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 British collector bought it.At that time,it was thought to have been painted by a student of Leonardo rather than the master himself.

In 2005,a group of art dealers paid less than $10,000 for the artwork.It was badly damaged and partly painted over.They restored the work and proved that the painting was done by Leonardo da Vinci himself.

Before last month’s record-breaking sale,the highest known sale price for any artwork had been $300 million for Willem de Kooning’s painting Interchange.

1.What can we learn when the painting was sold at the high price? A.The people present were surprised. B.The painting was badly destroyed.

C.The buyer and the seller were not known to people. D.People all want to know the buyer and seller’s names. 2.How old is the painting Savior of the World? A.500 years old. B.1,000 years old. C.1,500 years old. D.1,900 years old.

3.What did people think of the painting many years ago? A.It was very valuable. B.It was very special.

C.It was painted by Leonardo.

D.It was painted by a student of Leonardo. 4.What’s the best title of the passage?

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A.A new research.

B.A priceless treasure. C.A mysterious discovery. D.An unexpected harvest. 4. An ancient philosopher’s wisdom can be compared in value to gold. Now “The Art of War” by the great thinker Sun Tzu has actually been printed on pure gold. There are 5,000 of these bookstores across China, costing 19,600 yuan each. Known as the world’s oldest book on military strategy(军事策略), it was originally written on bamboo strips(竹简). Sun Tzu lived in about 500 BC in the late Spring and Autumn Period. There id little information about Sun Tzu’s real life. But according to one story, dthe king asked Sun Tzu to gibe a demonstration of his way of training the army. Two groups of the king’s concubines(妃子) played the soldiers and two of the king’s favourites acted as commanders. Sun Tzu gave them orders, but they thought it was just a game and couldn’t stop laughing. Sun Tzu said, “if the order is not clear it’s my fault, but if the order is and soldier don’t obey, it’s the commanders’ fault.” He then killed the two commanders, despite the king’s protest. When Sun Tzu gave new orders, the concubines performed perfectly.

Sun Tzu’s book became popular with leaders in Asia and later in the West. In 1782 a Frenchman named Amiot took the book to Europe. It is said that Napoleon used its principles while conquering Europe. “The Art of War” is today used in business, sport, diplomacy(外交) and even relationships. Sun Tzu is possibly the most quoted(引用) Chinese in the world. One saying is, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”

1.From this passage we know the book “The Art of War” by the great thinker Sun Tzu _____.

A.has been compared to gold B.has been printed on pure gold C.cost 19,000 yuan

D.has been written on bamboo strips again

2.In the story of Sun Tzu’s way of training the army, Sun Tzu killed _____. A.two groups of the king’s concubines B.two of the king’s favorite soldiers C.two of the king’s favorite concubines D.two famous commanders

3.Sun Tzu’s book became popular ____. A.in Asia B.in the west C.in Europe D.both A and B

4.The best title of this article is _____. A.Sun Tzu’s wise words turn to gold

B.The book “The Art of War” has been printed on pure gold

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C.Sun Tzu’s wisdom can be compared in value to gold D.The great ancient philosopher---Sun Tzu

5. Chinese paper cutting or \and the cut-outs are also used to decorate doors and windows, so they are sometimes called \ There are symmetrical(对称的)designs that are usually created by some folding and cutting. When unfolded, it forms a symmetrical design. Chinese cut-outs are normally symmetrical and are usually in an even number series of 2, 4, 24,etc. The oldest surviving paper cut-out is a symmetrical circle from the early 6th century found in Xinjiang,China. From the 7th to 13th century, paper cutting became popular especially during Chinese festivals. The art spread to the rest of the world in the 14th century. Throughout the Qing Dynasty many paper cutting skills were developed including drafting and the use of smoked papers. By the end of the Qing ruling, however, paper cutting was once on the decline because new art forms were being introduced. The Republic of China later tried to revive the art in the 1980s.

Today, paper cut-outs are chiefly decorative. They decorate walls, windows, doors, columns, mirrors, lamps and lanterns in homes and are also used on presents or are given as gifts themselves. Entrances decorated with paper cut-outs are supposed to bring good luck. Paper cut-outs used to be used as patterns, especially for embroidery(刺绣). There are two methods of manufacture: one uses scissors, the other uses knives. In the scissor method, several pieces of paper — up to eight — are fastened together. The image is then cut with sharp, pointed scissors. Knife cuttings are fashioned by putting several paper on a relatively soft foundation consisting of a mixture of oil and ashes. Skilled crafters can even cut out different drawings freely without stopping.

1.When can the existing oldest paper cutting date back to? A.about 1500 years ago. B.about 1600 years ago. C.about 1400 years ago. D.about 600 years ago.

2.The underlined word \A.survive B.restore C.copy D.fix

3.Which of the following words can best summarize the last paragraph? A.History. B.Origin. C.Uses. D.Process.

