Perhaps Van Gogh（1853-1890）isn’t the most fam...

Perhaps Van Gogh（1853-1890）isn’t the most famous artist in the world, but his personal story is probably the most well known. The paintings he created didn’t become famous until after he died. Last year marked the 125th anniversary of his death. An art exhibition was in Beijing till Dec. 6, in which more than 3,000 photos of the artist’s masterpieces were shown. However, the paintings that made him famous after his death did little for him when he was alive.

Van Gogh was born into a rich family in the Netherlands. He started his career working for an art dealer. But then he tried other things like teaching in England. He also tried to become a priest, but failed the exams.

Finally, he found something else to believe in while he was living in a small mining town in Belgium—art. He returned to his childhood love of painting and drawing.

He was an important and great artist in a generation that challenged the Impressionist style. Post-Impressionists, like Van Gogh, wanted to show the world as it felt to them, not always as it looked.

Van Gogh used different forms and colors to make his art more abstract. The way he used colors was especially impressive. In Wheatfield with Crows (1890), the colors are very intense. Corn is yellow, grass is green, and crows are black. But the colors are used in such a way that it looks better than a photograph.

Unfortunately, Van Gogh’s art wasn’t very popular while he was alive. He was poor and was thought to have mental problems, which led him to cut off his ear and eventually die by shooting himself. Arguably, it wasn’t the art that gave him mental problems. What made him so sad may have been the difficulty of working as an artist in a practical world.

1.What can we know about Van Gogh from the passage?

A. He was born into a rich family in the Netherlands 125 years ago.

B. He was a teacher, a priest and a miner before he became an artist.

C. He did not get much wealth or fame from his works before he died.

D. He decided to be an artist when he worked as an art dealer.

2.According to the passage, Van Gogh impressed people deeply by ________.

A. how he used colors in his paintings

B. how he became famous for his paintings

C. how he showed the world exactly as it looked

D. how he began to love art while living in Belgium

3.What might have caused Van Gogh’s mental problems?

A. The art of painting.　　 B. The loss of one of his ears.

C. Pressure from his family.　　 D. Not being accepted or recognized.

4.What can be the best title of this passage?

A. Wheatfield with Crows　　　　　　　 　　 B. An Artist’s Sad Story

C. Childhood of Van Gogh　　 D. An Art Exhibition of Van Gogh

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Vincent Willem van Gogh (30 March, 1853—29 July, 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist. He is considered one of the greatest artists with great influence on the greatest artists with great influence on the 20th-century art.

Van Gogh spent his early adult life working for a firm of art dealers. After a brief period as a teacher, he became a missionary (传教士) in a very poor mining region. He did not begin his career as an artist until 1880; however, during the last ten years of his life, he produced more than 2,000 pieces, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawing and sketched (素描). He worked only with somber colours until he met Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism in Paris. Van Gogh used their bright colours and style of painting in a uniquely recognizable style. Most of his best-known works were produced during his final two years, when he was suffering from serious mental illness.

In 1890, at the age of 37, van Gogh shot himself in the chest. He died two days later, with Theo, his brother and his best friend, at his side, who reported his last words as “The sadness will last forever”. It would not take long before his fame grew higher and higher.

Van Gogh’s mother threw away quite a number of his paintings. The only painting he sold during his lifetime, The Red Vineyard, was created in 1888. It is now on display in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Russia. Several paintings by van Gogh rank among the most expensive paintings in the world. On March 30, 1987 van Gogh’s painting Irises was sold for a record of $ 53.9 million at Southby’s, New York. On May 15, 1990 his Portrait of Doctor Gachet was sold for $ 83.5 million at Christie’s, thus setting a new price record.

1.When did van Gogh begin his career as an artist?

A. At the age of 17　　 B. In his early adult life

C. At the age of 27　　 D. In his early childhood

2.The underlined word “somber” in Para. 2 means 　　　　 .

A. colourful　　 B. different

C. bright　　 D. dark

3.What’s the right order of van Gogh’s life experience?

a. worked as a teacher

b. took up drawing

c. worked in an art firm

d. worked as a missionary

A. c, a, d, b　　 B. b, a, c, d

C. b, c, a, d　　 D. c, a, b, d

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A. Irises was the most expensive among van Gogh’s paintings

B. Van Gogh didn’t become famous until he dies

C. Van Gogh had become famous as an artist when he was alive

D. Van Gogh sold many paintings in his life

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Vincent Van Gogh was not always an artist. In fact, he wanted to be a church minister and was even sent to the Belgian mining community of Borinage in 1879. He discovered that the miners there endured terrible working conditions and poverty-level wages. Their families were skin-and-bone and struggled simply to survive. He felt concerned that the small pay he received from the church allowed him a reasonable lifestyle, which, in contrast, seemed to him unfair.

