北京新东方学校  李剑

　　本文出处：Nov 26th 2009，From The Economist print edition

　　原文标题：A special report on the art market：Suspended animation

　　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 auctioneer 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 vertiginously since 2003. At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion, reckons Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, a research 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, especially in New York, where the bail-out of the banks coincided with the loss of thousands of jobs and the financial demise of many art-buying investors. 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—for Chinese contemporary art—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, a move that started the most serious contraction in the market since the Second World War. This time experts reckon that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more volatile. 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, whereas in the early 1990s, when interest rates were high, there was no demand even though many collectors wanted to sell. Christie’s revenues in the first half of 2009 were still higher than in the first half of 2006. 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。

　　21. In the first paragraph, Damien Hirst's sale was referred to as “a last victory” because ____-。

　　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

　　选【D】，因为第一段段尾句As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy. 即雷曼兄弟公司破产。

　　22. By saying “spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable”(Line 1-2,Para.3)，the author suggests that_____ 。

　　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

　　选【A】，本题迷惑选项为C，文章第三段只强调了  collectors stayed away；Sales fell，并没有强调“收藏时尚早在这之前就已经大大降温了”。

　　23. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

　　A .Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2007to 2008.

　　B. The art market surpassed many other industries in momentum。

　　C. The market generally went downward in various ways。

　　D. Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come。

　　选【B】因为文章第二段只说了The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising vertiginously since 2003.并没有说比别的行业更有势头冲劲。

　　24. The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are ____

　　A. auction houses' favorites

　　B. contemporary trends

　　C. factors promoting artwork circulation

　　D. styles representing impressionists

　　选【C】本题其实属于猜词题，问3Ds是什么含义，根据最后一段的上下文的含义，上一段段尾句说：But Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, says: “I’m pretty confident we’re at the bottom。”；以及3Ds之前的句子，there are still buyers in the market；Christie’s revenues in the first half of 2009 were still higher；not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell能感觉到后文应该继续表示有信心，对将来乐观。所以选C。

　　25. The most appropriate title for this text could be ___

　　A. Fluctuation of Art Prices

　　B. Up-to-date Art Auctions

　　C. Art Market in Decline

　　D. Shifted Interest in Arts

　　选【C】，文章从第二段开始就说虽然大家还是有信心，但艺术收藏市场不景气。

　　Text 2

　　本文出处：The Washington Post, June 24, 1990

　　原文标题：Why Is It So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other?

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