2016年6月英语六级真题每日复习计划7
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with tenstatements attached to it.Each statement contains information given in one of
the paragraphs. Identify the paragraphfrom which the information is derived. You
may choose a paragraph more than once. Eachparagraph is marked with a letter.
Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter onAnswer Sheet 2.
Why the Mona Lisa Stands Out
A. Have you ever fallen for a novel and been amazed not to find it on lists
of great books? Orwalked around a sculpture renowned as a classic, struggling to
see what the fuss is about?If so, you've probably pondered the question a
psychologist, James Cutting, asked himself:How does a work of art come to be
considered great?
B. The intuitive answer is that some works of art are just great: of
intrinsically superiorquality. The paintings that win prime spots in galleries,
get taught in classes and reproduced inbooks are the ones that have proved their
artistic value over time. If you can't see they'resuperior, that's your
problem.
It's an intimidatingly neat explanation. But some social scientists have
been asking awkwardquestions of it, raising the possibility that artistic canons
(名作目录) are little more thanfossilised historical accidents.
C. Cutting, a professor at Cornell University, wondered if a psychological
mechanism knownas the "mere-exposure effect" played a role in deciding which
paintings rise to the top of thecultural league. Cutting designed an experiment
to test his hunch (直觉). Over a lecture coursehe regularly showed undergraduates
works of impressionism for two seconds at a time. Someof the paintings were
canonical, included in art-history books. Others were lesser known but
ofcomparable quality. These were exposed four times as often. Afterwards, the
studentspreferred them to the canonical works, while a control group of students
liked the canonicalones best. Cutting's students had grown to like those
paintings more simply because they hadseen them more.
D. Cutting believes his experiment offers a clue as to how canons are
formed. He
reproduced works of impressionism today tend to have been bought by five or
six wealthy andinfluential collectors in the late 19th century. The preferences
of these men bestowed (给予)prestige on certain works, which made the works more
likely to be hung in galleries andprinted in collections. The fame passed down
the years, gaining momentum from mereexposure as it did so. The more people were
exposed to, the more they liked it, and the morethey liked it, the more it
appeared in books, on posters and in big exhibitions. Meanwhile,academics and
critics created sophisticated justifications for its preeminence (卓越). After
all,it's not just the masses who tend to rate what they see more often more
highly. Ascontemporary artists like Warhol and Damien Hirst have grasped,
critics' praise is deeplyentwined (交织) with publicity. "Scholars", Cutting
argues, "are no different from the public inthe effects of mere exposure."
E. The process described by Cutting evokes a principle that the sociologist
Duncan Watts calls"cumulative advantage": once a thing becomes popular, it will
tend to become more popularstill. A few years ago,Watts, who is employed by
Microsoft to study the dynamics of socialnetworks, had a similar experience to
Cutting's in another Paris museum. After queuing to seethe "Mona Lisa" in its
climate- controlled bulletproof box at the Louvre, he came awaypuzzled: why was
it considered so superior to the three other Leonardos in the previouschamber,
to which nobody seemed to be paying the slightest attention?
F. When Watts looked into the history of "the greatest painting of all
time", he discovered that,for most of its life, the"Mona Lisa"remained in
relative obscurity. In the 1850s, Leonardo daVinci was considered no match for
giants of Renaissance art like Titian and Raphael, whoseworks were worth almost
ten times as much as the "Mona Lisa". It was only in the 20th centurythat
Leonardo's portrait of his patron's wife rocketed to the number-one spot. What
propelledit there wasn't a scholarly re-evaluation, but a theft.
G. In 1911 a maintenance worker at the Louvre walked out of the museum with
the "MonaLisa" hidden under his smock (工作服). Parisians were shocked at the theft
of a painting towhich, until then, they had paid little attention. When the
museum reopened, people queued tosee the gap where the "Mona Lisa" had once hung
in a way they had never done for the paintingitself. From then on, the "Mona
Lisa" came to represent Western culture itself.
