The hauntingpaintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, on show in the final leg of a travelling tourthat has already attracted thousands of visitors in Hamburg and The Hague, maycome as a surprise to many. Few outside the Nordic world would recognise thework of this Finnish artist who died in 1946. More people should. The 120 workshave at their core 20 self-portraits, half the number she painted in all. Thefirst, dated 1880, is of a wide-eyed teenager eager to absorb everything. Thelast is a sighting of the artist’s ghost-to-be; Schjerfbeck died the year after it was made. Together thisseries is among the most moving and accomplished autobiographies-in-paint.

Precociouslygifted, Schjerfbeck was 11 when she entered the Finnish Art Society’s drawing school. "TheWounded Warrior in the Snow", a history painting, was bought by a privatecollector and won her a state travel grant when she was 17. Schjerfbeck studiedin Paris, went on to Pont-Aven, Brittany, where she painted for a year, then toTuscany, Cornwall and St Petersburg. During her 1887 visit to St Ives,Cornwall, Schjerfbeck painted "The Convalescent". A child wrapped ina blanket sits propped up in a large wicker chair, toying with a sprig. Thepicture won a bronze medal at the 1889 Paris World Fair and was bought by theFinnish Art Society. To a modern eye it seems almost sentimental and isredeemed only by the somewhat stunned, melancholy expression on the child’s face, which may have beeninspired by Schjerfbeck’s early experiences. At four, she fell down a flight of steps and neverfully recovered.

In 1890,Schjerfbeck settled in Finland. Teaching exhausted her, she did not like thework of other local painters, and she was further isolated when she took on thecare of her mother (who lived until 1923). "If I allow myself the freedomto live a secluded life", she wrote, "then it is because it has to bethat way." In 1902, Schjerfbeck and her mother settled in the small,industrial town of Hyvinkaa, 50 kilometres north of Helsinki. Isolation had onedesired effect for it was there that Schjerfbeck became a modern painter. Sheproduced still lives and landscapes but above all moody yet incisive portraitsof her mother, local school girls, women workers in town (profiles of apensive, aristocratic looking seamstress dressed in black stand out). And ofcourse she painted herself. Comparisons have been made with James McNeillWhistler and Edvard Munch. But from 1905, her pictures became pure Schjerfbeck.

"I havealways searched for the dense depths of the soul, that have not yet discoveredthemselves", she wrote, "where everything is still unconscious-thereone can make the greatest discoveries." She experimented with differentkinds of underpainting, scraped and rubbed, made bright rosy red spots; doingwhatever had to be done to capture the subconscious-her own and that of hermodels. In 1913, Schjerfbeck was rediscovered by an art dealer and journalist,Gosta Stenman. Once again she was a success. Retrospectives, touringexhibitions and a biography followed, yet Schjerfbeck remained little knownoutside Scandinavia. That may have had something to do with her indifference toher renown. "I am nothing, absolutely nothing", she wrote. "AllI want to do is paint". Schjerfbeck was possessed of a unique vision, andit is time the world recognised that.

1. Schjerfbeck’s paintings may come as a surprise to many because_____.

[A] herpaintings are rarely known outside the Nordic world

[B] herpaintings have never been on show out of the Nordic world

[C] herpaintings have the power to haunt people whoever have seen them

[D] herpaintings focus on supernatural elements such as ghosts

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

[A] "TheConvalescent" is in fact a portrait of Schjerbeck in her childhood.

[B] "TheConvalescent" is a reflection of Schejerbeck’s sentimental childhood.

[C] "TheConvalescent" is made as a result of an accident in Schejerbeck’s childhood.

[D] "TheConvalescent" is featured by the child’s stunned, melancholy expression.

3.Schejerbeck chose to live asecluded life mainly because of ____.

[A] she wasexhausted by her teaching job

[B] herpersonality prefers this kind of style

[C] she couldnot appreciate the work of the other local painters

[D] hermother’s health condition required her to adopt such a life style.

4.Schjerfbeck remained little knownoutside the Nordic world probably because_____.

[A] she didnot make efforts to publicize her works.

[B] she knewthat her works would gain worldwide recognition one day.

[C] she onlycared about her painting instead of personal fame.