One cold February evening, while he watched the miners trudging home, he spotted an old man staggering toward him across the fields, wrapped in a burlap(粗麻布) bag for warmth. Van Gogh laid his own clothing out on the bed, set aside enough for one change, and decided to give the rest away. He gave the old man a suit of clothes and he gave his overcoat to a pregnant woman whose husband had been killed in a cave-in.

He lived on starvation food and spent his salary on food for the miners. When children in one family caught typhoid fever, though feverish himself, he packed up his bed and took it to them.

A wealthy family in the community offered him free room and board, Van Gogh declined the offer, stating that it was the final temptation (诱惑) he must reject if he was to faithfully serve his community of poor miners. He believed that if he wanted them to trust him, he must become one of them. And if they were to learn of the love of God through him, he must love them enough to share with them.

He was acutely aware of the big difference between words and actions. He knew that our lives always speak louder and clearer than our words. Maybe that is why Francis of Assisi often said to his monks, “Wherever you go, preach(讲道). Use words if necessary.”

Others are “listening” carefully to your actions. What are you saying to them?

1. We can infer form the passage ____________.

A. our lives always speak louder and clearer than our words

B. the miners there worked under excellent working conditions

C. the ministers lived a much better and easier life than the miners at the time

D. Van Gogh himself offered to work in the Belgian mining community of Borinage in 1879.

2. What does the underlined word “trudging” in the second paragraph mean?

A. Moving very quickly              B. Moving with quick light steps

C. Walking slowly for pleasure.         D. Walking with slow heavy steps.

3. According to the passage, which of the following words can best describe Van Gogh?

A. Ambitious and aggressive.          B. Considerate and sympathetic

C. Greedy and selfish.                D. Determined and grateful

4. What does the last paragraph want to tell us?

A. Use words if necessary             B. Actions speak louder than words

C. Rome was not built in a day.         D. Where there is a will there is a way.

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Vincent van Gogh was not always an artist. In fact, he wanted to be a(n) __21 and was even sent to the Belgian __22 community of Borinage. He discovered that the miners there __23 deplorable(悲惨的) working conditions and poverty-level wages. Their families  __24__ simply to survive. He felt concerned that the small amount of money he received from the church __25 him a moderate life-style, which, __26, seemed to him unfair.

One cold February evening, while he watched the miners trudging(步履艰难)home, he __27 an old man staggering(蹒跚)toward him across the fields, __28in a burlap sack for warmth. Van Gogh laid his own clothing out on the bed, __29enough for one change, and decided to give__30away. He gave the old man a suit of clothes and gave his overcoat to a pregnant woman whose __31had been killed in a cave-in.

He lived on starvation rations and spent his money on __32 for the miners. When children in one family had fever, though __33 himself, he packed up his bed and took it to them.

A (an) __34 family in the community offered him free room and board. Van Gogh __35__the offer, stating that it was the final temptation he must reject if he was to __36 serve his community of poor miners.

He believed that if he wanted them to __37 him, he must become one of them. And if they were to learn of love through him, he must love them enough to __38 with them.

He was aware of the wide chasm(鸿沟)between words and actions. He knew that our lives always __39 louder and clearer than words.

Others are “ __40” carefully to your actions. What are you saying to them?

高三英语完型填空困难题查看答案及解析

Hawking was perhaps the most famous scientist in the world when he died in 2018 at age 76.His 1988 book，A Brief History of Time，sold ten million copies and made him an unlikely superstar even to people who sweated through high school science.

Humor was always a big part of Hawking’s effort to bring physics to the masses.In his 2010 book，The Grand Design，for instance，he recounts how，in 1277，the Catholic Church declared scientific laws such as gravity to be wrong，since they seemed against God's idea.“Interestingly，”the text adds jokingly，“Pope John was killed by the effects of the law of gravity a few months later when the roof of his palace fell in on him.”

Hawking was only 21 when he was diagnosed with the disease ALS.For most people，the condition would have been a disaster.But Hawking rolled over hardship as if it were just a pebble under his wheelchair.“Life would be tragic，”he once said，“if it weren’t funny.”He kept smiling even though he spent more than 50 years in a wheelchair.

“He loved adventure and fun，”says Mlodinow，who once took Hawking on a punt-boat trip down the fiver Cam in Cambridge，England，despite the obvious danger of the boat turning over.“You know about when he went on the Vomit Comet? It’s a plane that flies in a parabolic(抛物线的)path so you are weightless，like you are in space.A lot of people vomit，but he loved that sort of thing.”And he was 65 at the time.