H. Although many have tried, it does seem improbable that the painting's
unique status canbe attributed entirely to the quality of its brushstrokes. It
has been said that the subject'seyes follow the viewer around the room. But as
the painting's biographer, Donald Sassoon,dryly notes, "In reality the effect
can be obtained from any portrait." Duncan Watts proposesthat the "Mona Lisa" is
merely an extreme example of a general rule. Paintings, poems and popsongs are
buoyed (使浮起) or
events or preferences that turn into waves of influence, passing down the
generations.
I. "Saying that cultural objects have value," Brian Eno once wrote, "is
like saying that telephoneshave conversations." Nearly all the cultural objects
we consume arrive wrapped in inheritedopinion; our preferences are always, to
some extent, someone else's. Visitors to the "MonaLisa" know they are about to
visit the greatest work of art ever and come away appropriatelyimpressed--or let
down. An audience at a performance of "Hamlet" know it is regarded as awork of
genius, so that is what they mostly see. Watts even calls the preeminence
ofShakespeare a "historical accident".
J. Although the rigid high-low distinction fell apart in the 1960s, we
still use culture as abadge of identity. Today's fashion for eclecticism (折中主义)
"I love Bach, Abba and Jay Z" is,Shamus Khan, a Columbia University
psychologist, argues, a new way for the middle class todistinguish themselves
from what they perceive to be the narrow tastes of those beneaththem in the
social hierarchy.
K. The intrinsic quality of a work of art is starting to seem like its
least important attribute.But perhaps it's more significant than our social
scientists allow. First of all, a work needs acertain quality to be eligible to
be swept to the top of the pile. The "Mona Lisa" may not be aworthy world
champion, but it was in the Louvre in the first place, and not by
accident.Secondly, some stuff is simply better than other stuff. Read "Hamlet"
after reading even thegreatest of Shakespeare's contemporaries, and the
difference may strike you as unarguable.
L. A study in the British Journal of Aesthetics suggests that the exposure
effect doesn't workthe same way on everything, and points to a different
conclusion about how canons areformed. The social scientists are right to say
that we should be a little sceptical of greatness,and that we should always look
in the next room. Great art and mediocrity (平庸) can getconfused, even by
experts. But that's why we need to see, and read, as much as we can. Themore
we're exposed to the good and the bad, the better we are at telling the
difference. Theeclecticists have it.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
46. According to Duncan Watts, the superiority of the "Mona Lisa" to
Leonardo's other worksresulted from the cumulative advantage.
47. Some social scientists have raised doubts about the intrinsic value of
certain works of art.
48. It is often random events or preferences that determine the fate of a
piece of art.
49. In his experiment, Cutting found that his subjects liked lesser known
works because ofmore exposure.
50. The author thinks the greatness of an art work still lies in its
intrinsic value.
51. It is true of critics as well as ordinary people that the popularity of
artistic works is closelyassociated with publicity.
52. We need to expose ourselves to more art and literature in order to tell
the superior fromthe inferior.
53. A study of the history of the greatest paintings suggests even a great
work of art couldexperience years of neglect.
54. Culture is still used as a mark to distinguish one social class from
another.
55. Opinions about and preferences for cultural objects are often
inheritable.
【参考答案】
46.【定位】由题干中的Duncan Watts，superioritv和cumulative advantage定位到E)段首句和末句。
47.【定位】由题干中的social scientists和raiseddoubts定位到B)段末句。
48.【定位】由题干中的random events和preferences定位到H)段末句。
49.【定位1由题干中的experiment，Cuttin9和Jcanonical works定位到c)段最后两句。
50.【定位1由题干中的an art work和intrinsic value I定位到K)段首句。
51.【定位】由题干中的critics，ordinary people和publicity定位到D)段最后两句。
52.【定位】由题干中的expose和tell the superior from the inferior定位到L)段倒数第二句。
53.【定位1由题干中的the history of the greatestpaintings定位到F)段首句。
54.【定位】由题干中的Culture和distinguish定位到J)段首句。
55.【定位】由题干中的0pinions，preferences和cultural objects定位到I)段第二句。
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