Directions: There are two passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions. For each of them, there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice on the Answer Sheet.

Passage One

One hundred years ago, four German architecture students felt the predominant style was dull. They decided to look for new forms of artistic expression. They later came to be seen as pioneers and founders of the art movement known as Expressionism. On June 7, 1905, these four young men founded the first expressionist group. They named their group “Die Bruecke” (the Bridge) because they believed their world would serve as a bridge to the future. In June, exhibitions and events are being held to mark the 100th anniversary of expressionism in Berlin, its birthplace.

Expressionists used rich, bold colors and distorted objects for emotional effect. The painting’ s purpose was to reflect the artist’ s state of mind and inner feelings rather than the reality of external world. The four Bruecke members had been influenced by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, and the French impressionists. One of the earliest and most famous examples of Expressionism is Van Gogh’ s “The Starry Night” . The group held a joint exhibition of paintings in November 1905. They were influential during the first third of the 20th century and affected literature, film, architecture and music.

Traditional artists of the time were trying to paint objects exactly as they were. To them, Expressionism appeared messy and unlovely. “They changed the perspective, squeezed space in an unexpected way, ” said German art historian Ulrich Bischoff. When seeing an expressionist painting for the first time, many may wonder how it differs from Impressionism. Both schools are colorful and use outdoor subjects. The expressionists learned from the French, but they had their own ideas about painting. Unlike Impressionism, Expressionism’ s goals were not to reproduce the impression that the surrounding world gave. The expressionist replaced the real appearance with his own mental image of the object what he felt represented its real meaning. ” The young painters expressed their new concept of beauty and their inspiration from nature in pure, bright colors and in spare lines, ” says German historian Birgit Dalbajewa.