The longest bull run in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, at Sotheby’s in London on September 15th 2008. All but two pieces sold, fetching more than $70m, a record for a sale by a single artist. It was a last victory. As the auction¬eer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy.
The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising bewilderingly since 2003. At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion, reckons Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, a re¬search firm—double the figure five years earlier. Since then it may have come down to $50 billion. But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth, enormous egos, greed, passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.
In the weeks and months that followed Mr. Hirst’s sale, spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable. In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of contemporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated sector, they were down by nearly 90% in the year to November 2008. Within weeks the world’s two biggest auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, had to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.
The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989. This time experts reckon that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more fluctuant. But Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, says: I’m pretty confident we’re at the bottom.
What makes this slump different from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market. Almost everyone who was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell. The three Ds—death, debt and divorce—still deliver works of art to the market. But anyone who does not have to sell is keeping away, waiting for confidence to return. (394 words)
1.In the first paragraph, Damien Hirst’s sale was referred to as “a last victory” because （ ）.
2.By saying “spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable" ( Para. 3) , the author suggests that （ ）.
3.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
4.The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are （ ）.
5.The most appropriate title for this text could be（ ）.
问题1选项
A.the art market had witnessed a succession of victories
B.the auctioneer finally got the two pieces at the highest bids
C.
Beautiful Inside My Head, Forever won over all masterpieces
D.it was successfully made just before the world financial crisis
问题2选项
A.collectors were no longer actively involved in art-market auctions
B.people stopped every kind of spending and stayed away from galleries
C.art collection as a fashion had lost its appeal to a great extent
D.works of art in general had gone out of fashion so they were not worth buying
问题3选项
A.Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008.
B.The art market surpassed many other industries in momentum.
C.The art market generally went downward in various ways.
D.Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come.
问题4选项
A.auction houses’ favorites
B.contemporary trends
C.factors promoting artwork circulation
D.styles representing impressionists
问题5选项
A.Fluctuation of Art Prices
B.Up-to-date Art Auctions
C.Art Market in Decline
D.Shifted Interest in Arts
第1题:D
第2题:A
第3题:B
第4题:C
第5题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
In the first paragraph, Damien Hirst’s sale was referred to as “a last victory” because . 在第一段中，Damien Hirst的出售被称为“最后的胜利”，因为_____。
A. the art market had witnessed a succession of victories A. 艺术品市场接连取得胜利
B. the auctioneer finally got the two pieces at the highest bids B. 拍卖人最终以最高的出价得到了这两件艺术品
C. Beautiful Inside My Head, Forever won over all masterpieces C. Beautiful Inside My Head, Forever赢过了所有的杰作
D. it was successfully made just before the world financial crisis D. 它是在世界金融危机前夕成功制作的
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干In the first paragraph和a last victory定位到文章首段倒数第二句“It was a last victory”，题目问其原因，“原因分析”类型的题目的答案通常在下文，所以本题目的答案应在首段尾句中寻找：As the auctioneer called out bids...Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy. “就在拍卖师喊出报价时……雷曼兄弟申请破产。”根据常识知道雷曼兄弟的破产是世界金融危机的开始，正因为金融危机爆发，所以说它是“最后的胜利”，因此D项‘它是在世界金融危机之前成功完成的’正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、C选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
By saying “spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable” (Para. 3), the author suggests that ______. 通过说“任何形式的支出都变得非常不时髦”（第3段），作者暗示______。
A. collectors were no longer actively involved in art-market auctions A. 收藏家不再积极参与艺术品市场拍卖
B. people stopped every kind of spending and stayed away from galleries B. 人们停止了各种消费，远离画廊
C. art collection as a fashion had lost its appeal to a great extent C. 艺术收藏作为一种时尚已经在很大程度上失去了吸引力
D. works of art in general had gone out of fashion so they were not worth buying D. 艺术品总的来说已经过时了，所以不值得买
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干提示（Para. 3）和“spending... became deeply unfashionable”定位至第三段首句“In the weeks and months...，spending...became deeply unfashionable”。本题目是句子推断题，思路应该是关注定位信息的上下文，而此题的定位信息是段首句，因此应优先关注段内的下文信息，即第三段的第二句：In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. “在艺术品领域，这意味着收藏家远离了画廊和拍卖行。”此句与A项‘收藏家们不再积极参与艺术品市场的拍卖’对应，所以A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B文中说的是消费降低了而不是完全不购买，属于偷换概念；
C、D选项问题是一样的，文中没有说艺术收藏和艺术品失去了吸引力，而是购买艺术品失去了吸引力，属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following statements is NOT true? 以下哪项陈述不正确？
A. Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008. A. 从2007年到2008年，当代艺术的销售额急剧下降。
B. The art market surpassed many other industries in momentum. B. 艺术品市场的发展势头超过了许多其他行业。
C. The art market generally went downward in various ways. C. 艺术品市场普遍以各种方式下跌。
D. Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come. D. 一些艺术品经销商正在等待更好的机会。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】B项定位到第二段的首句：The world art market had already been losing momentum...自2003年以来，世界艺术品市场令人困惑地上涨之后，已经有一段时间失去了势头。没有提及B选项‘艺术品市场的发展势头超过了许多其他行业’，属于无中生有，所以选B。
【干扰项排除】
A项定位到第二段的第二、三句：At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion...Since then it may have come down to $50 billion，在2007年的巅峰时期，它的价值约为650亿美元。从那时起，它可能已经降到了500亿美元，所以A项‘从2007年到2008年，当代艺术品的销量急剧下降。’正确；
C项定位到第三段首句：...spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable，在赫斯特被卖掉后的几周或几个月里，任何形式的支出都变得非常不时尚。所以C项‘艺术品市场普遍以各种方式下跌。’正确；
D项定位到尾段尾句：But anyone who...is keeping away, waiting for confidence to return，但任何不需要抛售的人都在观望，等待信心回归。所以D项‘一些艺术品经销商正在等待更好的机会。’正确。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are_____. 最后一段中提到的三个D是_____。
A. auction houses’ favorites A. 拍卖行的最爱
B. contemporary trends B. 当代趋势
C. factors promoting artwork circulation C. 促进艺术品流通的因素
D. styles representing impressionists D. 代表印象派的风格
【考查点】词汇推断题。
【解题思路】根据题干the last paragraph和the three Ds定位到尾段倒数第二句：The three Ds—death, debt and divorce—still deliver works of art to the market“三D因素death（死亡），debt（债务）和divorce（离婚）——依然会把艺术品推向市场。”与C选项的‘促进艺术品流通的因素’逻辑对应，正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The most appropriate title for this text could be _____. 本文最合适的标题可以是_____。
A. Fluctuation of Art Prices A. 艺术品价格波动
B. Up-to-date Art Auctions B. 最新艺术品拍卖
C. Art Market in Decline C. 艺术品市场衰落
D. Shifted Interest in Arts D. 对艺术的兴趣转移
【考查点】主旨大意题
【解题思路】主旨题的思路是对整篇文章作高度概括，综合全文和每段首句，可以确定C选项‘衰退中的艺术品市场’正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项均片面，排除。
