|
TOEFL Directory > TOEFL writing > TOEFL Reading Class Unit 1_Passage 17_Question 177-187
TOEFL Reading Class Unit 1_Passage 17_Question 177-187
You have about 15 minutes to finish this passage.
First,use about 3-4 minutes to read the passage, try to understand the main idea of this passage.
Don't read it so slowly or try to remember all details.You need to do "fast reading",and "scan" the passage.
Second, read questions 1-11, and with questions you go back the passage again and look for correct answers.
Questions 177-187
Passage 17
The demand for portrait painting gave steady employment to surprisingly many artists in colonial North America. The nature of the work gave them a crucial economic advantage over the engraver, composer, or writer. Prints, musical scores, novels, or plays could be imported cheaply; personal portraits could not. Because portrait painting served the purpose of commemoration in a society without other visual means of preserving the memory of its ancestors, and because ideals of interior design considered massively framed portraits to be essential home furnishings, painting in the eighteenth century was a flourishing profession.
Only the preeminent painters, however, managed to establish themselves for long in one place. Once a painter completed all the available customers' portraits, there was usually no further demand for the work. Most painters belonged to the large band of traveling artists, actors, and musicians who roamed the colonies. Usually they announced their arrival and period of stay in the local newspaper, telling where specimens of their work could be seen -- a coffeehouse, private residence, or the printer's office. Universally, painters advertised two selling points: cheap rates and a good likeness. Most offered to accept no payment if the person who sat for the portrait found the likeness unpleasing.
The relative costliness of the work and the demand for it made painting in colonial America a competitive and prestigious profession, a possible source of economic independence and social advancement. Some painters obviously could not survive the considerable competition. Most became neither rich nor destitute, but earned a comfortable living between painting and engaging in related work. Some painters also ran shops selling brushes, glass, turpentine, varnish, canvas, carved frames. Other painters offered lessons in drawing or music. Success depended not only on the painter's skill but also on the kind of painting offered. Landscape painting, for instance, did not serve the purposes for which most colonists bought paintings. For provincials anxious to mark their social level, declare their taste, display their recent material gains, and record their success for posterity, painting meant portrait painting.
177. Which of the following statements can be inferred about engravers, composers, and writers in the colonies?
Their work was of poor quality.
They could easily become rich.
Their work was in great demand even though it was expensive.
They competed with people abroad who provided similar services.
178. The word means in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) methods
b) elements
c) purposes
d) problems
179. The word flourishing in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) persistent
b) influential
c) accomplished
d) thriving
180. The word they in the passage refers to
a) portraits
b) painters
c) colonies
d) specimens
181. The passage supports which of the following statements about portrait painters?
a) Few portrait painters enjoyed giving lessons in drawing.
b) The profession of portrait painting offered little prestige.
c) Most portrait painters advertised low rates for their services.
d) Most portrait painters were able to establish themselves in one location.
182. The word Universally in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) on purpose
b) as a result
c) in exchange
d) without exception
183. A painter would cancel the fee for a portrait when the customers
b) were unhappy with the painting
c) were art students of the painter's
d) sat for the portrait in the painter's own shop
e) allowed the painter to display sample works in their homes
184. The author mentions brushes, glass, turpentine, varnish, canvas, and carved frames, in the passage as examples of items that
a) portrait painters gave to their customers as gifts
b) had to be imported into the colonies
c) varied greatly in price from city to city
d) some painters sold to supplement their income
185. The word anxious in the passage is closest in meaning to
a) worthy
b) eager
c) fortunate
d) obvious
186. The author states that painting meant portrait painting to imply that
a) colonists purchased various types of paintings
b) most colonists engaged in some form of painting
c) portrait painting was the most highly regarded form of painting
d) the meaning of the word "painting?was confusing to many colonists
187. All of the following are reasons why portrait painters prospered EXCEPT:
a) There was little competition among portrait painters.
b) Colonists felt that portraits were a symbol of high status in society.
c) Portraits were considered important decorations for colonial homes.
d) Portraits were the only way to preserve the likeness of a loved one.
Click here to get the detail explanations and correct answers.
|
