2013考研英语模拟题一（3）
Text4Picture-taking is a technique both for reflecting the objective world and for expressing the singular self. Photographs depict objective realities that already exist， though only the camera can disclose them. And they depict an individual photographer's temperament， discovering itself through the camera's cropping of reality. That is， photography has two directly opposite ideals： in the first， photography is about the world and the photographer is a mere observer who counts for little; but in the second， photography is the instrument of fearlessness， questing subjectivity and the photographer is all. These conflicting ideals arise from uneasiness on the part of both photographers and viewers of photographs toward the aggressive component in “taking” a picture. Accordingly， the ideal of a photographer as observer is attracting because it implicitly denies that picture-taking is an aggressive act. The issue， of course， is not so clear-cut. What photographers do cannot be characterized as simply predatory or as simply， and essentially， benevolent. As a consequence， one ideal of picture-taking or the other is always being rediscovered and championed. An important result of the coexistence of these two ideals is a recurrent ambivalence toward photography's means. Whatever are the claims that photography might make to be a form of personal expression just like painting， its
originality is closely linked to the power of a machine. The steady growth of these powers has made possible the extraordinary informativeness and imaginative formal beauty of many photographs， like Harold Edgerton's high-speed photographs of a bullet hitting its target or of the swirls and eddies of a tennis stroke. But as cameras become more sophisticated， more automated， some photographers are tempted to disarm themselves or to suggest that they are not really armed， preferring to submit themselves to the limit imposed by pre-modern camera technology because a cruder， less high-powered machine is thought to give more interesting or emotive results， to leave more room for creative accident. For example， it has been virtually a point of honor for many photographers， including Walker Evans and Cartier Bresson， to refuse to use modern equipment. These photographers have come to doubt the value of the camera as an instrument of “fast seeing”。 Cartier Bresson， in fact， claims that the modern camera may see too fast. This ambivalence toward photographic means determines trends in taste. The cult of the future (of faster and faster seeing) alternates over time with the wish to return to a purer past when images had a handmade quality. This longing for some primitive state of the photographic enterprise is currently widespread and underlies the present-day enthusiasm for daguerreotypes and the work of forgotten nineteenth-century provincial photographers. Photographers and viewers of photographs， it seems， need periodically to resist their own knowingness. (451 words)
Notes： crop vt. 播种，修剪(树木)，收割。count for little 无关紧要。predatory 掠夺成性的。champion n. 冠军;vt. 支持。benevolent好心肠的，行善的。ambivalence 矛盾心理。make (+不定式)似乎要： He makes to begin. (他似乎要开始了。)swirls and eddies 漩涡。cult狂热崇拜。daguerreotypes (初期的)银板照相法。
36. The two directly opposite ideals of photography differ primarily in the
emphasis that each places on the emotional impact of the finished product.
degree of technical knowledge that each requires of the photographer.
way in which each defines the role of the photographer.
extent of the power that each requires of the photographer's equipment.
37. According to paragraph 2， the interest among photographers in each of the photography's two ideals can be described as
steadily growing.
cyclically recurring.
continuously altering.
spontaneously occurring.
38. The text states all of the following about photographs EXCEPT：
They can display a cropped reality.
They can convey information.
They can depict the photographer's temperament.
They can change the viewer's sensibilities.
39. The author mentions the work of Harold Edgerton in order to provide an example of
the relationship between photographic originality and technology. [
B]how the content of photographs has changed from the nineteenth century to the twentieth.
the popularity of high-speed photography in the twentieth century.
how a controlled ambivalence toward photography's means can produce outstanding pictures.
40. The author is primarily concerned with
describing how photographers'individual temperaments are reflected in their work.
establishing new technical standards for contemporary photography.
analyzing the influence of photographic ideals on picture-taking.
explaining how the technical limitations affect photographers'work.
Part B
Directions:
In the following article, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41—45, choose the most suitable one from the list A—G to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points)
The first two stages in the development of civilized man were probably the invention of primitive weapons and the discovery of fire, although nobody knows exactly when he acquired the use of the latter.
41)______________________ Animals have a few cries that serve as signals, but even the highest apes have not been found able to pronounce words, even with the most intensive professional instruction. The superior brain of man is apparently a necessity for the mastering of speech. When man became sufficiently intelligent, we must suppose that he gradually increased the number of cries for different purposes. It was a great day when he discovered that speech could be used for narrative. There are those who think that in this respect picture language preceded oral language. A man could draw a picture on the wall of his cave to show in which direction he had gone, or what prey he hoped to catch. 42)_________________________
Two important stages came not so long before the dawn of written history. The first was the domestication of animals; the second was agriculture. Agriculture made possible an immense increase in the number of the human species in the regions where it could be successfully practiced. 43)___________________________
44)______________________________
These inventions and discoveries—fire, speech, weapons domestic animals, agriculture, and writing—made the existence of civilized communities possible. From about 3000 B.C. until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution less than two hundred years ago there was no technical advance comparable to these. During this long period man had time to become accustomed to his technique, and to develop the beliefs and political organizations appropriate to it. There was, of course, an immense extension in the area of civilized life. At first it had been confined to the Nile, the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the Indus, but at the end of the period in question it covered much the greatest part of the inhabitable globe. I do not mean to suggest that there was no technical progress during the time. 45)______________________ (512 words)
Notes: ape 猿。pastoral nomad 田园式的游牧部落的人。the Euphrates 幼发拉底河。the Tigris 底格里斯河。the Indus 印度河。in question所谈的(在名词后作后置定语)。
Probably picture language and oral language developed side by side. I am inclined to think that language has been the most important single factor in the development of man.
Another fundamental technical advance was writing, which, like spoken language, developed out of pictures, but as soon as it had reached a certain stage, it was possible to keep records and transmit information to people who were not present when the information was given.
With the development of civilization, primitive people who lived in caves at that time badly needed a language, which would help them to communicate with one another.
The origin of language is also obscure. No doubt it began very gradually.
In fact, there was progress—there were even two inventions of very great importance, namely, gunpowder and the mariner's compass—but neither of these can be compared in their revolutionary power to such things as speech and writing and agriculture.
These were, at first, only those in which nature fertilized the soil after each harvest. Agriculture met with violent resistance from the pastoral nomads, but the agricultural way of life prevailed in the end because of the physical comforts it provided.
But industry was a step in human progress to which subsequently there was nothing comparable until our own machine age.
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