[D] the lastthing she was interested in was to have people disturb her

5. We caninfer from the passage that the most outstanding characteristics of Schjerfbeck’s paintings is_____.

[A] her vividcharacterization of common people

[B] hercapture of the characters’ soul

[C] themelancholy expression of the characters

[D] herunconscious sense of some mysterious elements

篇章剖析：

這篇文章介紹了畫家Schejerbeck的創(chuàng)作經(jīng)歷。第一段先有畫展引出本文的主人公Schejerbeck來;第二段講述Schejerbeck早期的創(chuàng)作經(jīng)歷和成績;第三段講述Schejerbeck創(chuàng)作如何成熟的;第四段講述Schejerbeck創(chuàng)作的體會和特點。

詞匯注釋：

haunting adj不易忘懷的，常浮現(xiàn)在心頭的

leg n. 最后一程

precociously adv. 過早地

sprig n. 植物的小枝

redeem v. 彌補(bǔ)，補(bǔ)救

moody adj. 喜怒無常的, 憂悒

incisive adj.尖刻的

convalescentn.恢復(fù)期病人; adj. 恢復(fù)期的;漸愈的

難句突破:

(1) Thehaunting paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck, on show in the final leg of atravelling tour that has already attracted thousands of visitors in Hamburg andThe Hague, may come as a surprise to many.

[主體句式] The haunting paintings may comeas a surprise to many.

[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個簡單句，主語有一個比較復(fù)雜的介詞短語做定語on show...，在這個介詞短語中，充當(dāng)狀語的介詞短語中介詞的賓語帶有以that引導(dǎo)的定語從句。

[句子譯文] 海琳·Schjerfbeck那些讓人不易忘懷的畫在這次巡展最后的展出將會給人帶來許多驚喜，而其實這次巡展已經(jīng)吸引了漢堡和海牙成千上萬的游客。

(2)To amodern eye it seems almost sentimental and is redeemed only by the somewhatstunned, melancholy expression on the child’s face, which may have beeninspired by Schjerfbeck’s early experiences.

[主體句式] It seems almost sentimental andis redeemed only by ...

[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個并列句，第二個分句的狀語比較復(fù)雜，介詞短語的賓語expression帶有一個由which引導(dǎo)的非限定性定語從句。

[句子譯文] 一個現(xiàn)代人看來這幅畫仿佛是感傷的，只有孩子有點發(fā)呆、憂郁的表情算是一點緩和。這可能是Schjerfbeck小時候的經(jīng)歷觸發(fā)而創(chuàng)作的。

題目分析：

1. Schjerfbeck’s paintings may come as a surprise to many because_____.1.許多人看到Schjerfbeck的作品都會大吃一驚因為_____。

[A] her paintings are rarely known outside the Nordic world[A] 日耳曼世界之外很少有人知道她的作品。

[B] her paintings have never been on show out of the Nordic world[B]她的作品從沒在日耳曼世界之外的地方展覽過。

[C] her paintings have the power to haunt people whoever have seenthem[C] 她的作品會反復(fù)出沒于欣賞過她畫作的人們腦海中。

[D] her paintings focus on supernatural elements such as ghosts[D]她的作品注重一些超自然的因素，諸如鬼神等。

[答案]A

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆

[分析] 推理題。文章第一段提到，Scandinavia作品巡回展在德國和海牙吸引了好多人，大部分的人看到她的作品都會吃驚，緊接著就說日耳曼世界之外很少有人見過她的作品，但是她的作品理應(yīng)受到更多人的觀賞。可以推測，她的作品是比較優(yōu)秀的作品，但因為大多數(shù)人從沒見過，第一次看到會感覺震驚。因此，主要原因是日耳曼世界之外很少有人知道她的作品。B選項顯然與原文不符，因為她的作品在日耳曼之外的地區(qū)也展示過。C和D只是片面概括了她作品的一些特點，并不符合題意。

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?2.根據(jù)文章，下列哪一個論述是正確的?

