名校最新大学英语四级阅读精讲的系列讲义：(105)

　　Grandma Moses is among the most celebrated twentieth century painters of the United States, yet she had barely started painting before she was in her late seventies. As she once said of herself: I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me. No one could have had a more productive age.

　　 She was born Anna Mary Robertson on a farm in New York State, one of five boys and five girls. At twelve she left home and was in domestic service until, at twenty seven, she married Thomas Moses, the hired hand of one of her employers. They farmed most of their lives, first in Virginia and then in New York State, at Eagle Bridge. She had ten children, of whom five survived; her husband died in 1927.Grandma Moses painted a little as a child and made embroidery pictures as a hobby, but only switched to oils in old age because her hands had become too stiff to sew and she wanted to keep busy and pass the time. Her pictures were first sold at the local drugstore and at a fair, and were soon spotted by a dealer who bought everything she painted. Three of the pictures were exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1940 she had her first exhibition in New York. Between the

　　1930s and her death she produced some 2,000 pictures: detailed and lively portrayals of the rural life she had known for so long, with a marvelous sense of color and form. I think really hard till I think of something really pretty, and then I paint it. she said.

　　1.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

　　A) Grandma Moses: A Biographical Sketch

　　B) The Children of Grandma Moses

　　C) Grandma Moses: Her Best Exhibition

　　D) Grandma Moses and Other Older Artists

　　2.According to the passage, Grandma Moses began to paint because she wante

　　d to ____.

　　A) decorate her home

　　B) keep active

　　C) improve her salary

　　D) gain an international reputation

　　3.From Grandma Moses description of herself in the first paragraph, it can be inferred that she was ____.

　　A) independent B) pretty

　　C) wealthy D) timid

　　4.Grandma Moses spent most of her life ____.

　　A) nursing B) painting

　　C) embroidering D) farming

　　5.In line 14, the word spotted could best be replaced by ____.

　　A) speckled B) featured

　　C) noticed D) damaged

　　答案与解析：

　　1.A。

　　本文的最佳标题是什么 ? 本题考察对整篇文章的综合概括能力。整篇文章都是关于 Grandma Moses简略的自传和她的艺术生涯，故应选 A项作本篇文章的标题。

　　2.B。

　　根据短文所述， Grandma Moses开始学画画是因为她想保持活力。本题为一般推理题，需要从字里行间找答 案。在这篇文章的第一段中，曾经引用她的一句话： I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me. 所以她画画的目的是为让自己多活动，而非其它原因。

　　3.A。

　　从第一段 Grandma Moses的自述中可以推断出她具有独立性。本题为判断分析题，需要根据关键词语进行推断。在第一段中的那句话，可以看出来，她有 very strong sense of independence.故选A)。

　　4.D。

　　Grandma Moses把大部分时间花在耕作上。本题为一般理解题，只要仔细阅读，很容易从字里行间找到答案。在第二段中间一句话 They farmed almost of their lives ，可以看出她一生中大部分时间用于farming。

　　5.C。

　　文章第十七行中的单词 spotted 的最佳替代词是什么? 此题为语义测试题。根据上下文可以看出她的作品被那个商人发现并注意到她的艺术价值，故选 C)。