Question

    Not all the historians in Canada are historians of Canada. Case in point: Timothy Brook.

Brook was born and schooled in Toronto, and he now teaches in Vancouver. But he’s a historian of China, and his recent book Vermeer’s Hat seems at first to be about Holland in the period of the Dutch masters. When I met Brook recently in Vancouver, he did seem truly a global historian. Vancouver is his home, but Vermeer’s Hat has been published around the world.

Brook was just in from Oxford, UK, where he taught part of the year, by way of New York, where Vermeer’s Hat had just been given the Lynton History Prize. He was about to go to California, where he was due to lecture. Still, the author and the book---and the hat---say something fresh about Canada and the world.

“I’ve been looking at Vermeer since 1971,” says Brook. Looking at Dutch interior (室内的) scenes from the mid-1600s, he noticed maps, Chinese porcelains (瓷器), South American silver, Virginia tobacco—all marking the influences of the wide world. In Brook’s telling, Vermeer’s masterworks become doorways to the world, and not least to the largest, richest nation in the world, the China of the late Ming Empire, a field in which Brook happens to be a specialist.

Brook used global history as a way to find common ground with fellow historians. “The sixteenth century is the age of discovery, but the seventeenth century is the age of people starting to move the possibility of a global economy, intercultural relations across the globe,” he said.

It proved not hard for this Canadian historian of the world to find Canada in world history--or the world in Canadian history. In Vermeer’s 1658 painting of a Dutch soldier in a wonderful hat, the felt (毛毡) for the hat was probably made in Lachine, from French la Chine meaning China. Established in Canada by de Champlain, the town was so named because Champlain, like other explorers the French explorer Samuel was hoping to get through Canada to China.

1.Which was the line of Brook’s recent journey back home            .

A. Toronto--Oxford→ Vancouver

B. Oxford→ New York→ Vancouver

C. California→ Toronto→ Vancouver

D. New York→ California→ Vancouver.

2.Which is discussed in Brook’s Vermeer’s Hat?

A. The Lynton History Prize

B. Ways to give good lectures

C. The Ming Dynasty of China

D. A hat Vermeer wore for years

3.What can we infer about Vermeer?

A. He was a Dutch painter

B. He was a French explorer

C. He was a UK publisher

D. He was a US teacher

4.What can be suitable title for the text?

A. The Influences of masters’ books

B. An age of moving and possibilities

C. The Importance of Cultural Exchange

D. A Canadian Historian Thinking Globally

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.D

【解析】

本文为说明文。文章介绍了加拿大的历史学家——蒂莫西·布鲁克(Timothy Brook)。

1.细节理解题。根据第三段中的Brook was just in from Oxford, UK, where he taught part of the year, by way of New York, where Vermeer’s Hat had just been given the Lynton History Prize.可知，布鲁克最近是从牛津大学回来，途径纽约，最后回到了家乡——温哥华。故B选项正确。

2.推理判断题。根据第四段中的In Brook’s telling, Vermeer’s masterworks become doorways to the world, and not least to the largest, richest nation in the world, the China of the late Ming empire, a field in which Brook happens to be a specialist.可推知，布鲁克的《弗米尔的帽子》探讨了中国的明朝。故C选项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据第二段中的his recent book Vermeer’s Hat seems at first to be about Holland in the period of the Dutch masters.及最后一段中的In Vermeer’s 1658 painting of a Dutch soldier in a wonderful hat,可推知，弗米尔是一名荷兰画家。故A选项正确。

4.标题判断题。根据最后一段中的It proved not hard for this Canadian historian of the world to find Canada in world history--or the world in Canadian history.可推知，蒂莫西•布鲁克是一名有着全球视野的历史学家。因此，D选项“一位具有全球视野的加拿大历史学家”适合做本文最佳标题。故D选项正确。