[A] "The Convalescent" is in fact a portrait of Schjerbeckin her childhood.[A] "正在康復(fù)的人"實際上是Schjerbeck描述自己兒童時期的一幅自畫像。

[B] "The Convalescent" is a reflection of Schejerbeck’ssentimental childhood.[B] "正在康復(fù)的人"反應(yīng)了Schjerbeck感傷的兒童時代。

[C] "The Convalescent" is made as a result of an accidentin Schejerbeck’s childhood.[C] "正在康復(fù)的人"是因Schjerbeck兒童時期發(fā)生的一起意外才創(chuàng)作的。

[D] "The Convalescent" is featured by the child’s stunned,melancholy expression.[D] "正在康復(fù)的人"主要突出描繪了兒童發(fā)呆、憂郁的表情。

[答案]C

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。題目是有關(guān)Schjerbeck 早期作品"正在康復(fù)的人"，文中提到對于一雙現(xiàn)代的眼睛來說，這幅作品比較感傷，只是孩子有點發(fā)呆、憂郁的表情稍微緩和了這種情緒，這幅作品可能是受其兒童時期經(jīng)歷的影響才創(chuàng)作的，因為她小時候從樓梯上摔了下來。因此，四個選項中，A 并不是她的自畫像;B 這幅畫并不是要表現(xiàn)她感傷的兒童時代，只是兒童時期經(jīng)歷過一次意外摔傷是創(chuàng)作這幅畫的誘因而已;C說明了創(chuàng)作誘因，是正確的;D于文章內(nèi)容不符。

3.Schejerbeck chose to live a secluded life mainly because ____.3.Schejerbeck選擇了一種隱居生活主要因為_____。

[A] she was exhausted by her teaching job[A] 她厭倦了教書的生活。

[B] her personality prefers this kind of style[B] 她個性使得她選擇了這樣的一種生活方式。

[C] she could not appreciate the work of the other local painters[C]她不喜歡當(dāng)?shù)仄渌�畫家的作品�?/P>

[D] her mother’s bad health condition required her to adopt such a life style[D] 她母親身體不好，因此她必須以這種方式生活。

[答案] B

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆

[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。Schejerbeck選擇了過隱居生活，這在文章第二段中有具體描述。首先她厭倦了教授繪畫的工作，也不喜歡當(dāng)?shù)仄渌�畫家的作品，再加上她�?fù)擔(dān)起照顧母親的責(zé)任，她就最終選擇了隱居，她自己提到這個時說："如果我允許自己選擇了一種隱居地生活，那是因為事情就得是這樣了。"分析她隱居的原因，最主要的還是前兩個，一個是厭倦了繪畫工作，一個是不喜歡當(dāng)?shù)仄渌�畫家作品，這都與她的個性有關(guān)。因此，追根究底其原因是她本身性格原因。

4.Schjerfbeck remained little known outside the Nordic world probablybecause_____.4.Schejerbeck 在日耳曼之外的世界少有人知道是因為_____。

[A] she did not make efforts to publicize her works.[A] 她沒有花力氣去宣傳自己的作品。

[B] she knows that her works would gain worldwide recognition oneday.[B] 她知道自己的作品總有一天會得到世界的承認(rèn)。

[C] she only cared about her painting instead of personal fame.[C] 她只關(guān)心她的繪畫，對名利并不感興趣。

[D] the last thing she was interested in was to have people disturbher.[D] 她最不感興趣的事情就是讓別人打擾她。

[答案]C

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆

[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章最后一段提到，雖然有作品回顧展、巡回展出、傳記，但是在斯坎的納維亞之外很少人知道她。這也許和她對聲望不予理會有關(guān)。"我不是什么名人，絕對不是，"她這樣寫道，"我需要的只是繪畫。"文章強(qiáng)調(diào)她只關(guān)心繪畫，不關(guān)心自己的名望，這是她不是很出名的主要原因。因此，C為正確答案。A和D都是她的一些行為，這些行為歸根結(jié)底的原因還是在與C選項。而B選項顯得夸口很大，顯然不符合她的低調(diào)風(fēng)格。

5. We can infer from the passage that the most outstandingcharacteristics of Schjerfbeck’s paintings is_____.5.從文章可以推斷出Schejerbeck作品最顯著的特點是_____。

[A] her vivid characterization of common people[A] 她對于普通人的生動刻畫

[B] her capture of the characters’ soul[B] 她抓住了人物的靈魂

[C] the melancholy expression of the characters[C] 人物憂郁的表情

[D] her unconscious sense of some mysterious elements[D] 她有意識地使用了一些神秘因素

[答案] B

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

[分析] 推理題。關(guān)于Schejerbeck作品的特點，文章并沒有直接提及，但是可以從字里行間判斷出來。Schejerbeck的作品主要是人物，在最后一段中提到她為了把握人物靈魂深處，運用了各種手段，可見，她作品的主要特點在于她對人物靈魂的把握，答案B正確。A和C都是她畫作的一些表面特點，而起深刻因素還是在與抓住了人物的靈魂。D選項的表述雖然也是特點之一，但是也還是為B選項服務(wù)的。

