Question

Ancient China produced many types of beautiful works of art. Among them, calligraphy (書法), poetry (詩歌) and painting were the most famous. Often they would be put together in art. These became important starting with the Song Dynasty.

Calligraphy is the art of handwriting. In the old time, the Chinese considered writing as an important form of art. Calligraphers would practise for years to learn to write perfectly, but with style. Each of over 40, 000 characters (漢字) needed to be written correctly. And each stroke (筆畫) in a character had to be written in a certain order.

Poetry was also an important form of art. Great poets were famous all over the country, but all educated people were expected to write poetry. During the Tang Dynasty, poetry was so important that writing poetry was part of the examinations to become a civil servant (文官) and work for the government.

Chinese painting was often connected with calligraphy. It is one of the oldest artistic traditions in the world. The most traditional way of Chinese painting is known as “national” or “native” painting, which is quite different from Western painting. People can draw mountains, homes, bird, trees and water on it.

1.Calligraphers needed to write over ________ characters correctly in the old time.

A. 10,000 B. 20,000 C. 30,000 D. 40,000

2.What was part of the civil service examinations during the Tang Dynasty?

A. Painting. B. Calligraphy. C. Writing poetry. D. Playing music.

3.The underlined word “it” refers (指) to ________.

A. Calligraphy B. Art C. Chinese painting D. Western painting

4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Calligraphy, poetry and painting were the most famous works of art.

B. The strokes of each character could be written in any order.

C. Poetry was an important form of art like calligraphy.

D. Chinese painting was often connected with calligraphy.

5.What’s the passage mainly about?

A. Chinese art. B. Chinese examinations.

C. Chinese history. D. Chinese dynasties.

Answer 1