考研英语考题和答案
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four passages. Answer the questions below each passage by choosing A, B, C and D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text1
The longest bull run in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst, “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”，at Sotheby’s in London on September 15th 2008. All but two pieces sold, fetching more than ￡70m, a record for a sale by a single artist. It was a last victory. As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy. The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising bewilderingly since 2003. At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion, reckons Clare M
c Andrew, founder of Arts Economics, a rearch firm—double the figure five years earlier. Since then it may have come down to $50 billion. But the market generates interest far beyond its size becau it brings together great wealth, enormous egos, greed, passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.
In the weeks and months that followed Mr Hirst’s sale, spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable, especially in New York, where the bail-out of the banks coincided with the loss of thousands of jobs and the financial demi of many art-buying investors. In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of contemporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated ctor—for Chine contemporary art—they were down by nearly 90% in the year to November 2008. Within weeks the world动的四字成语’s two biggest auction hous, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, had to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.
番茄焖牛腩
The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japane stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989, a move that started the most rious contraction in the
market since the Second World War. This time experts reckon that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more fluctuant. But Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, says: “I’m pretty confident we’re at the bottom.”
What makes this slump different from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market, whereas in the early 1990s, when interest rates were high, there was no demand even though many collectors wanted to ll. Christie行业营销案例’个人计划幼儿园s revenues in the first half of 2009 were still higher than in the first half of 2006. Almost everyone who was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to ll. The three Ds—death, debt and divorce—still deliver works of art to the market. But anyone who does not have to ll is keeping away, waiting for confidence to return.
瞻星揆地 21.In the first paragraph, Damien Hirst’s sale was referred to as “a last victory” becau ____.
A. the art market had witnesd a succession of victories
B. the auctioneer finally got the two pieces at the highest bids
C. Beautiful Inside My Head Forever won over all masterpieces
D. it was successfully made just before the world financial crisis
22.By saying “spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable”(Line 1-2,Para.3)，the author suggests that_____.
A. collectors were no longer actively involved in art-market auctions
B .people stopped every kind of spending and stayed away from galleries桌面图标不见了怎么恢复
C. art collection as a fashion had lost its appeal to a great exten
D .works of art in general had gone out of fashion so they were not worth buying
23. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A .Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008.停车场规划
植物妈妈有办法教学反思 B. The art market surpasd many other industries in momentum.
C. The market generally went downward in various ways.
D. Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come.
24. The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are ___
A. auction hous ‘ favorites B. contemporary trends
C. factors promoting artwork circulation D. styles reprenting impressionists
25. The most appropriate title for this text could be ___
A. Fluctuation of Art Prices B. Up-to-date Art Auctions C. Art Market in Decline D. Shifted Interest in Arts
I was addressing a small gathering in a suburban Virginia living room—a women’s group that had invited men to join them. Throughout the evening one man had been parti
cularly talkative, frequently offering ideas and anecdotes, while his wife sat silently beside him on the couch. Toward the end of the evening I commented that women frequently complain that their husbands don’t talk to them. This man quickly nodded in agreement. He gestured toward his wife and said, “She’s the talker in our family.” The room burst into laughter; the man looked puzzled and hurt. “It’s true,” he explained. “When I come home from work, I have nothing to say. If she didn’t keep the conversation going, we’d spend the whole evening in silence.”