Hawking’s greatest hit，humor-wise，was probably the cocktail party he threw in 2009.It was a“welcome reception for future time travelers，”he said，so naturally，he sent out the invitations the day after the party.No one showed up yet.“Maybe one day someone living in the future will find the information and use a wormhole time machine to come back to my party，proving that time travel will one day be possible，”Hawking explained.And if that happens，don’t be surprised if Hawking is there too.After all，he never missed a chance to have fun.

1.What does the text mainly tell us about Hawking?

A. He related physics to humor closely.

B. He made great contributions to physics.

C. He went through many funny experiences.

D. He was optimistic about the future of science.

2.What can we learn about Pope John?

A. He was not in favor of God.

B. He was a scientist like Hawking.

C. He was opposed to the law of gravity.

D. He was killed due to the discovery of gravity.

3.What drove Hawking to go on the Vomit Comet?

A. His fondness of adventure.

B. The invitation from his friend.

C. The requirements of his work.

D. His desire for recovery from ALS.

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A. The cocktail party was a great success.

B. The possibility of time travel was not proved.

C. Hawking was a man who enjoyed holding parties.

D. The wormhole time machine was used at that time.

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has welcomed home two paintings by the Dutch master, more than 14 years after they were ripped (抢) off the museum’s wall in a nighttime theft. Museum director Axel Rueger called their return “one of the most special days in the history of the museum.”

The paintings were discovered last year by Italian police while they were searching suspected Italian criminals’ farmhouse near Naples for evidence of drug dealing. The two paintings were wrapped in cotton sheets. They were stuffed in a box and hidden behind a wall in a toilet when they were found.

The paintings were considered among the artworks most searched for in the world. After years in darkness, they can now shine again. They are back on display at the museum before being taken to the conservation studio for repair. Fortunately, they suffered remarkably little damage as thieves who had climbed up a ladder and broken a window to get into the museum in 2004 rip them out of their frames.

“It is not only a surprise that the works have been recovered but it’s even more surprising they are in relatively unharmed condition,” Rueger said.

The museum director was on vacation when the call came last year from Italian authorities who believed they had recovered the paintings. He didn’t celebrate right away. He’d had calls li this before.

“I was hopeful but also a little hesitant. Over these years, we had so many occasions when people phoned us, contacted us, claiming that they knew something about the whereabouts (下落) of the works and each time it was false, the trace went cold,” he said. “So...the way has been till of disappointment.” But museum experts sent to Italy to check the authenticity(真实性) of the works quickly turned Rueger’s doubts into delight.

Rueger said the paintings are now back permanently at the museum, which is home to dozens of works by Van Gogh. “I’m very confident that everything is safe in the museum from now on,” he said.

1.How were the stolen paintings found?

A. The police found them by accident.

B. The arrested thieves gave information.

C. Some drug dealers offered clues.

D. The police knew the hidden place.

2.What surprised Rueger most about the lost paintings?

A. They were stolen at night.　　 B. They were found at last.

C. They suffered little damage.　　 D. The search took 14 years.

3.When Rueger got the call from Italian authorities, he　　　　 .

A. didn’t believe them　　 B. felt quite relieved

C. planned to celebrate　　 D. doubted the news

4.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 6 probably mean?

A. Reuger gradually lost interest in the search.

B. The number of false calls was greatly reduced.

C. Rueger felt cold because of too many false calls.

D. The chance to find the paintings became slim.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Are you more of a Botticelli or a Van Gogh?

A new feature in the Google Arts & Culture app reveals how a picture of your face may resemble a historical painting.

The app went viral this weekend after users discovered the entertaining feature that analyzes selfies and matches them to historical artwork. It pulls from Google's digital collection of artworks from museums around the world.

The feature rolled out to the app on iOS and Android last month. But users—even some big names such as Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, musician Pete Wentz, and actors Felicia Day and Kumail Nanjiani—shared their results on news feeds.

The app became the top downloaded iPhone app over the weekend, and landed in the top 10 on Android, according to analytics firm App Annie.

To find your fine art doppelganger(与某人外貌相同的人), open the Google Arts & Culture app and scroll until you see the "Is your portrait in a museum?" feature. Tap "get started"，and you'll be guided through the process.

It's currently only available in the U.S.

Google said the experimental feature uses computer vision technology to scan facial features and extract data to match with paintings. The company said it won't use data from photos for any other purpose but to match it with images in its catalog. It only stores selfies for the time it takes to find matches, Google said.

The selfie feature is similar to other apps that use matching technology to find lookalikes. Microsoft's What Dog app can identify and classify dogs based on photos uploaded to the app.

