲人，这就不得而知了，因此，
36、选项A是不正确的；该段第4句提及风笛发出的声音很象哈吉斯羊交配时发出的声音，但演奏风笛并不是为了模仿这种声音，因此选项B不正确；该段第3句的they march around表明演奏者要扛着风笛边走边演奏，选项D中的too to carry around与此信息刚好相反，因此也是不正确的说法。3. B【定位】根据题干中的immoral定位到第5段第2句。【解析】本题实际上考查原文该句中代词this的所指。this通常指后面将要提到的内容，据此我们可以知道this是与后面穿格子权的传统有关的，结合该段第1句的问题可以推断人们认为穿格子裙不穿内裤是不道德的，因此本题应选选项B。如果知道that代指
37、前面提到过的内容，而this代指后面将提到的内容，选项A很容易可以排除；选项D是另一个具有干扰性的选项，要注意的是，虽然人们认为这个传统的规定immoral，读者可能会由此联想到privacy-violating（干涉隐私）的，但原文并没有与privacy相关的内容，因此选项D的说法应该属于过度推断，不能选。4. B【定位】根据题干中的Ayrshire and Galloway定位到第6段倒数第2句。【解析】原文该句是一个长句，里面列举了多种苏格兰的上乘烹调用料，其中Ayrshire and Galloway出现在句末，从cheddar from Ayrshire and Galloway可以
38、知道这两个地方生产cheddar，而在结合前面的内容可以推断cheddar是一种cheese，由此可见，Ayrshire and Galloway是专门出产cheddar奶酪的地方，因此本题应选选项B。本题最具干扰性的是选项C，选项C的内容紧跟着出现在原文Ayrshire and Galloway这两个地名的后面，很容易让人误解这两个地方与the national dish有关，但只要我们看回该段第2句开头就知道第2句和第3句是关于不同话题的，第2句列举的是ingredients，第3句讲的是national dish，两者是不相关的。5. D【定位】倒数第2段第1句。【解析】原文首段介绍了8种苏格兰的传统事物，但接下来至详细的介绍4种传统事物，其原因可以从倒数第2段第1句找到。该句提到食物和威士忌是“其他”两个让苏格兰闻名于世的原因，由此可推断，之前提到的风笛和格子裙也是使苏格兰闻名于世的原因，由此可见，作者选择介绍这四种事物是因为它们都很“著名”，因此，本题应选选项D。本题考查的因果关系在原文其实没有直接或间接的提到，遇到这样的题目，答案通常是最具原文依据或内容与原文主题最相近的选项。在本题中，选项D中的famous具有原文依据，而其他三个选项都没有原文依据，即使选项D看起来与题干并没有很明显的关系，也只有选项D与原文内容最相关了。
