Question

　　We often speak of an artist as creating something and of a craftsman(工匠) as making something. The artist has the desire to create or achieve something original(new/ unusual), while the craftsman's aim is to produce something familiar and expected.

　　We may say, then, that originality is what distinguishes(tells) art from craft and is the measure of artistic greatness or importance. Unfortunately, originality is also very hard to define; the usual synonyms－uniqueness, novelty(creation), freshness－do not help us very much, and the dictionaries tell us only that an original work must not be a copy, reproduction, imitation, or translation. What they fail to point out is that originality is always relative, there is no such thing as a completely original work of art. Thus, if we want to rate works of art on an “originality scale”, our problem does not lie in deciding whether or not a given work is original, since the obvious copies and reproductions are for the most part easy enough to eliminate(get rid of), but in establishing just exactly how original it is. To do so is not impossible. However, the difficulties involved in our task are so great that we cannot hope for more than indefinite and incomplete answers.

1．we may conclude from reading the passage that a painting by an artist who has been influenced by other artists ________.

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A．might be best called an example of craft but not art

B．must be considered an imitation but not an original work

C．might still be considered an original work

D．can not properly be rated on an “originality scale”

2．The author specifically mentions his dissatisfaction with the failure of dictionaries to ________.

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A．distinguish clearly between art and craft

B．indicate that originality is a matter of degree

C．recognize that a reproduction may be true art

D．mention that a work of art must be original

3．The author suggests that an “originality scale” might be used to ________.

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A．distinguish an original work from a copy

B．determine the artistic greatness of a work

C．show that originality is always relative

D．explain the difference between art and craft

4．Which of the following statements would the author be least likely to make in talking about a great painting?

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A．The painter is more than a good craftsman.

B．The painting has considerable artistic significance.

C．The painting has a strange, unusual quality.

D．The painting owes nothing to other artists.

Answer 1

答案：C;B;C;D
解析：

本篇议论文阐述了“原创性是相对的，而不是绝对的”这一论点。 　　1．这是一道推理判断题。根据文中originality is always relative，there is no such thing as as a completely orginal work of art．可知，没有绝对的原创的艺术作品，一个艺术作品或多或少地受到其他画家的影响，故可断定一幅画受了其他画家的影响应该可以被认定为原创作品。 　　2．这是一道推理判断题。根据文中what they fail to point out is that originality is always relative可知，作者对字典上的定义不满意，主要是字典没有提到原创造的一个重要特征：原创是相对而言的，而不是绝对的。由此可推断出，作者提这一点是想表明，原创只是一个程度问题。 　　3．这是一道推理判断题。根据If　　we want to rate works of art on an “originality scale”，our problem does not lie in deeding… but in establishing just exactly how oroginal it is．可知，如果我们想要在一个“原创性天平”上给一个艺术作品定等级，难点不在于判定一幅作品是不是原创的，而在于准确地界定原创性到底是多少。作者在此强调的他的论点是：原创性是相对的。 　　4．这是一道推理判断题。作者的观点是originality is always relative．而D项这幅画没有从其他艺术家那里借鉴什么东西与此论点有出入，由此可推断出作者是不可能做出这样的结论的。