The Google Arts & Culture app is part of the Google Cultural Institute, which provides information about artists, scientists and historical figures from 1,000 institutions worldwide.

1.Why did the Google Arts & Culture app get so popular?

A.Because some famous people used it.

B.Because it can match selfies to some paintings.

C.Because it's more practical than entertaining.

D.Because it was the top download.

2.How can you find your fine art doppelganger?

A.By visiting Google's digital collection of artworks.

B.By analyzing your selfies.

C.By opening the app and following its guide.

D.By scrolling the screen of your smartphone.

3.What can you infer from the 8th paragraph?

A.The feature of the app has nothing to do with data.

B.Google stores selfies as commercial resources.

C.Selfies will be stored for a long time.

D.The users' selfies will not be abused.

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A.The Google Cultural Institute

B.Google app matches your face to a famous painting

C.What Dog app vs Google Arts & Culture app

D.How to find valuable historical paintings

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

"I am my paintings," says Vincent van Gogh, played by Willem Dafoe in a career-best performance, in Julian Schnabelˈs At Eternityˈs Gate, which follows the artist through his last turmoil (动荡骚乱) and astonishingly prolific years in the late 1880s in the south of France. Watching this film, you can believe it.

Schnabel is, of course, a famous artist as well as a powerful, if powerfully uneven, filmmaker, and what he captures here is what it must have been like to be Van Gogh. Itˈs an artistˈs imagining of what another artist might have felt. He never does break away from the romantic, madness-of-genius cliché(陈词滥调) that has been with so many movies and comments about Van Gogh. Instead, he accepts it because he believes it proves the turmoil that goes into creating great art. Of course, turmoil can also create bad art, but such is Schnabelˈs enthusiasm that I bought into the reality even though I think Van Gogh was a great artist despite rather than because of his mental pain.

I have a bit less sympathy for the ways in which the filmmakers got guess and frank mythmaking into the narrative. But the film comes to a great and sorrowing finish when we hear Vincentˈs words, "I thought an artist has to teach a way to look at the rest of the world. Not anymore. Now I just think of my relationship with eternity. " One of the great achievements of this movie is that, in the end, Van Gogh's words enter into our soul with the same force as the paintings.

1.Who starred in At Eternity's Gate?

A.Vincent van Gogh. B.Julian Schnabel.

C.Willem Dafoe. D.Robert Gulaczyk.

2.What do we know about Julian Schnabel?

A.He tries to break away from the traditional style.

B.He is as good an artist as a film maker.

C.His film is better than the previous ones.

D.He thinks turmoil creates bad art.

3.What can we know from the last paragraph?

A.The film ends happily.

B.Van Gogh figured out his relationship with eternity.

C.What Van Gogh said has a major influence on us.

D.The film teaches us a way to look at the rest of the world.

4.From which is the text probably taken?

A.An art textbook. B.An art magazine.

C.A movie advertisement. D.A research paper.

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor

Ray Birdwhistell. He believe3s that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other

words, we learn our looks--- we are not born with them.A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those

around- family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the UNITED States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that can not be explained by genetics (遗传学). The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth it is learned after. In fact the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look somewhat alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country there are areas where people smile more than those in other areas. In the US for example the south is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less and in the western part of New York States still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly partly because people in Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do.

1.Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance ___________.

A．has little to do with culture                         B．has much to do much culture

C．is ever changing                                             D．is different from place to place

2.According to the passage the final mouth shape is formed _________.

A．before birth                                                      B．as soon as one’s teeth are newly set

C．some time after new teeth are set            D．around 15 years old

3.Ray Birdwhistell can tell what area of the US a person is from by _______.

A．how much he or she smiles

B．how he or she raise his or her eyebrows www.91beidou.com

C．what he or she likes best

D．the way he or she talks

4.This passage might have been taken out of a book dealing with________.

A．physics                      B．chemistry               C．biology                       D．none of the above

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell. He believes that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other words, we learn our looks ---- we are not born with them. A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around-family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the United States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that cannot be explained by genetics(遗传学). The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth, it is learned after. In fact, the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many, this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country area people smile more than those in other areas. In the United States, for example, the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less, and in the western part of New York State still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly, partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do.

1.Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance ____.

A. has little to do with culture

B. has much to do with culture

C. is ever changing

D. is different from place to place

2.According to the passage, the final mouth shape is formed ____.

A. before birth

B. as soon as one’s teeth are newly set

C. sometime after new teeth are set

D. around 15 years old

3.Ray Birdwhistell can tell what area of the United States a person is from by ____.

A. how much he or she laughs

B. how he or she raises his or her eyebrows

C. what he or she likes best

D. the way he or she talks

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析