NEW YORK (Reuters) — Artists and gallery owners have their fingers crossed at New York’s Affordable Art Fair this week,waiting to see how the economic downturn(衰退期) affects sales of their work even as demand in the high-end (高端的) market breaks down.

 Taking place for the eighth year,the fair aims to lure(引诱) new art buyers and long-time patrons(赞助人) with prices ranging from $ 75 to $ 10,000. Most of the work is priced at $ 5,000 or under.

 Despite the “ affordable” tag (标签) ,attracting buyers is still a daunting task when consumers are turning down anything expensive or unnecessary in the economic depression.

 About 64 galleries are participating in this year’s Affordable Art Fair,down from 70 last year. The fair opened in Manhattan on Thursday and ended on Sunday.

Jenny Hirst,an artist from Manchester,England, who exhibited her work at the namesake fair in London and was attending the New York show,said the demand for affordable art “is struggling a bit”.

“They(consumers) say it is nice,but walk away . instead of pulling out their checkbooks,” said Hirst, referring to art buyers.

The economic downturn has affected the high-end art market. Sotheby’s posted a 71 per cent drop in auc-tion(拍卖) sales in the past quarter,while some experts say demand is rare,or in the best case,scarce for expensive art.

“I don’t think it’s that people are saying, 1 can’t spend a million dollars so I’ll go out and spend $ 500,000,”’ said Constance Kamens,a private art dealer and appraiser.

“Some of them are not buying at all but when they are buying,they are buying carefully. ”

Popular belief is that the right piece of art can transform a space,making it an attractive alternative (选择) to buying a new home or redecorating in a recession marked by increasing job losses and tight access to credit.

1. Not many customers buy art works mainly because        .

   A. the art works are too expensive for them to buy one

   B.  they think it is unnecessary to buy an art work now

   C.  they cannot find art works on show are attractive

   D.  the art market is greatly affected by the financial crisis

2. From what Constance Kamens said,we can safely conclude       .

   A. the customers don’t care the price much

   B.  the customers want to buy cheap works

   C.  the customers often bargain with dealers

   D.  the customers are not interested in buying

3. The underlined word “daunting” in Paragraph 3 has the closest meaning to “      ”.

   A. frightening   B. discouraging

   C.  exciting   D. surprising

  High school students are some of the busiest people in the world. To get the most from all you do,you must be in control of your time. Otherwise decisions that affect how well you play the game,what position you play and when you get to play will be decided for you. Your success in high school depends on your use of time. Here are some important things to remember.

. Begin each term by filling in a master plan. First fill in things you must do (classes,work,practice,etc. that you can’t change) . Then find the most effective use for these times.

. Set a regular time and place for study. This will save you time in the long run. If you have a study hall in your school,use it!

. Use daylight hours to study whenever possible. For most people for every hour of study done in daylight hours,it will take them one and a half hours to do the same task at night.

. Take breaks. Don’t plan marathon study time. Have a short rest before you study again.

  By using flash cards or summary sheets,you can use odd times to study while you’re waiting for class to start or for a friend to pick you up.

. If possible,plan study time with a partner. However,choose your partner wisely. Make sure you study,not socialize.

. Do the most difficult tasks for times when you are active. (Take maths for example: when you’re energetic,it will become easier to solve; when you’re tired,it will be impossible!)

. Make a daily checklist(清单) . Do the most important tasks first.

1. According to the passage,your success in high school chiefly lies in      .

   A. making full use of your time

   B.  your hard work

   C.  your brainpower

   D.  how well you play the game

2. We should use daylight hours to study whenever possible because

   A. school study halls are open to students only in the daytime

   B.  most people can spare more time to study in the daytime

   C.  it’s more difficult to study effectively at night

   D.  we have more important things to do than study at night

3. On how to use our time,we should follow the following suggestions EXCEPT          .

   A. working out a complete plan for the whole term

   B.  keeping a good balance between study and rest

   C.  putting the most important tasks first

   D.  trying to study alone instead of working with others

4. The underlined word “odd” in Paragraph 6 probably means “        ”.

   A. strange   B. irregular

   C.  busy   D. divided

5. The passage is mainly written for     .

   A. students   B. teachers   C. parents   D. readers

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