单选题 {{I}}Questions 18-21 are based on the following monologue:{{/I}}

单选题 According to the speaker, what do most people think historians are concerned with?

A. Portraits as clues to our past.
B. Prominent families in history.
C. Twentieth century photographers.
D. A new generation of artists.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[听力原文]22-25 Speaker: History is usually thought as the story of important people and events, but some historians are also interested in the daily lives of ordinary people. We can get this kind of information from written documents like diaries and town records of course, but strange as this may seem we can also learn a lot from studying old family portraits. Family portraits provide clues about things like the size of the family and the hobbies and tastes of family members. The number of children in a portrait, for example, indicates the size of the family; the types of clothing family members wore for the portrait suggest the popular fashions of the time. The objects that children hold in their hand can give clues about the games they played and their hobbies. The background of a family portrait gives historians an idea of room size and furnishings and even the wealth and social position of the family. All of these details help historians understand more about the everyday lives of some of the ordinary people from the past. 讲话开头就说了“历史被认为是重要人物和事件的故事”，四个选项里只有B项出现了与“重要(important)”相关的信息，即prominent(卓越的，突出的)，而从A、C、D项中找不出与题干的联系，因而选择B项。

单选题 According to the speaker, what makes family portraits valuable to historians?

A. They are few in number.
B. They depict important historical events.
C. They provide a lot of information about ordinary people.
D. They conceal clues about the social role of artists.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】讲话中两次出现了历史学家们为什么认为肖像(portraits)有价值，其中提到“Family portraits provide clues about things like...”和“All of these details help historians understand more about the everyday lives of some of the ordinary people from the past．”充分说明了“它们提供了关于普通人的许多信息”，即C项。

单选题 According to the speaker, what was most likely held by children in family portraits?

A. Their playings.
B. Some money.
C. Their relatives' hands.
D. Their shoes.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】讲话中提到“孩子手中所持的物体能够给出关于他们玩的游戏和习惯的信息”，那跟孩子、游戏最贴近的选项当然是A项playing(玩具)。

单选题 According to the speaker, what can historians learn from studying the background area in a family portrait?

A. The location of the house.
B. The social and economic status of the family.
C. The types of games children played.
D. The profession of the owner of the house.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】根据文中信息，“历史学家能够从肖像的背景中发现家庭的诸如房间大小、装修状况甚至财产和社会地位的信息”，也就是这个家庭的社会和经济状况，所以B项是正确的。A项的“房子的位置”、C项的“孩子们玩的游戏”和D项中的“房东的职业”则无从得知。