Question

Whenever something looks interesting or beautiful,there's a natural impulse to catch and own it—which means, in this day and age,that we can't help reaching for our phones to take a picture when seeing beautiful things.

Though this would seem to be a wonderful solution,there are two big problems about taking pictures.Firstly, we're likely to be so busy taking the pictures that we forget to look at the world whose beauty and interest inspire us to take a photograph in the first place.And secondly,because we feel the pictures are safely stored in our phones,we never get around to look at them.

These problems would seem to be very much of today,a consequence of the tiny phones in our pockets.But they were noticed right at the beginning of the history of photography,when the average camera was the size of a grandfather clock.The first person who noticed them was the English art critic,John Ruskin.He was a travelling lover who realized that most tourists failed to notice or remember the beautiful things they saw.

He argued that humans have a born tendency（倾向）to respond to beauty and desire to keep it,but that there are bad expressions of this desire.At worst,we get into buying souvenirs or taking photographs.But,in Ruskin's eyes, there's one thing we should do and that is attempting to draw the interesting things we see,and it doesn't matter whether we happen to have any talent for doing so.

Before the invention of photography,people used to draw far more than they do today.It was an active necessity. But in the mid-19th century,photography killed drawing.It became something only "artists" would ever do,so Ruskin spent four years on a campaign to get people drawing again.

So if drawing had value even when it was practiced by people with no talent,it was for Ruskin because drawing can teach us to notice properly rather than watch absent-mindedly（心不在焉地）.When describing what lies before our eyes with our own hands,we naturally move from a position of observing beauty in a loose way to one where we acquire a deep understanding of its parts.

1.What does the underlined word "impulse" mean?

A. Interest.    B. Urge.

C. Habit.    D. Reaction.

2.What does Paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A. An effective solution to storing something nice.

B. Reasons for taking pictures in the first place.

C. Problems related with taking photos.

D. Methods of storing pictures in phones.

3.It can be inferred that John Ruskin______.

A. lived at the origin of photography

B. lived at the origin of drawing

C. studied the history of photography

D. was an English literature critic

4.How did John Ruskin advise us to remember our travel?

A. By taking photographs.

B. By buying meaningful souvenirs.

C. By writing some travel notes.

D. By trying drawing what we see.

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

【解析】这篇文章主要讲了摄影的出现扼杀了绘画。曾经很普遍的绘画行为，变成了一种只有艺术家才会进行的活动，John Ruskin建议我们在旅行的时候要把我们所见到的事物画下来。

1.根据which means, in this day and age,that we can't help reaching for our phones to take a picture when seeing beautiful things. 可猜测出"impulse"的意思是推动，所以选B。

2.根据Though this would seem to be a wonderful solution,there are two big problems about taking pictures. 可知第二自然段主要讲了与拍照有关系的两个问题。

3.根据But they were noticed right at the beginning of the history of photography,when the average camera was the size of a grandfather clock.The first person who noticed them was the English art critic,John Ruskin.He was a travelling lover who realized that most tourists failed to notice or remember the beautiful things they saw. 可推测出John Ruskin住在摄影的起源地。

4.根据It became something only "artists" would ever do,so Ruskin spent four years on a campaign to get people drawing again. 可知John Ruskin建议我们在旅行的时候要把我们所见到的事物画下来。