Question

【題目】The Art of the Elephants

If your cat walked across something you were painting and left footprints behind, would you consider your cat an artist? What if your bird held a colored pencil in its beak（喙） and painted on a piece of paper? Most people may think of animal art as a joke, but some people have been taking it very seriously.

Elephants were used for hundreds of years in Thailand’s logging industry(伐木業(yè)). They moved wood from forests in areas where there were no roads. At the beginning of this century, when the forests of Thailand began to quickly disappear, the government put a stop to logging. All of a sudden, many elephants in Thailand no longer had a way to make a living.

Some elephants were treated badly. Others had to try to live on their own and couldn’t find enough food to eat. There were once tens of thousands of elephants in Thailand. Today, there are less than five thousand. When two Russian American artists, Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid, first heard about the troubled elephants in Thailand, they knew that something had to be done to forever change the way people treated Thai elephants. Then, they came up with an idea to help these elephants.

Komar and Melamid visited elephant camps in Thailand and began to show the elephant trainers how to teach the elephants to paint. At first, the trainers had to guide the elephants’ trunks. The elephants became more comfortable doing this with practice—and lots of sweet snacks—and finally started to paint on their own. The strange idea that Komar and Melamid had to save the elephants actually began to work. They even helped found several elephant art schools in Thailand and in other Asian countries. The elephants and their trainers go there to learn about painting and get supplies they need.

Today, people begin to buy elephant artworks from galleries(畫廊) all around the world. Some are even willing to pay more than ＄2,000 for the works of the elephant artists! Some people compare the cheerful, brightly-colored artworks to the works of some great abstract(抽象地) painters. Some people are just happy to buy these special and original(原創(chuàng)地) artworks. Others think they are helping the troubled elephants in this way. The next time you see a piece of colorful abstract art, find out who the artist is. You just may be surprised at what you learn!

【1】What may most people think of animal art?

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【2】What did elephants do in Thailand’s logging industry?

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【3】How many elephants are there in Thailand today?

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【4】What was Komar and Melamid’s idea to help the elephants in Thailand?

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【5】Please list one reason why people buy elephant artworks.

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Answer 1

【答案】

【1】Most people may think of animal art as a joke.

【2】They moved wood from forests where there were no roads.

【3】There are less than five thousand.

【4】They showed elephants trainers how to teach elephants to paint.

【5】Some people compare the cheerful, brightly-colored artworks to the work of some great painters./ Some people are just happy to buy these special and original artworks./ Others think they are helping the troubled elephants in this way.

【解析】本文是一篇說明文，介紹的是大象藝術(shù)品。大象作畫是兩名俄羅斯籍的美國畫家為幫助大象而想出的一個主意，即讓訓(xùn)象師教大象作畫，作品出售后，訓(xùn)象師和大象可以得到報酬和需要的東西。很多人喜歡大象的作品，也有人是為支持這些受苦的大象而購買這些畫作的。

【1】題意：大多數(shù)人對于動物藝術(shù)的看法是什么？細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段最后一句“Most people may think of animal art as a joke...”（ 大多數(shù)人覺得動物藝術(shù)是笑話。）可知答案是Most people may think of animal art as a joke.

【2】題意：大象在泰國的伐木業(yè)中從事什么工作？細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段第二句“They moved wood from forests where there were no roads”（人們用大象在沒有公路的森林中運輸木頭。）可知答案是They moved wood from forests where there were no roads.

【3】題意：現(xiàn)如今，在泰國有多少只大象？細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段第四句“Today，there are less than five thousand.”（ 今天的大象數(shù)量不足5千只。）可知答案是There are less than five thousand.

【4】題意：Komar和 Melamid想出了什么辦法來幫助泰國的大象？細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第四段首句“Komar and Melamid visited the elephant camps in Thailand and began to show elephants trainers how to teach elephants to paint.”（ 兩人拜訪了泰國的大象營地，并給訓(xùn)象師展示怎樣教大象繪畫。）可知答案是They showed elephants trainers how to teach elephants to paint.

【5】題意：請列舉人們購買大象藝術(shù)作品的一個原因。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段中“Some people...Some people...Others...”（ 有些人把這些藝術(shù)比作最偉大畫家的抽象藝術(shù)；有些人就是喜歡購買這種特別和原創(chuàng)的藝術(shù)作品；另一些人認(rèn)為以此可以幫助受苦的大象。）可知答案是Some people compare the cheerful, brightly-colored artworks to the work of some great painters./ Some people are just happy to buy these special and original artworks./ Others think they are helping the troubled elephants in this way.