题文
What is great art? On the one hand, we can all see that great art is old art which is called great. But how do we know which art of our own times is great, and which will be forgotten? And who decides?These are important questions, for the great art of the past often was not considered great during its own time. When Shakespeare and Charles Dickens were writing, for example, most critics considered them as hack (平庸的) writers with little or no literary ability.
Similarly, Van Gogh and many of the other Impressionist painters of the late nineteenth century were not allowed to participate in events involving what were thought to be the "real" painters of the time, and often they were very poor. Yet today their paintings often sell for millions of dollars, while those so-called "real" painters are now barely remembered.
So what makes great art? Can, for example, rock music be great art? Music videos? Cartoons and comics? Those who call themselves critics of the fine arts often have been the last to recognize great art in the past, and we can probably expect this to be the situation today.
Critics often don’t recognize great art because they tend to be prejudiced against what is popular. Popular works, whether they are novels, movies, or comics, are usually considered to be produced for the sake of money only, and not for the sake of art.
But popularity, it seems to me, is one of the three signs that a present-day work of art may come to be thought of as great. The other two are that it is groundbreaking, and that it is inherently (内在的) beautiful.
Many works have one or even two of these qualities of being popular, unusual, and beautiful. But having all the three often will mean that a work of art will someday be seen to be great, though it may take a good spoonful of time, such as a century or two, to know for sure.
小题1:The first paragraph is intended to__________.A．lead to the following and arouse the reader’s curiosityB．introduce some real painters to the readersC．introduce the questions the writer wants to answer D．explain what kind of art will become popular小题2:The author used the examples of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Van Gogh to prove _____.A．these masters’ works have some shortcomingsB．these masters wouldn’t have been so successful without the criticsC．truly beautiful works of art are never understood when first created D．great masters are often not acknowledged while they were alive小题3:According to the author, great works _______.A．may be presented in different formsB．are generally valued by critics C．are thought valuable because of their sale priceD．will lose their value if they’re not accepted小题4:What can be inferred from the passage? A．Critics have changed their attitudes to great works. B．Most of the opinions of critics are valueless.C．The work of art itself, not the critics, determines its greatness.D．Works of Impressionist painters will be great one day. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:A
小题2:D
小题3:A
小题4:C
解析
文章论述了为什么艺术品是伟大的？小题1:A 写作意图题。文章的第一段正是为了引起下文，引起读者的兴趣，故A正确。
小题2:D 推理题。作者举这几个例子都是想向人们说明很多伟大的艺术家在生前都没有被承认。
小题3:A 推理题。根据文章倒数第2段可知伟大的作品呈现的形式往往是多样性的，要受人欢迎，要有内在的美，还要groundbreaking，故A正确。
小题4:C 推理题。根据文章倒数3,4两段可知批评家并不能决定一个作品的伟大与否，决定作品伟大与否的是艺术品本身。故C正确。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“What is great art? O.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
