河南专升本英语阅读理解练习（11.5）

　　阅读理解：

　　A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics and war. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books.

　　In history books, objective information about the political life of a country is presented; that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective (主观的): it reflects emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya was perhaps the first truly “political” artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May, 1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its abuse(滥用) of power over people.

　　In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art had been almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that described people and stories from the Bible. Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand the Bible stories in the pictures on church walls. By contrast, one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic belief that statues(雕像) are not holy.

　　问题：

　　1.More can be learned about a culture from a study of art history than general history because _______.

　　A.art history shows us nothing but the political values

　　B.general history only focuses on politics

　　C.art history gives us an insight(洞察力) into the essential qualities of a time and a place

　　D.general history concerns only religious beliefs, emotions and psychology

　　查看答案

　　【参考答案】C

　　[考点]事实细节题

　　【精析】C 本题可参见文章第一段的第五句话“In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books”,即从艺术中能够更全面深刻地理解历史文化。选项C中insight与文中的understanding同义，所以选C。

　　2.Art is subjective in that _______.

　　A.a personal and emotional view of history is presented through it

　　B.it only reflects people’s anger or sadness about social problems

　　C.it can easily arouse people’s anger about their government

　　D.artists were or are religious, who reflect only the religious aspect of the society

　　查看答案

　　【参考答案】A

　　[考点]事实细节题

　　【精析】A 问题是“艺术是主观的，原因在于_______。”文章第二段第二句话提到： “Art，on the other hand，is subjective：it reflects emotions and opinions.”从这句话中可以看出艺术是情感和观点的反映。所以选A。

　　3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

　　A.In history books political views of people are entirely presented.

　　B.Francisco Goya expressed his religious belief in his painting The Third of May, 1808.

　　C.In the Middle East, you can hardly find animal or human figures on palaces or other building.

　　D.For centuries in Europe, painters had only painted on walls of churches or other religious buildings.

　　查看答案

　　【参考答案】C

　　[考点]事实细节题

　　【精析】C 从文章第三段倒数第二句话:“By contrast, one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images.”能够看出，中东的艺术中没有人和动物的形象。此题的关键是找关键词：the Middle East，找到后就能很快地确定答案。所以选C。

　　4. The passage mainly discusses _______.

　　A.the development of art history

　　B.the difference between general history and art history

　　C.what we can learn from art

　　D.the influence of artists on art history

　　查看答案

　　【参考答案】B

　　[考点]主旨大意题

　　【精析】B 文章共分三段。第一段是概括段落，第二段和第三段采用对比的写作方法，介绍了通过历史课程和通过艺术了解历史文化的不同之处。因此，文章主要讲了一般历史和艺术历史的区别。所以选B。

　　5.It can be concluded from the passage that _______.

　　A.Islamic artists only paint images of plants, flowers or objects in their paintings

　　B.it is more difficult to study art history than general history

　　C.a history teacher must be quite objective

　　D.artists painted people or stories from the Bible to hide their political beliefs

　　查看答案

　　【参考答案】C

　　[考点]推理判断题

　　【精析】C 通过对艺术和历史的对比分析，可以得出结论：既然历史本身是客观的，那么,历史老师也应该是保持客观的。所以选C。