单选题 Though he would one day be considered an innovator and founding father of the artistic movement known as Impressionism, Claude Monet(1840-1926)began his career as a fairly traditional representational artist. His painting gradually changed, however, as he became interested in light and how it affects perception—an interest that led him to attempt to paint light itself rather than the objects off of which light reflected. Monet also rejected the tradition of painting in a dedicated studio, and left the confines of his dusty room to paint outside. Many of his friends and fellow artists, including Pisarro, Renoir and Cezanne, were also interested in working alfresco and joined him in painting outdoors. This group, the core of the movement that would later be classified as Impressionism, made it a common practice to paint the same scene many times in a day to explore the changes in the light, using small patches of color rather than the large brush strokes and blended color that had characterized artistic technique until that time. The Impressionists were thus attempting to evoke a mood rather than document a specific scene or event, as had been the aim of earlier painters. This move away from representation was also effected by a technological development, as photography became more affordable and popular. Before the development of photography, painting was the primary means of documenting the marriages, births, and business successes of the wealthy. Photographers soon took over much of this role because photographs were faster, more accurate, and less expensive than paintings. This freed the Impressionists to find new roles for their medium and encouraged the public to think about painting in a new way. It was no longer just a means of recording significant events; it now reflected an artist"s unique vision of a scene or moment. Today, Impressionism enjoys a privileged position with many art historians and critics, although this was certainly not always the case. As the movement was developing, most critics were at best uninterested and often appalled by the work. Even the name of the movement was originally a derisive critique. A critic who, like most of his colleagues, prized realism in paintings, declared the movement "Impressionism" after the name of the painting Impression: A Sunrise, by Monet. The critic considered the Impressionists" works unfinished—only an impression, rather than a complete painting. It is safe to say that such a critic would be in the minority today, however. Impressionist paintings are now some of the most prized works in the art world. Museums and individuals pay huge sums to add these works to their collections, and the reproductions of the artworks are among the most popular fine art posters sold.

单选题 The primary purpose of the passage is to______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：文章从印象派代表人物莫奈在艺术方面开先河的做法及印象派的表现手法引入，指出印象派引起了一场大变革，接着谈到印象派产生的时代背景——科技发展及摄影术的流行，最后提及不同时期人们对印象派的态度，可知本文讨论的是印象派的起源及莫奈在此运动中的地位，D为正确答案。最后一段第二、三句提到批评家对印象派的针砭，但这是改革初期所出现的，作者并没有对此进行谴责，排除A；文章提及莫奈及其他代表人物，也对其表现手法有所描述，但并不是本文的主题，排除B和C。

单选题 According to the passage, the Impressionists did all of the following EXCEPT______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：由题干定位到第一段和第三段。第三段提到印象派虽然现在深受推崇，但并不是一直如此，最初有批评家认为印象派作品不是完整的作品，可见它并没有获得同时代人的喜欢，C项符合文意。第一段第五句提到，印象派会画一日内不同时间段的景色，排除A项；第一段第二句提到，印象派试图绘制光线而不是物体，排除B项；第二段第四、五句提到，摄影术使印象派画家找到了新的手段，使公众以新的眼光审视绘画——它不再是记录大事的手段，而是反映艺术家独特视角的手法，排除D项。

单选题 In Line 10 of Para. 1, the author most likely mentions "patches of color" to describe______.

单选题 The discussion of photography(Para. 2)serves as______.

单选题 The author of the passage would most likely describe the medium of photography as______.

单选题 In Para. 3 "a derisive critique" most nearly means that the criticism was made in a(n)______way.

单选题 The "critic" mentioned in Line 5 of Para. 3 would most likely agree that______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：由题干定位到第三段第五句“The critic considered the Impressionists’works unfinished--only animpression，rather than a complete painting．”可知，该批评家认为印象派作品没有完整地展现绘画对象，不如其他派别，A符合文意，排除C；本段第一句提到印象派作品现在深受推崇，但由上文分析可知，这并不是该批评家的观点，B不符合文意；第二段第四句提到，摄影术使得印象派画家为绘画找到了新的角色，但这并不是该批评家的观点，是作者的个人观点，排除D。