1. Cloze
Decide which of the choices given below would best complete the passage.
Painting, the execution of forms and shapes on a surface by means of pigment,has been continuously practiced by humans for some 20000 years.Together with other activities(1)_____ ritualistic in origin but have come to be designated as artistic (such as music or dance),painting was one of the earliest ways in which man(2)_____ to express his own personality and his(3)_____ understanding of an existence beyond the material world.(4)_____ music and dance,however,examples of early forms of painting have survived to the present day.The modern eye can derive aesthetic as well as antiquarian satisfaction(5)_____ the 15000-year-old cave murals of Lascaux --some examples(6)_____ to the considerable powers of draftsmanship of these early artists.And painting, like other arts,exhibits universal qualities that (7)_____ for viewers of all nations and civilizations to understand and appreciate.
The major(8)_____ examples of early painting anywhere in the world are found in Western Europe and the former Soviet Union. But some 5000 years ago,the areas in which important painting were executed(9)_____ to the eastern Mediterranean Sea and neighboring regions.(10)_____,Western shared a European cultural --the Middle East and Mediterranean Basin and, later, the countries of the New World.
Western painting is in general distinguished by its concentration(11)_____ the representation of the human(12)_____,whether in the context of antiquity or the religious context of the early Christian and medieval world.The Renaissance(13)_____ this tradition through a (14)_____ examination of the nation world and an investigation of balance,harmony,and perspective in the visible world,linking painting(15)_____ the developing sciences of anatomy and optics.The first real(16)_____from figurative painting came with the growth of landscape painting in the 17th and 18th centuries.The landscape and figurative traditions developed together in the 19th century in an atmosphere that was increasingly(17)_____”painterly” qualities of the(18)_____of light and color and the expressive qualities of paint handling.In the 20th century these interests（19)_____to the development of a third major tradition in Western painting,abstract painting ,which sought to (20)_____and express the true nature of paint and painting through action and form.
1. A. may have been B. that may have C. may have D. that may have been
2. A. seek B. sought C. seek for D. sought for
3. A. emerging B. emergency C. merging D. merger
4. A. As B. Unlike C. Like D.Since
5. A. from B. to C. into D. for
6. A. ratify B. testify C. certify D.gratify
7. A. make easy B. make it easy C. make hard D.make it hard
8. A. extinct B. extent C. extant D.exterior
9. A.had shifted B. have shifted C. shifting D. shifted
10. A.Nevertheless B. Moreover C. However D.Therefore
11. A. to B. in C. on D. for
12. A. figure B. shape C. shadow D. form
13. A. extracted B. extended C. extorted D. extruded
14. A. closing B. close C. closed D. closure
15. A. on B. for C.in D. to
16. A. break B. breakage C. breakdown D. breaking
17. A. Concerned with B. concerning C. concerning with D. concerned for
18. A. reaction B. action C. interaction D. relation
19. A. distributed B. attributed C. contributed D. construed
20. A. discover B. uncover C. recover D. cover
2. Extra Reading
A Lesson in Sports, and Life, from Dad
By Mark Purdy
Dads and sports,as a package, are part of American culture.They go together by law.Sort of like peanut butter and jelly.Or late-night television and Sham Wow commercials.
If you were lucky enough as a kid to have had a dad in your life,sports were probably part of that relationship.Sure,it can go off the rails if dads are pushy or obstinate.Thankfully,most are not.Over the years, people have told me heartwarming stories about how their dad showed them how to shoot a basketball,or took them to their first Major League game,or taught them lessons about sportsmanship.
My own dad-and-sports story also taught me a lesson.But it involved something a little different.It involved my father being cursed at,screamed at,worked into a sweat and never receiving a pat on the back or a thank-you.
That wasn’t his regular job.Dad was a judge in my small Midwestern hometown.But on weekends,to stay in shape and release stress,he refereed high school basketball games.When i got to be 7 or 8 years old,he deemed me worthy of following him.
Let me tell you,for a grade-school kid,it was pure heaven.On those frigid winter Fridays i would climb into our 1957 Pontiac and ride shotgun as Dad drove the two- lane roads across the flat tundra of northwestern Ohio.After an hour or so we would pull into a little burg where the school gym’s windows would be steamed up and the citizens would be primed to cheer for their teams--and give holy grief to my dad.
And by “holy grief” i mean that literally.In games between Catholic schools,Dad would occasionally find himself being harassed by a priest.But the vast majority of insults came from passionate fans.They called my dad every name in the books i wasn’t old enough to read yet.
Often, the person sitting next to me would be one of these fans.The guy would notice i wasn’t making much noise and ask, “Which team are you cheering for,anyway?”
“Neither one,” I answered.
“Why not?”
“Because,”i would say proudly,pointing my finger,”that is my dad!”
Whereupon the person sitting next to me would feel embarrassed or apologize.Or,usually,go back to screaming and curing.I just enjoyed the scene and being there.On the ride home we would hit a truck spot or greasy spoon roadhouse for a hamburger and soda.With Patsy Cline playing on the jukebox in the background,we’d talk about the game Dad had just worked,or about Ohio State basketball,or about school, or whatever.
And the next weekend,it would be almost the same--with a different gym,different teams,new and worse curses.At some point,Dad must have worried about what i was experiencing in the stands because one night over a track-stop burger,he told me:
“ Look, when people are calling me a so-and-so,it isn’t because they actually think I ‘m a so-and-so.They don’t know me at all as a person.What they are really saying to me is,’That foul call you just whistled makes me believe you are a so-and-so.’Don’t worry about it.You should only get concerned if a good friend or a neighbor tells you that you’re a so-and-so.”
I nodded,but I didn’t think too deeply about it--until many years later.After I landed my dream gig of writing a sports column,discovered that some people responded to my opinions with vile phone calls or letters or(eventually)emails?It was then that I flashed back to that discussion.I realized that Dad had prepared me not just to view a game with as objective an eye as possible,but also how to deal with people who are obscenely personal in their criticism.
Dad is now 86 years old and going strong.Not the strong-to-the-hoop-against-Dwight-Howard kind of strong.But he and Mom are doing fine enough to live without assistance in a house not far from the same elementary school that I escaped on Fridays for those blacktop road refereeing adventures.
In our family archives we have no picture of my father in a black-and-white striped shirt,just the usual posed snapshots in civilian clothes.The refereeing was a very small part of his life.He built a successful law practice,taught university classes,and was elected president of the local school board.But for me,a late-night hamburger after a game will always bring back memories of my father’s best moments--and remind me of the lesson he gave me without even knowing.
I hope that,through sports or otherwise,your own father gave you something like that.If you have a chance today,make sure to tell him how much you appreciated it and how fortunate you feel.
I just did.
(From English Language Learning 2009.10)
Choose the best answer for each question.
1. In this passage the relationship between dads and sports is describe as EXCEPT_____.
A. peanut butter and jelly
B. hamburger and soda
C. Late-night television and Sham Wow commercials.
2. Dad was a judge in their small Midwestern hometown,but why did he referee high school basketball games on weekends?
A. To get some extra payment.
B. To be a referee was his dream.
C. To stay in shape and release stress.
3. Many years later, the son worked as_____.
A. a college teacher
B. A judge
C. a sports reporter for newspapers
4. What else did dad do besides working as a judge and a referee of school basketball games?
A. Taught classes in universities.
B. A lawyer.
C. Elected the president of the county.
