Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
Practically speaking, the artistic maturing of the cinema was the single handed achievement of David W. Griffith (1875-1948). Before Griffith, photography in dramatic films consisted of little more than placing the actors a stationary camera and showing them in full length as they would have appeared on stage. From the beginning of his career as a director, however, Griffith, because as having a foreground and a rear ground, as well as the middle distance preferred by most directors. By 1910 he was using close ups to reveal significant details of the scene or of the acting and extreme long shots to achieve a sense of spectacle and distance. His appreciation of the camera’s possibilities produced novel dramatic effects. By splitting an event into fragments and recording each from the most suitable camera position, he could significantly vary the emphasis from camera shot to camera shot.
Griffith also achieved dramatic effects by means of creative editing. By juxtaposing(并行) images and varying the speed and rhythm of their presentation, he could control the dramatic intensity of the events as the story progressed. Despite the reluctance of his producers, who feared that the public would not be able to follow a plot that was made up of such juxtaposed images, Griffith persisted, and experimented as well with other elements of cinematic syntax that have become standard ever since. These included the flashback, permitting broad psychological and emotional exploration as well as narrative that was not chronological, and the crosscut between two parallel actions to heighten suspense and excitement. In thus exploiting fully the possibilities of editing, Griffith transposed devices of the Victorian novel to film and gave film mastery of time as well as space.
Besides developing the cinema’s language, Griffith immensely broadened its range and treatment of subjects. His early output was remarkably eclectic: it included not only the standard comedies, melodramas, westerns, and thrillers, but also such novelties as adaptations from Browning and Tennyson, and treatments of social issues. As his successes mounted, his ambitions grew, and with them the whole of American cinema. When he remade Enoch Arden in 1911,he insisted that a subject of such importance could not be treated in the conventional length of one reel. Griffith’s introduction of the American made multilevel picture began an immense revolution. Two years later, Judith of Bethulia, an elaborate historic philosophical spectacle, reached the unprecedented length of four reels, or one hour’s running time. From our contemporary viewpoint, the pretensions of this film may seem a trifle ludicrous, but at the time it provoked endless debate and discussion and gave a new intellectual respectability to the cinema.
21. Which of the following best summarizes the passage as a whole?
\[A\] The author deplored the state of American cinema before the advent of Griffith.
\[B\] The author discusses the importance of Griffith to the development of the cinema.
\[C\] The author describes the impact on cinema of the flashback and other editing innovations.
\[D\] The author introduces the history of cinema which is an important part of modern art.
22. The author concludes that Griffith brought all of the following into American cinema EXCEPT.
\[A\] adaptations from the Browning and Tennyson
\[B\] juxtaposing images and varying the speed and rhythm of their presentation
\[C\] photographic approaches inspired by Victorian painting
\[D\] creating new editing method to achieve dramatic effects without treating social issues
23. Which of the following can’t be treated as the standard of modern cinema after Griffith’s achievements?
\[A\] Transposing devices of the Victorian novel to film.
\[B\] Editing techniques like flashback.
\[C\] Crosscut between two parallel captions to arouse excitement.
\[D\] Broad psychological and emotional exploration.
24. It can be inferred from the passage that the length of earlier film before 1910 was.
\[A\] from 15 to minutes
\[B\] from 30 to 60 minutes
\[C\] nearly 60 minutes
\[D\] about 15 minutes
25. Why did the author remark Judith of Byhalia as a milestone to arouse people’s respect for cinema?
\[A\] Because the pretensions of the film may seem a trifle ludicrous.
\[B\] Because it changed the customary form of the traditional film and created larger space to make the cinema freely.
\[C\] Because it was an elaborate historico philophical spectacle.
\[D\] Because it was directed by great artist Griffith.
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