2008年CET6英语六级仿真题（试卷1）阅读

Section B

Passage One

A study of art history might be a good way to learn more about a culture than is possible to learn in general history classes. Most typical history courses concentrate on politics, economics, and war. But art history focuses on much more than this because art reflects not only the political values of a people, but also religious beliefs, emotions, and psychology. In addition, information about the daily activities of our ancestors—or of people very different from our own—can be provided by art. In short, art expresses the essential qualities of a time and a place, and a study of it clearly offers us a deeper understanding than can be found in most history books.

In history books, objective information about the political life of a country is presented; that is, facts about politics are given, but opinions are not expressed. Art, on the other hand, is subjective: it reflects emotions and opinions. The great Spanish painter Francisco Goya was perhaps the first truly “political” artist. In his well-known painting The Third of May 1808, he criticized the Spanish government for its misuse of power over people. Over a hundred years later, symbolic images were used in Pablo Picasso’s Guernica to express the horror of war. Meanwhile, on another continent, the powerful paintings of Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros—as well as the works of Alfredo Ramos Martines—depicted these Mexican artists’deep anger and sadness about social problems.

In the same way, art can reflect a culture’s religious beliefs. For hundreds of years in Europe, religious art was almost the only type of art that existed. Churches and other religious buildings were filled with paintings that depicted people and stories from the Bible. Although most people couldn’t read, they could still understand biblical stories in the pictures on church walls. By contrast, one of the main characteristics of art in the Middle East was (and still is) its absence of human and animal images. This reflects the Islamic belief that statues are unholy. （注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。）

52.What can we learn from the passage about the characteristics of art history?
A) It shows us the religious beliefs and emotions of a people in addition to political values.
B) It provides us with information about the daily activities of people in the past.
C) It gives us an insight into the essential qualities of a time and a place.
D) All of the above.

53. Art is subjective because it can ___________.
A) easily rouse our anger or sadness about social problems
B) find a ready echo in our hearts
C) present a personal and emotional view of history
D) Both A) and B)

54.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A) Pablo Picasso was probably the first political artist.
B) Unlike Francisco Goya, Pablo and artists expressed their political opinions in their paintings.
C) That the religious art remained in Europe for centuries almost as the only type of art implies that art can reflect a people’s religious beliefs.
D) The example of art in Middle East illustrates that art cannot necessarily reflect a culture’s religious beliefs.

55.What is the main idea of the passage?
A) The significance of art history.
B) The making of art history.
C) The difference between general history and art history.
D) The influence of artists on art history.

56.What can we learn from the example of European churches and other religious buildings in the last paragraph?
A) Art can take various forms in Europe.
B) Art can reflect a people’s religious belief.
C) It is more difficult to study art history than general history.
D) People and stories from the Bible were painted on churches and other buildings in order to popularize the Bible.

Passage Two

The world has spent on preparation for war more than $112 billion a year, roughly $450 per head for every man, woman, and child in the world. Let us consider for a moment what could be done with this sum of money if it were spent on peace and not on war. Some of it, at any rate, in the more prosperous countries, could be spent on the reduction of taxation. The rest should be spent in ways that will, at the same time, be of benefit to mankind and a solution to the economic problem of change from war industry to the expansion of peace industries. As to this expansion, let us begin with the most elementary of all needs, namely, food. Today, the majority of mankind suffers from undernourishment, and in view of the population explosion, this situation is likely to grow worse in the coming decades. A very small part of what is now being spent upon weapons would improve our predicament. Not only could the American surplus of grain, which uselessly destroyed, be spent in relief of famine, but, by irrigation, large region now desert could be made fertile, and by improvement in transport, distribution from regions of excess to regions of scarcity could be helped.

Housing, even in the richest countries, is often disastrously inadequate. This could be relieved by a tiny fraction of what is being spent on missiles. Education everywhere, but especially in the newly liberated countries of Africa and Asia, demands expenditure many times as great as that which it receives now. But it is not only greater expenditure that is needed in education. If the terror of war were removed, science could be devoted to improving human welfare, instead of to the invention of increasingly expensive methods of mutual killing and schools would no longer think it a part of their duty to promote hatred of possible enemies by means of ignorance hardened by lies.
（注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。）

57. According to the passage, the problem of famine can be relieved by the following means EXCEPT ___________.
A) increasing taxes in rich countries
B) distributing food from regions of excess to regions of scarcity
C) improving the yield of grain
D) developing irrigating techniques

58. Which of the following statements is not mentioned as a benefit derived from diverting money spent on war to peaceful purposes?
A) People could pay fewer taxes.
B) People could be offered better housing.
C) People suffering from famine could get help.
D) Population explosion could be controlled.

59. What does the word “predicament” mean in this passage?
A) Natural disasters.
B) Lack of money.
C) Undernourishment going worse for the growing population.
D) Wars.

60. If the war continue, we can infer that science will be devoted to ________.
A) improving the education
B) inventing new methods of mutual killing
C) improving human welfare
D) preventing the wars

61. What’s author’s attitude in the passage?
A) Pessimistic.
B) Optimistic.
C) Critical.
D) Indifferent.