4.What may be the best title of the text? A.Paper — the Eastern Charm

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B.The History of Paper Cutting

C.A Brief Introduction to Paper Cutting

D.Paper Cutting — Unbelievable Skilled Crafters 6. Chinese people had never paid more attention to the annual Nobel literature award than they did when Mo Yan became China’s first winner of the prize. The effect has not disappeared. Tourists continue to rush to Mo’s home village in Gaomi, Shangdong province, which has become a tourist site since the author was awarded Nobel Prize. Visiting the village is to walk into the world he created in Red Sorghum Clan, one of his best-known novels, adapted for the award-winning film Red Sorghum by famous director Zhang Yimou in 1987.

About 210 hectares of red sorghum(高粱) is ready for harvesting, recalling this scene Mo wrote in the novel: \high, clear sky, the land is covered by sorghum that forms a wild sea of blood. When the sun comes out, the surface of the sea shimmers(闪光), and heaven and Earth are painted with rich, wonderful colors.\

Locals have planted the sorghum for the coming film of the novel’s TV adaptation starring actress Zhou Xun, in similar style to 1987 when Zhang’s film was filmed. But while the sorghum fields disappeared after the film was made, this time they may remain.“We have signed long-term contracts to sell sorghum to wine producers,”said Zhang Xinfu, head of Xianjia village, Mo Yan’s hometown is in the area.“Dozens of wine producers came to discuss the sorghum business after Mo Yan won the prize,” said Zhang. Zhang said the wine producers promised to pay a satisfying price for the sorghum.

1.What happened to Mo Yan’s home village after he won the Prize? A.The house of Mo’s at his home village was rebuilt for tourism. B.The local people at Mo’s home village welcomed the tourists.

C.Many tourists rushed to Mo’s home village to show respect and interest. D.Mo’s home village remained what it used to be.

2.The underlined word “adapted” in paragraph2 probably means “___________”. A.settled B.designed C.re-organized D.written

3.Which season was it when the passage was written? A.Autumn. B.Winter. C.Spring. D.Unknown.

4.According to the text, we can infer that the wine producer bought sorghum from Mo’s home village for__________. A.the fame of Mo Yan.

B.good quality of the red sorghum itself. C.the lower price

D.the large amount of the red sorghum .

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7. Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, the majority of fantasy works have been literature. Since the 1950s however, a growing part of the fantasy genre (流派) has taken the form of video games, music, painting, and the like. It is difficult to define the precise “beginning” of fantasy literature, as stories involving magic and terrible monsters have existed since time immemorial. On the whole, the genre, as a distinct type, began to become visible in the Victorian times, in the works of writers such as William Morris, Lord Dunsany and George Macdonald.

Some commentators declared that the South African-born, English professor of philology, J. R. R. Tolkien, was influential to the mass-popularization of the fantasy genre, with his hugely successful publications — The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien himself, though, was largely informed by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths — particularly Beowulf — but it was after his work that the genre began to receive the name, “fantasy”. J. R. R. Tolkien’s close friend C.S. Lewis, author of the The Chronicles of Narnia, also an English professor interested in similar themes, was also connected with popularizing the commercial success of the fantasy genre.

Outstanding authors in the genre who undertook popular fantasy works after Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings phenomenon of the 1950s and 1960s appeared quickly. In recent years, the rate of female-to-male authors in a typically-stocked bookstore has skyrocketed, with female authors surpassing the volume of the male ones. Fantasy has been famous from other forms of literature by its style. The fantasy world requires, like any genre, appropriate language, arid that language can vary. In various forms of fairytale fantasy, even the villain’s (坏人) language would be inappropriate if vulgar (粗俗的). Famous fantasy author Raymond E. Feist considered his genre to be one where “ordinary people” were placed in extraordinary situations, and writing about what would happen.

1.How many fantasy writers are mentioned in this passage? A.Five. B.Six. C.Seven. D.Eight.

2.The underlined word “skyrocketed” in the third paragraph means_________. A.rise rapidly and suddenly B.drop rapidly and suddenly C.rise slowly and steadily D.drop slowly and steadily

3.This passage is mainly about_________. A.the background of fantasy literature

B.some famous works about fantasy literature

C.the origin and its popularity of fantasy literature D.some outstanding authors of fantasy literature

8.The Nobel Prize Winners in Literature

Rabindranath Tagore(1913)

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Prize motivation: “because of his deep sensitive, fresh and beautiful poetry, with perfect skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West”. William Faulkner (1949)

Prize motivation: “for his powerful and artistically unique contribution to the modern American novel”.

