单选题 Anniversaries are the opium of museums, publishers, theaters and opera houses. Fixing their eyes on some round-number birth or death date of a major creator, they start planning to cash in years before. For 2006, birthdays are the winning numbers: Rembrandt's 400th; Mozart's 250th; and the 100th for Samuel Beckett and Dmitri Shostakovich.
The Dutch have organized a score of Rembrandt shows, starting appropriately with an exhibition based around his mother in the town of his birth, Leiden. Mozart's music will be heard more than usual in churches, concert halls and opera houses around the world, with his birthplace, Salzburg, once again trying to compensate for the indifference it showed him during his lifetime.
But do such anniversaries and accompanying celebrations serve much purpose? Are they just marketing devices to sell tickets to museums and performances? Or do they help draw the attention of younger generations to the giants of Western culture who at times seem crowded out by the pygmies of popular culture?
As it happens, the practice is not new. The birth of Bardolatry, or Shakespeare worship, is generally traced to the Shakespeare Jubilee, which was organized by the actor-manager David Garrick to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the playwright's birth (the jubilee was actually held in 1769, five years after the anniversary, but presumably time was more flexible in those days).
Until then, perhaps surprisingly, Shakespeare was not doing too well. The popularity of many of his plays did not survive the 18-year-long closure of London's theaters during the Civil War and Cromwell's rule. Then, after theaters reopened in 1660 with the Restoration of the monarchy, several of his major works—"Richard Ⅲ" and "King Lear" among them—were drastically revised by other playwrights.
Today, Mozart, for one, is hardly in need of revival. No opera house plans a season these days without including at least one of his stage masterpieces: "Le Nozze di Figaro," "Don Giovanni," "Così fan tutte" and "Die
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
  • A. Mozart's music used to be only played in church
  • B. Mozart's music has always been welcomed by people
  • C. Rembrandt once painted a lot about his mother
  • D. Rembrandt was brought up by his mother only
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的出题点在细节描写处。第二段说“荷兰人已组织了20场伦勃朗画展,第一场画展是在他出生的城市莱顿举办的,主题是关于他的母亲。在世界各地的教堂、音乐厅和歌剧院,人们会比以往更频繁地听到莫扎特的音乐,莫扎特的故乡萨尔茨堡则再次试图为莫扎特在世时对他的冷漠作出补偿”。可见,伦勃朗创作了很多关于他母亲的画像,故选C。文章并未提及伦勃朗是否由母亲独自养大和莫扎特的作品过去是否只在教堂演奏,故排除A和D;莫扎特的作品并非一直像今天这样受到推崇,故排除B。
单选题 Which of the following about Shakespeare can NOT be inferred from the passage?
  • A. He became more and more famous after 1769.
  • B. He was born in 1564.
  • C. He was not so famous before 1769.
  • D. His works were especially welcomed by people around 1660.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的出题点在特殊标点符号处(括号)。第四段第二句指出,人们对莎土比亚的推崇可以追溯到1769年演员经纪人戴维·加里克组织的莎士比亚诞辰200周年纪念活动,而且第五段第一句指出,在那之前莎士比亚的作品不是很受欢迎,由此可知莎士比亚在1769年不是很有名,也就是说他在1769年之后越来越有名,故排除A和C;括号里面的内容说“事实上庆祝活动是在1769年举行的,也就是200周年纪念日的五年后”,由此推断,200周年纪念日是在1764年,则莎士比亚出生于1564年,故排除B。第五段末句指出,1660年后莎士比亚的几部重要作品都被其他作家改得面目全非,可见1660年左右他的作品并不是特别受欢迎,故选D。
单选题 What does the author think of Mozart?
  • A. He contributed a lot to the development of music.
  • B. He produced more musical works than Bach.
  • C. He based his music on personal experience.
  • D. He excelled more in sacred works than in instrumental works.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的出题点在细节描写处。第六段说莫扎特不需要周年纪念活动来重振声名,他的作品已广为流传,几乎所有歌剧院的每一季演出都会安排他的作品。第七段甚至强调,如果没有莫扎特,西方文化将不知道如何发展下去,由此可知,莫扎特对音乐的发展作出了巨大的贡献,故选A。第八段末提到莫扎特把音乐变成了一种深刻的个人体验,并不是说他的音乐创作是基于个人经历,故排除C;第八段末还指出莫扎特的贡献甚至超过巴赫,但并不是说莫扎特创作的音乐作品比巴赫多,故排除B;第八段还提到莫扎特擅长创作各种形式的音乐,D项描述也是错误的,故排除。
单选题 Which of the following about Rembrandt is NOT correct?
  • A. There isn't any mystery surrounds Rembrandt's life or death.
  • B. He has more than 600 oils.
  • C. The exhibitions of his compositions can draw many people.
  • D. Rembrandt's self-portraits can be considered as a window into his soul.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查文章的细节描写。第十段提到,伦勃朗大约创作了600多幅油画,每当其中的一些被展览时,都会吸引很多参观者,故排除B和C。倒数第二段提到,伦勃朗在世时一直用许多自画像来勾勒自己的人生,这些自画像可以被看做是通往他灵魂的一扇窗,故排除D。A在文中没有提及,文章只说了伦勃朗没有像莫扎特那样传奇的生死经历,故选A。
单选题 What's the author's attitude towards anniversaries?
  • A. Positive.
  • B. Negative.
  • C. Indifferent.
  • D. Fanatic.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查作者的观点态度,应着眼于全文。文章开头就说周年纪念活动就像鸦片,目的只是为了赚钱;结尾又说只有时间才能决定艺术家的地位,伟大的艺术家经常是先被人遗忘,后来才流芳百世,之后周年纪念活动就变得可有可无了。可见作者对周年纪念活动持否定态度,故选B。