參考譯文:

海琳·Schjerfbeck那些讓人不易忘懷的畫在這次巡展最后的展出將會給人帶來許多驚喜，而其實這次巡展已經(jīng)吸引了漢堡和海牙成千上萬的游客。日耳曼世界之外很少會有人認(rèn)出這位于1946年去世的芬蘭藝術(shù)家的作品來，但更多的人應(yīng)該認(rèn)出她的作品。在這120幅作品中心有二十幅是她的自畫像，這是她所有創(chuàng)作的自畫像的一半。第一副創(chuàng)作于1880年，是渴望吸收一切的一個大眼睛少年女孩，而最后一幅是藝術(shù)家即將成為鬼魂的一幕，而就是在這幅作品創(chuàng)作完畢后的那年她去世的。這個系列是最生動、最完美的自畫像之一。

Schjerfbeck少年就富有天賦，11歲就進(jìn)入了芬蘭藝術(shù)協(xié)會的繪畫學(xué)校。"雪中受傷的戰(zhàn)士"是一幅歷史畫，由一位私人收藏家買走，從而她在十七歲就贏得了可以環(huán)游整個國家的資金。她在巴黎學(xué)習(xí)，后來又到不列塔尼的Pont-Aven，在那里她畫了一年，隨后又去了托斯卡納區(qū)、康沃爾和圣彼得堡。 1887年訪問康沃爾的圣艾夫斯期間，她創(chuàng)作了"正在康復(fù)的病人"。裹著一條毯子的一個小孩靠著一把大柳條椅坐著，手里玩著一個小樹枝。這幅作品在 1889年巴黎世界展覽上贏得了銅牌，被芬蘭藝術(shù)協(xié)會買走。一個現(xiàn)代人看來這幅畫仿佛是感傷的，只有孩子有點發(fā)呆、憂郁的表情算是一點緩和。這可能是 Schjerfbeck小時候的經(jīng)歷觸發(fā)而創(chuàng)作的。她四歲時從樓梯上摔了下來，后來再沒有痊愈過。

1890年，Schjerfbeck在芬蘭定居。她厭煩了那些課程，她不喜歡其他當(dāng)?shù)禺嫾业淖髌罚�而后來�?dāng)他開始照顧她母親(活到1923年)時就變得更孤立了。"如果我允許自己選擇了一種隱居地生活"她寫道，"那是因為事情就得是這樣了。"1902年，Schjerfbeck和她母親定居在了工業(yè)小鎮(zhèn) Hyvinkaa上，在赫爾辛基北面50公里的地方。

不過與世隔絕倒是有一種理想的效果，因為就是在那里Hyvinkaa轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橐幻�現(xiàn)代畫家。她畫了許多靜止的生命和景物，但最重要的是畫了她那憂悒、尖刻的母親，還有當(dāng)?shù)厣蠈W(xué)的女孩、小鎮(zhèn)上的女工人(其中一位穿黑衣的沉思的、具有貴族氣質(zhì)的女裁縫師的側(cè)面像最為突出)。當(dāng)然她還畫了自己。她的畫和詹姆士·McNeill ·惠斯勒、埃德瓦·蒙克都做過對比，但從1905年開始，她的作品變成純粹的Schjerfbeck風(fēng)格了詞匯突破：

"我一直在尋找靈魂的最深處，但是它們還是沒有找到自己，"她這樣寫道，"哪里有無意識的東西，哪里人們就有最偉大的發(fā)現(xiàn)。"她嘗試著使用了不同的畫底色，刮了，擦了，畫出了明亮的玫瑰紅點;她做了一切自己能做的去捕捉潛意識--她自己的，還有她的那些模特的。1913年，Schjerfbeck被一位藝術(shù)商人兼記者Gosta Stenman重新發(fā)現(xiàn)。這一次她又成功了。作品回顧展、巡回展出，接著是一部傳記，但是在斯坎的納維亞之外很少人知道她。這也許和她對聲望不予理會有關(guān)。"我不是什么名人，絕對不是，"她這樣寫道，"我需要的只是繪畫。" Schjerfbeck有獨特的眼光，現(xiàn)在是該由全世界認(rèn)識她的時候了。