Ernest Miller Hemingway(1954)

Prize motivation: “for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea”. John Steinbeck (1962)

Prize motivation: “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception”. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill(1953)

Prize motivation: “for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant speech skills in defending noble human values”. Claude Simon (1985)

Prize motivation: “who in his novel combines the poet’s and the painter’s creativeness with a deepened awareness of time in the description of the human condition”. Mo Yan (2012)

Prize motivation:“he, with dreamlike realism, combines folk tales, history and the contemporary”. Bob Dylan (2016)

Prize motivation: “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

1.Which writer won the Noble Prize for his specific work instead of his lifelong achievements? A.John Steinbeck. B.Ernest Hemingway. C.William Faulkner. D.Winston Churchill.

2.Whose works will you turn to if you are interested in a song writing Nobel Prize winner?

A.Mo Yan’s.

B.Claude Simon’s. C.Bob Dylan’s.

D.Rabindranath Tagore’s.

3.Who described real life experience in his historic works? A.Winston Churchill. B.John Steinbeck. C.Mo Yan.

D.Ernest Hemingway.

9 Tang Dynasty poets sang for about three centuries in different tones. There were many famous poets living in the Tang period such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi

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and Li Shangyin. Poems of the Tang Dynasty edited in the Qing Dynasty is a collection of about 48,900 poems that were written by over 2,200 poets. But it didn’t cover all the poems of the Tang Dynasty.

During the Tang Dynasty, poems were recited when lovers walked under the moonlight. Poems were also recited when soldiers fought on the battlefield. People recited them in the open air or at temple fairs.

In the Tang Dynasty scholars had to be poets. Their readers were not only people of high social position but also common people. Poets recited poems; women singers sang poems and other ranks of people, including old women and children, read Tang poems. This atmosphere affected foreigners who visited the country at that time. As a result, Tang poetry was introduced to some adjacent countries, likeJapanandVietnam.

Tang poetry is a most brilliant page in the history of ancient Chinese literature. It’s a miracle in the cultural history of mankind. The Tang Dynasty was a powerful empire with a vast territory. It inherited Chinese civilization that went back to ancient times, and was combined with the best of other cultures and adopted the benefits of other nations in the world. Tang poetry wasn’t the only spiritual wealth created by the Tang Dynasty people. Philosophy and religion, handwriting and painting and music and dance all gained new peaks of development. Tang poetry, however, was the jewel in the crown and its greatest achievement. 1.It can be inferred from Paragraph 1 that_____________. A.there were more than 48,900 poems written in Tang Dynasty B.in total there were four famous poets in the Tang Dynasty C.only people in the Tang Dynasty created poems D.in the Tang Dynasty most common people were poets

2.The underlined word “adjacent” in Paragraph 3 probably means_______________. A.neighboring B.strong C.poor D.rich

3.What does the author really want to tell us in Paragraph 3? A.In the Tang Dynasty all scholars were poets. B.Tang Dynasty poems were quite popular.

C.Many foreigners came to our country during the Tang Dynasty. D.In the Tang Dynasty many poems were sung by women singers. 4.Which of the following is NOT mentio ned in the passage? A.Why the poets created poems.

B.Some other kinds of spiritual wealth in the Tang Dynasty. C.The significance and influence of the Tang Dynasty. D.The editors of Poems of the Tang Dynasty.

10. Beijing Opera is our national opera. It came into being after 1790 and has a history of over 200years. Its music and singing came from Xipi and Erhuang in Anhui and Hubei. There are four main roles in Beijing Opera; Sheng, Dan, Jing and Chou. Beijing Opera is full of famous stories, beautiful facial paintings,

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wonderful gestures and fighting. Some of the stories are from history books, but most are from famous novels. The people in the stories usually can’t agree with each other. They become angry, unhappy, sad and lonely. Sometimes they are frightened and worried. Then they find a way to make peace with each other. Everyone is usually happy in the end.

Beijing Opera is an important part of Chinese culture. In China, it used to be popular with old people while young people didn’t like it very much. However, more young people are becoming interested in it nowadays. And more people around the world are learning about Beijing Opera’ s special singing, acting and facial paintings.

1.How old is Beijing Opera in 2017? A.207 years old. B.217 years old. C.227 years old. D.237 years old.

2.Beijing Opera’s ______ came from Xipi and Erhuang in Anhui and Hubei. A.music and singing B.acting and fighting C.music and acting D.singing and fighting

3.How is the end of each story in Beijing Opera? A.Angry. B.Sad. C.Happy.

D.Frightened and worried.

4.Which of the following is TRUE?

A.Beijing Opera used to be popular with old people and young people.

B.More people at home and abroad are interested in Beijing Opera nowadays. C.Beijing Opera isn’t a part of Chinese culture. D.There are five main roles in Beijing Opera. 5.What’s the best title of the passage? A.The History of Beijing Opera B.Beijing Opera

C.The Roles of Beijing Opera D.The Changes of Beijing Opera

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