A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics, and war. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books.

       In history books, objective information about the political life of a country is presented: that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective: it reflects personal emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Franciso Goya was perhaps the first truly “political” artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May,1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its abuse of power over people.

       In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art had been almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that described people and stories from the Bible. Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand the Bible stories in the pictures on church walls. By contrast, one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic belief that statues are unholy.

1．We learn from the first paragraph that           .

       A．history class concentrates on religious beliefs and emotion

       B．history books focus on personal emotions and opinions

       C．art history shows us something about emotions and beliefs

       D．art history shows us nothing but the political values

2．According to the passage, it is true that           .

       A．history teachers must be quite subjective

       B．artists paint people from the Bible to show their political beliefs

       C．you can hardly find animal and human images in Islamic paintings

       D．painters in Europe only painted Bible stories for centuries

3．Francisco Goya and his painting are used as an example to show          .

       A．art is subjective, which is different from history books

       B．Spanish government abused its power over people

       C．in history books, facts about politics are given

       D．Francisco Goya was the first“political” artist

4．The text mainly discusses         .

       A．the development of art history

       B．what can we learn from art

       C．the influence of art history

       D．the difference between general history and art history