Every artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public. Not only does he want to say it well, but also he wants it to be something which has not been said before. He hopes the public will listen and understand－he wants to teach them, and he wants them to learn from him.

What visual artists like painters want to teach is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters translate their experiences into shapes and colors, not words. They seem to feel that a certain selection of shapes and colors, out of the countless billions possible, is exceptionally interesting for them and worth showing to us. Without their work we should never have noticed these particular shapes and colors, or have felt the delight which they brought to the artist.

Most artists take their shapes and colors from the world of nature and from human bodies in movement and rest; their choices indicate that these aspects of the world are worth looking at, and that they contain beautiful sights. Contemporary artists might say that they merely choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, and that there is nothing more in it. Yet they do not choose them without reference to the character of their subjects.

If one painter chooses to paint a gangrenous(生疮的) leg and another a lake in moonlight, each of them is directing our attention to a certain aspect of the world. Each painter is telling us something－all of which means that, consciously or unconsciously, he is trying to teach us.

1．It is hard to explain what a painter is saying, because ___________.

A．painters do not express themselves well

B．painters use shapes and colors instead of words

C．painters use unusual words and phrases

D．painters do not say anything actually

2．The contemporary art contains ____________.

A．totally imaginary subjects

B．merely the subjects from nature

C．uninteresting aspects of the world

D．subjects chosen partly for their meaning

3．Compared with a painter of unpleasant subjects, a painter who draws a lake in moonlight is

_______________.

A．better to communicate with

B．more skilled at expressing himself

C．pointing at different things

D．showing more meaning

4．From the passage we can get the information that _____________.

A．paintings are not difficult to understand

B．painters intend to make the paintings hard to understand

C．artists don’t care about the public

D．one must look beyond shapes and colors to find what the artist is saying

Every artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public．Not only does he want to say it well, but he wants it to be something which has not been said before．He hopes the public will listen and understand he wants to teach them, and he wants them to learn from him．

What visual（视觉的）artists like painters want to teach is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters translate their experiences into shapes and colours, not words．They seem to feel that a certain selection of shapes and colours, out of the countless billions possible, is exceptionally interesting for them and worth showing to us．Without their work we should never have noticed these particular shapes and colours, or have felt the delight which they brought to the artist．

Most artists take their shapes and colours from the world of nature and from human bodies in motion and repose（动态和静态）, their choices indicate that these aspects of the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights．Contemporary（当代的）artists might say that they merely choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern that there is nothing more in it．Yet even they do choose entirely without reference to the character of their subjects．If one painter chooses to paint a gangrenous（坏疽性的）leg and another a lake in moonlight, each of them is directing our attention to a certain aspect of the world．Each painter is telling us something, showing us something, emphasizing something all of which means that, consciously or unconsciously, he is trying to teach us．

1．It is hard to explain what a painter is saying, because                       ．

A．most painters do not express themselves well

B．a painter uses unusual words and phrases

C．a painter uses shapes and colours instead of words

D．many painters do not say anything

2．A painter chooses certain shapes and colours because he feels that they                  ．

A．have been used frequently in the past    B．are easy to work with

C．are worth showing to the public         D．will be most attractive to the public

3．The writer says that contemporary artists might say their choice of subject              ．

A．carries a message to the public             B．only provides interesting patterns

C．has no pattern or form                          D．teaches the public important truths

4．Compared with a painter of unpleasant subjects, a painter who draws a lake in moonlight is                  ．

A．having more meanings                         B．pointing out different things

C．more skilled                                          D．giving less information

5．Implied（暗示）but not stated:                                    ．

A．A painting is more easily understood than a symphony（交响乐）

B．Art is merely the arranging of shapes and colors

C．Every artist tries to say something to the public

D．One must look beyond shape and colour to find what the artist is saying