单选题 Printmaking is the generic term for a number of processes, of which woodcut and engraving are two prime examples. Prints are made by pressing a sheet of paper (or other material) against an image-bearing surface to which ink has been applied. When the paper is removed, the image adheres to it, but in reverse.
The woodcut had been used in China from the fifth century A.D. for applying patterns to textiles. The process was not introduced into Europe until the fourteenth century, first for textile decoration and then for printing on paper. Woodcuts are created by a relief process; first, the artist takes a block of wood, which has been sawed parallel to the grain, covers it with a white ground, and then draws the image in ink. The background is carved away, leaving the design area slightly raised. The woodblock is inked, and the ink adheres to the raised image. It is then transferred to damp paper either by hand or with a printing press.
Engraving, which grew out of the goldsmith"s art, originated in Germany and northern Italy in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is an intaglio process (from Italian intagliare, "to carve"). The image is incised into a highly polished metal plate, usually copper, with a cutting instrument, or burin. The artist inks the plate and wipes it clean so that some ink remains in the incised grooves. An impression is made on damp paper in a printing press, with sufficient pressure-being applied so that the paper picks up the ink.
Both woodcut and engraving have distinctive characteristics. Engraving lends itself to subtle modeling and shading through the use of fine lines. Hatching and cross-hatching determine the degree of light and shade in a print. Woodcuts tend to be more linear, with sharper contrasts between light and dark. Printmaking is well suited to the production of multiple images. A set of multiples is called an edition. Both methods can yield several hundred good-quality prints before the original block or plate begins to show signs of wear. Mass production of prints in the sixteenth century made images available, at a lower cost, to a much broader public than before.
单选题 What does the passage mainly discuss?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为主旨题。通读全文可知，全文为总分式结构。第一段讲述了木刻和雕刻为版画制作的两种主要方式；第二段讲述了木刻；第三段讲述了雕刻；第四段讲述了木刻和雕刻的特点。由此可知，本文主要是有关木刻和雕刻，因此C项正确。
单选题 The word "prime" in line 2 is closest in meaning to ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为词义辨析题。定位至原文第一句话“Printmaking is the generic term for a number of processes, of which woodcut and engraving are two prime examples.”根据这句话可知，版画制作主要有两种方式，木刻和雕刻。prime这里指“主要的”。四个选项中A选项符合这一意思。因此，A项正确。
单选题 The author"s purposes in paragraph 2 is to describe ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为段落主旨题。通读第二段可知，这一段主要讲述了木刻的制作过程。首先，拿一块木头，在上面涂上一层白色的底色。然后，用墨水绘制图案。当墨水浸透木板后，墨水就附着在浮雕上了。C选项准确概述了该段的主旨。A、B和D选项为细节内容。因此C项正确。
单选题 According to the passage, all of the following are true about engraving EXCEPT that it ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为细节题。根据文中第三段中的第一句话和第三句话“Engraving, which grew out of the goldsmith"s art, originated in Germany and northern Italy in the middle of the fifteenth century.... The image is incised into a highly polished metal plate”可知，雕刻来源于制金艺术，发源于15世纪中期的德国和意大利。图案刻入金属板内。这分别对应A、C和D选项。题目要求选项不正确的项，因此，B项正确。
单选题 According to the passage, what do woodcut and engraving have in common?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为细节题。根据文中最后一段倒数第二句话“Both methods can yield several hundred good-quality prints before the original block or plate begins to show signs of wear.”可知，在原始的木块或金属板用坏之前，可以生产数百张复制品。D选项符合原文意思。因此D项正确。