Question

【题目】Watercolor is the oldest paints known. It dates back to the early cave men who discovered they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the walls of caves by mixing the natural colors found in the earth with water.

Fresco(壁画), one of the greatest of all art forms, is done with watercolor. It is created by mixing paints and water and applying these to wet plaster(灰泥). Of the thousands of people who stand under Michelangelo's heroic ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, very few know that they are looking at perhaps the greatest watercolor painting in the world.

The invention of oil painting by the Flemish masters in the fifteenth century made fresco painting go down-hill, and for the next several centuries watercolor was used mainly for doing sketches(素描) or as a tool for study. It was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that English painters put back watercolor as a serious art form. The English have a widely-known love for the outdoors and also small, private pictures. The softness of watercolor had a remarkably strong attraction for them.

The popularity of watercolor continued to grow until in the twentieth century. The United States passed England as the center for watercolor, producing such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.

【1】What is the passage mainly about?

A. The gradual weakness of fresco painting.

B. Oils having more power or influence over watercolor.

C. The rediscovery of watercolor in England.

D. The start and development of watercolor.

【2】The first watercolor artists were ______.

A. early cave men

B. Italian fresco artists

C. Flemish masters

D. English artists of the 18th century

【3】According to the passage, watercolor painting was put back in England because ______.

A. it was easy to use outdoors

B. it was a strong medium

B. it was extremely bright in color

D. it was well suited to popular tastes

【4】What would the next paragraph most probably deal with?

A. the works of famous American watercolor artists.

B. The weakness of oils as popular paints.

C. Techniques of producing watercolor.

D. Modern American oil painters.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】D

【4】A

【解析】

试题分析: 本文主要讲了水彩画的开始和发展，同时也讲述了壁画和油画的发展，以及每一种画的特点。

【1】D 主旨大意题。本文主要讲了水彩画的发展。所以选D。

【2】A 细节理解题。根据文中第一段的It dates back to the early cave men who discovered they could add lifelike qualities to drawings of animals and other figures on the walls of caves by mixing the natural colors found in the earth with water.可知，第一位水彩画的作者可能是早期的山顶洞人，所以选A。

【3】D推理判断题。根据文中倒数第二段The English have a widely-known love for the outdoors and also small, private pictures. The softness of watercolor had a remarkably strong attraction for them.可知，水彩画放在英格兰时因为它适应了大众的口味，所以选D。

【4】A 推理判断题。根据文中最后一段The United States passed England as the center for watercolor, producing such well-known watercolor artists as Thomas Eakins and Andrew Wyeth.可知，接下来可能会讲著名的美国水彩画画家的作品。所以选A。