Text 1 The longest bull run in a century

题库2022-08-02  9

问题 Text 1 The longest bull run in a century of artmarket 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 bewilderingly 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.In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms.Sales of contemporary art fell by twothirds,and in the most overheated sector,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.This time experts reckon that prices are about 40%down on their peak on average,though some have been far more fluctuant.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.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.Which of the following statements is NOT true?A.Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008B.The art market surpassed many other industries in momentumC.The market generally went downward in various waysD.Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come

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

答案 B

解析 细节题【命题思路】这是一道反向提问的开放性细节题。第一需要选错误的,第二需要全文寻找答案。比较快捷的办法是,在阅读文章时做关键词的记号,以便解题时定位。【直击答案】根据B项的内容定位到第二段第一句话“The world art market had…since 2003.”意为:世界艺术品市场自2003年经历了急速攀升后的一段时间以来逐步失去了发展动力,即作者表明,艺术品市场越来越不景气。显然,B项与原文表达意思相反,因此为正确答案。【干扰排除】根据A项提供的具体年代定位到第三段第三句话“Sales of contemporary art fell…November 2008.”意为:当代艺术品的销售量下降了三分之二,最热门的艺术品销售在2008年11月份降幅高达近百分之九十,与A项相一致。C项与第三段表述的内容相一致。该段先提及收藏者们远离了画廊和销售店,其次描述了销售数据的下降,最后又提及两大拍卖行的举措,与C项中的“in various ways”相符,此内容表明“the current downturn”,同义替换选项中的“the art market generally went down”。D项与文章最后一句话“But anyone who…confidence to return.”所表述的内容相一致,some art dealer等同于“anyone who does not have to sell”,“waiting for confidence to return”等同于“were awaiting better chances to come”,这都属于同义替换。
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