Photos that you might have found down the back of your sofa are now big business!
In 2005, the American artist Richard Prince’s photograph of a photograph, entitled (Cowboy), was sold for $ 1, 248, 000.
Prince is certainly not the only contemporary artist to have worked with so-called “found photographs”—a loose term given to everything from discarded(丢弃的) prints discovered in a junk shop to old advertisements or amateur photographs from a stranger’s family album. The German artist Joachim Schmid, who believes “basically everything is worth looking at”, has gathered discarded photographs, postcards and newspaper images since 1982. In his on-going project, Archiv, he groups photographs of family life according to themes: people with dogs; teams; new cars; dinner with the family; and so on.
Like Schmid, the editors of several self-published art magazines also champion (捍卫) found photographs. One of them, called simply Found, was born one snowy night in Chicago, when Davy Rothbard returned to his car to find under his wiper(雨刷) an angry note intended for someone else: “Why’s your car HERE at HER place?” The note became the starting point for Rothbard’s addictive publication, which features found photographs sent in by readers, such as a poster discovered in your drawer.
The whole found-photograph phenomenon has raised some questions. Perhaps one of the most difficult is: can these images really be considered as art? And if so, whose art? Yet found photographs produced by artists, such as Richard Prince, may raise endless possibilities. What was the cowboy in Prince’s Untitled doing? Was he riding his horse hurriedly to meet someone? Or how did Prince create this photograph? It’s anyone’s guess. In addition, as we imagine the back-story to the people in the found photographs artists, like Schmid, have collated (整理), we also turn toward our own photographic albums. Why is memory so important to us? Why do we all seek to freeze in time the faces of our children, our parents, our lovers, and ourselves? Will they mean anything to anyone after we’ve gone?
In the absence of established facts, the vast collections of found photographs give our minds an opportunity to wander freely. That, above all, is why they are so fascinating.
1.The first paragraph of the passage is used to _________.
A. remind readers of found photographs
B. advise reader to start a new kind of business
C. ask readers to find photographs behind sofa
D. show readers the value of found photographs
2.The underlined word “them” in Para 4 refers to __________.
A. the readers B. the editors
C. the found photographs D. the self-published magazines
3.By asking a series of questions in Para 5, the author mainly intends to indicate that ________.
A. memory of the past is very important to people
B. found photographs allow people to think freely
C. the back-story of found photographs is puzzling
D. the real value of found photographs is questionable
4.The author’s attitude towards found photographs can be described as _________.
A. critical B. doubtful C. optimistic D. satisfied
完形填空 (共20小题；每小题1分，满分20分)
请认真阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
We often talk about ourselves as if we have permanent genetic defects (缺陷) that can never be changed. “I’m impatient.” “I’m always behind.” “I always put things 31 !” You’ve surely heard them. Maybe you’ve used them to describe 32 .
These comments may come from stories about us that have been 33 for years—often from 34 childhood. These stories may have no 35 in fact. But they can set low expectations for us. As a child, my mother said to me, “Marshall, you have no mechanical skills, and you will never have any mechanical skills for the rest of your life.” How did these expectations 36 my development? I was never 37 to work on cars or be around 38 . When I was 18, I took the US Army’s Mechanical Aptitude Test. My scores were in the bottom for the entire nation!
Six years later, 39 , I was at California University, working on my doctor’s degree. One of my professors, Dr. Bob Tannbaum, asked me to write down things I did well and things I couldn’t do. On the positive side, I 40 down, “research, writing, analysis, and speaking.” On the 41 side, I wrote, “I have no mechanical skills.”
Bob asked me how I knew I had no mechanical skills. I explained my life 42 and told him about my 43 performance on the Army test. Bob then asked, “ 44 is it that you can solve 45 mathematical problems, but you can’t solve simple mechanical problems?”
Suddenly I realized that I didn’t 46 from some sort of genetic defect. I was just living out expectations that I had chosen to 47 . At that point, it wasn’t just my family and friends who had been 48 my belief that I was mechanically hopeless. And it wasn’t just the Army test, either. I was the one who kept telling myself, “You can’t do this!” I realized that as long as I kept saying that, it was going to remain true. 49 , if we don’t treat ourselves as if we have incurable genetic defects, we can do well in almost 50 we choose.
1.A. away B. off C. up D. down
2.A. them B. myself C. yourself D. others
3.A. said B. spoken C. spread D. repeated
4.A. as long as B. as far back as C. as well as D. as much as
5.A. basis B. plot C. cause D. meaning
6.A. lead B. improve C. affect D. change
7.A. encouraged B. demanded C. hoped D. agreed
8.A. means B. tools C. goods D. hammers
9.A. therefore B. somehow C. instead D. however
10.A. settled B. turned C. took D. got
11.A. passive B. active C. negative D. subjective
12.A. experiences B. trips C. roads D. paths
13.A. unexpected B. poor C. excellent D. average
14.A. When B. What C. How D. Why
15.A. complex B. advanced C. common D. primary
16.A. arise B. separate C. suffer D. come
17.A. believe B. suspect C. adopt D. receive
18.A. weakening B. strengthening C. abandoning D. accepting
19.A. As a result B. At the same time C. In addition D. On the contrary
20.A. anything B. something C. nothing D. all
You may not have played very well today, but at least you’ve got through to the next round and ________.
A. tomorrow never comes B. tomorrow is another day
C. never put off till tomorrow D. there is no tomorrow
When you learn English, you have to choose which accent to _____, American or British.
A. adopt B. adapt C. attach D. approve
With so many forms _______, many students feel at a loss before the 2010 college entrance exam.
A. to fill in B. filled in C. filling in D. to be filled in
Not only ________ interested in football but ________ beginning to show an interest in it.
A. the teacher himself is; all his students are B. the teacher himself is; are all his teachers
C. is the teacher himself; are all his students D. is the teacher himself; all his students are
