Question

    Claude Monet was born in Paris, France, on November 14,1840. By the time he was fifteen, Monet had become popular as a caricaturist. Through an exhibition of his drawings at a local frame shop in 1858, Monet met Eugene Boudin, a landscape painter. Boudin introduced Monet to outdoor painting, an activity that soon became his life’s work.

Monet was interested in natural light, atmosphere, and color, and recorded them in his paintings as accurately as possible. A striking example of his early style was the Terrace at St. Adresse, which contained a shining mixture of bright, natural colors.

Monet exhibited regularly in the group shows. His painting Impression: Sunrise inspired a newspaper critic Louis Leroy to call all of the artists in the group “impressionists,” and the name stuck.

Monet gradually gained critical and financial success during the late 1880s and the 1890s. This was due to the efforts of Durand-Ruel, who sponsored one-man exhibitions of Monet’s work.

During the 1890s he devoted his energy to paintings of haystacks. In these works Monet painted his subjects from the same physical position, allowing only the light and weather conditions to vary from picture to picture. By 1899 he began to work on his famous paintings of the water lilies in his garden at Giverny, France.

Monet’s late years were very difficult. His health declined rapidly, and he was almost blind. Besides, he struggled with the problems of his art. In 1920 he began to work on twelve large canvases of water lilies, which he planned to give to his country. To complete them, he fought against his own failing eyesight and the fact that he had no experience in creating large-scale mural art. In fact, the task required him to learn a new kind of painting at the age of eighty. The painting was characterized by a broad, sweeping style and depended almost entirely on color.

Monet died on December 5,1926,at his home. He once wrote, “My only merit lies in having painted directly in front of nature, seeking to express my impressions of the fleeting effects.” Most art historians believe that Monet accomplished much more than this. He helped change the world of painting by shaking off the convention of the past. By dissolving forms in his works, Monet opened the door for further abstraction in art and influenced such later artists as Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning.

1.Who helped Monet find his life’s work?

A.Eugene Boudin. B.Durand-Ruel. C.Louis Leroy. D.Mark Rothko.

2.What can we infer from the passage?

A.Monet tended to paint haystacks from different positions.

B.The painting Terrace at St. Adresse reflects Monet’ s late style.

C.The name “impressionist” originated from Impression: Sunrise.

D.Durand-Ruel was so interested in Monet’ s paintings that he bought a lot.

3.What do we know about Monet’ s late years?

A.He failed to learn a new painting skill due to old age.

B.Monet made a fortune by selling canvases to his country.

C.Monet came across difficulties in creating large-scale mural art.

D.Monet committed himself to maintaining traditional painting style.

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

A.A great artist-Claude Monet B.Claude Monet and Impressionism

C.Brilliant achievements of Monet D.The greatest painter in the world

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.C

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。文章向我们介绍了法国画家Claude Monet，他在绘画上的风格受风景画家Eugene Boudin的影响较大，他打破传统惯例，绘画色彩大胆而明亮，在19世纪80年代中期他成为了印象派的领袖，他用他的一生来作画，即使在他视力衰退的时候他也没有放弃绘画。

1.

细节理解题。根据第一段中Through an exhibition of his drawings at a local frame shop in 1858, Monet met Eugene Boudin, a landscape painter. Boudin introduced Monet to outdoor painting, an activity that soon became his life’s work.可知1858年，在当地一家画框店举办的画展上，Monet遇到了风景画家Eugene Boudin。Boudin使Monet开始从事户外绘画，这项活动很快成为他毕生的事业。由此可知，Eugene Boudin帮助Monet找到了他一生的事业。故选A。

2.

推理判断题。根据第三段中His painting Impression: Sunrise inspired a newspaper critic Louis Leroy to call all of the artists in the group “impressionists,” and the name stuck.可知他的画作Impression: Sunrise启发了一位报纸评论家Louis Leroy，于是他把这组画家都称为“印象派画家”，这个名字从此流传了下来。由此可推知，“印象派”这个名字来源于Impression: Sunrise。故选C。

3.

细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中To complete them, he fought against his own failing eyesight and the fact that he had no experience in creating large-scale mural art.可知为了完成这些作品，他与自己日益衰退的视力以及他没有创作大型壁画艺术经验的事实做了斗争。由此可知，莫奈晚年在创作大型壁画时遇到了困难。故选C。

4.

主旨大意题。根据第一段Claude Monet was born in Paris, France, on November 14,1840. By the time he was fifteen, Monet had become popular as a caricaturist. Through an exhibition of his drawings at a local frame shop in 1858, Monet met Eugene Boudin, a landscape painter. Boudin introduced Monet to outdoor painting, an activity that soon became his life’s work.可知1840年11月14日，Claude Monet出生于法国巴黎。Monet十五岁时，已成为一名受欢迎的漫画画家。1858年，在当地一家画框店举办的画展上，Monet遇到了风景画家Eugene Boudin。Boudin使Monet开始从事户外绘画，这项活动很快成为他毕生的事业。结合文章向我们介绍了法国画家Claude Monet，他在绘画上的风格受风景画家Eugene Boudin的影响较大，他打破传统惯例，绘画色彩大胆而明亮，在19世纪80年代中期他成为了印象派的领袖，他用他的一生来作画，即使在他视力衰退的时候他也没有放弃绘画。由此可知，A选项“伟大的艺术家——Claude Monet”最符合文章标题。故选A。