托福阅读真题Official 44 Passage 2（七）

托福阅读真题Official 44 Passage 2（七）

The Use of the Camera Obscura

The precursor of the modern camera,the camera obscura is a darkened enclosure into which light is admitted through a lens in a small hole.The image of the illuminated area outside the enclosure is thrown upside down as if by magic onto a surface in the darkened enclosure.This technique was known as long ago as the fifth century B.C.in China.Aristotle also experimented with it in the fourth century B.C.,and Leonardo da Vinci described it in his notebooks in 1490.In 1558 Giovanni Battista Della Porta wrote in his twenty-volume work Magia naturalis(meaning“natural magic”)instructions for adding a convex lens to improve the quality of the image thrown against a canvas or panel in the darkened area where its outlines could be traced.Later,portable camera obscuras were developed,with interior mirrors and drawing tables on which the artist could trace the image.For the artist,this technique allows forms and linear perspective to be drawn precisely as they would be seen from a single viewpoint.Mirrors were also used to reverse the projected images to their original positions.

Did some of the great masters of painting,then,trace their images using a camera obscura.Some art historians are now looking for clues of artists’use of such devices.One of the artists whose paintings are being analyzed from this point of view is the great Dutch master,Jan Vermeer,who lived from 1632 to 1675 during the flowering of art and science in the Netherlands,including the science of optics.Vermeer produced only about 30 known paintings,including his famous The Art of Painting.The room shown in it closely resembles the room in other Vermeer paintings,with lighting coming from a window on the left,the same roof beams,and similar floor tiles,suggesting that the room was fitted with a camera obscura on the side in the foreground.The map hung on the opposite wall was a real map in Vermeer’s possession,reproduced in such faithful detail that some kind of tracery is suspected.When one of Vermeer’s paintings was X-rayed,it did not have any preliminary sketches on the canvas beneath the paint,but rather the complete image drawn in black and white without any trial sketches.Vermeer did not have any students,did not keep any records,and did not encourage anyone to visit his studio,facts that can be interpreted as protecting his secret use of a camera obscura.

In recent times the British artist David Hockney has published his investigations into the secret use of the camera obscura,claiming that for up to 400 years,many of Western art’s great masters probably used the device to produce almost photographically realistic details in their paintings.He includes in this group Caravaggio,Hans Holbein,Leonardo da Vinci,Diego Velázquez,Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres,Agnolo Bronzino,and Jan van Eyck.From an artist’s point of view,Hockney observed that a camera obscura compresses the complicated forms of a three-dimensional scene into two-dimensional shapes that can easily be traced and also increases the contrast between light and dark,leading to the chiaroscuroartistic term for a contrast between light and dark effect seen in many of these paintings.In Jan van Eyck’s The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami,the complicated foreshortening(a technique for representing an image in art that makes it appear to recede in space)in the chandelier and the intricate detail in the bride’s garments are among the clues that Hockney thinks point to the use of the camera obscura.

So what are we to conclude.If these artists did use a camera obscura,does that diminish their stature.Hockney argues that the camera obscura does not replace artistic skill in drawing and painting.In experimenting with it,he found that it is actually quite difficult to use for drawing,and he speculates that the artists probably combined their observations from life with tracing of shapes.

Question 13 of 14

Look at the four squares[■]that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.All these developments helped artists to create accurate images of objects,people,and scenes.Where would the sentence best fit?Click on a square[■]to add the sentence to the passage.

正确答案：D

题目详解

题型分类：插入句子题

题干分析：考察句子和句子之间的衔接关系。插入句中的关键词All these developments说明该句之前应该提及到多种发展，该插入句是对前面内容的总结概括。

选项分析：

D选项此空的前面分别提到了adding a convex lens to...，portable camera obscuras和mirrors这些发展。对应插入句的All these developments是对前面的内容进行了概括总结，在逻辑和内容上构成衔接。

A选项此空前面提到暗箱的出现和最初的形式凸透镜的出现adding a convex lens to...，这只是一个发展。

B选项此空前面提到暗箱的进一步发展，出现了可携带式，并且内置了镜子和绘图板...portable camera obscuras were developed,with interior mirrors and drawing tables...。

C选项此空之后又提到了一个发展——镜子，Mirrors were also used to reverse the projected images...。若将插入句放此处，发展并没有全部说完，和插入句中的All these developments不衔接。

Question 14 of 14

Directions:An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below.Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage.Some sentences do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.This question is worth 2 points.

The camera obscura is a darkened enclosure into which light is admitted through a lens in a small hole.

Answer Choices:

A.

Evidence that the use of the camera obscura has long been known is provided by its description in many sources,including works dating back to Chinese writers from the fifth century B.C.

B.

The camera obscura was most widely used by artists in seventeenth-century Netherlands,a period when art and science thrived.

C.

Some historians who have studied paintings by Western masters have found clues indicating that the masters may have secretly used the camera obscura in their works.

D.

The unique features of Vermeer’s The Art of Painting make it unlikely that it was made with a camera obscura,as opposed to his other works.

E.

It is now widely believed that the use of the camera obscura led to the development of a style of photographic realism in Western art.

F.

The artist David Hockney has speculated that artists probably combined the use of the camera obscura with their own original observations from life.

正确答案：ACF

题目详解

题型分类：文章总结题

题干分析：选择概括性的正确选项。

选项分析：

A选项是第一段的重要信息。the use of the camera obscura has long been known is provided by its description in many sources对应第一段的Aristotle also experimented with it in the fourth century B.C.,and Leonardo da Vinci described it in his notebooks in 1490.In 1558 Giovanni Battista Della Porta wrote...，including works dating back to Chinese writers from the fifth century B.C.对应第一段的This technique was known as long ago as the fifth century B.C.in China。

C选项是第二段的重要信息。the masters may have secretly used the camera obscura in their works对应第二段的前三句。第二段后面是对其中一个艺术家Vermeer很可能使用暗箱的证据说明。

F选项是第四段的重要信息。artists probably combined the use of the camera obscura with their own original observations from life对应第四段的最后一句。

B选项The camera obscura was most widely used by artists in seventeenth-century Netherlands。在第二段中说了...from 1632 to 1675 during the flowering of art and science in the Netherlands...但并未说广泛使用暗箱。无中生有。

D选项与第二段中对于Vermeer’s The Art of Painting的描述恰恰相反，该画作是画家使用暗箱的证据之一，和他的其他画作也相似。因此与原文描述不符。

E选项说the use of the camera obscura led to the development of a style of photographic realism inWestern art而原文第三段中说many of Western art’s great masters probably used the device to produce almost photographically realistic details in their paintings。暗箱是photographically realistic details创作的一个工具，而没有表达暗箱导致了photographic realism的发展。

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