话题十一文学与艺术
A
[2019·南昌市重点中学段考]
There are dozens of movie recommendation engines on the Web. They're all different, but some are definitely better than others.
Rotten Tomatoes
Instead of telling Rotten Tomatoes which films you like, you can tell it what kind of films you enjoy, which actors you want to see, and other standards to help it find the best movie for you. There's a lot of variability in the quality of Rotten Tomatoes recommendations but it's also a nice way to find the right film for any mood.
Netflix
Netflix asks you to rate (划分等级) movies to determine which films you'll want to see next. And although it does make it easy to rate movies and it does return huge lists, the ideas it gives you aren't all that strong. It's easy to use, but it's not the best way to get movie recommendations.
Jinni
Whether you want to search for films based on your mood, time available, or reviews, the site has it all. But Jinni's most amazing feature is its semantic (语义的) search. You can enter a term like “films that show Chris Farley yelling”and the site will return films that match your question. Go to use Jinni. You won't regret it!
Criticker
Instead of just allowing you to rank films, Criticker compares your ratings to those of other users and see how closely your tastes match those of other users. Once the service finds matches, you can view these users' lists and see which movies they like.
体裁：说明文题材：文化娱乐主题：四个电影推荐引擎【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍了四个较好的电影推荐引擎。
【难句分析】Instead of telling Rotten Tomatoes which films you like, you can tell it what kind of films you enjoy, which actors you want to see, and other standards to help it find the best movie
for you.
分析：句中telling和tell后都跟双宾语，其中“which films you like”作telling的间接宾语；“what kind of films you enjoy”“which actors you want to see”和“other standards”为并列成分，都作tell的间接宾语；“to help it find the best movie for you”作目的状语。
译文：你不是告诉Rotten Tomatoes你喜欢哪些电影，而是告诉它你喜欢什么类型的电影，你想看哪些演员，以及其他能帮助该网站为你找到最好的电影的标准。
1．Which one does the author recommend most?
A．Rotten Tomatoes. B．Netflix.
C．Jinni. D．Criticker.
答案与解析：D考查推理判断。根据最后一段的“Instead of just allowing you to rank films, Criticker compares your ratings to those of other users and see how closely your tastes match those of other users. Once the service finds matches, you can view these users' lists and see which movies they like”可知，Criticker不是仅允许你对电影进行排名，还将你的评分与其他用户的评分进行比较，看看你的品位与其他用户的品位的匹配程度；一旦该网站的服务系统找到与你的品位相匹配的用户，你可以查看这些用户的列表，并查看他们喜欢的电影。据此可以推断，作者最推荐的是Criticker，故D项正确。根据“quality of Rotten Tomatoes recommendations”可排除A项；根据第三段的最后一句“but it's not the best way to get movie recommendations”可排除B项；将第四段关于Jinni的介绍与最后一段关于Criticker的介绍相比，明显可看出作者更倾向于推荐Critieker，故排除C项。
2．What makes Criticker special?
A．Comparing users' ratings.
B．Ranking your favourite films.
C．Offering different standards.
D．Finding films based on mood.
答案与解析：A考查细节理解。根据最后一段第一句“Instead of just allowing you to rank films, Criticker compares your ratings to those of other users and see how closely your tastes match those of other users”可知，Criticker不是仅允许你对电影进行排名，还将你的评分与其他用户的评分进行比较，看看你的品位与其他用户的品位的匹配程度。据此可知，Criticker的特别之处在于它能比较用户的评分，故A项正确。
3．What is the purpose of the text?
A．To recommend the best online movies.
B．To show how to use movie search engines.
C．To introduce several movie search engines.
D．To explain how to find the best online movies.
答案与解析：C考查写作意图。通读全文内容，并根据文章第一段“There are dozens of movie recommendation engines on the Web. They're all different, but some are definitely better than others”可知，本文主要介绍了四个较好的电影推荐引擎，故C 项正确。
B
[2019·石家庄摸底]
If you ever visit an English village, make sure to look out for morris dancing. Undoubtedly as one of the strangest traditions of English culture, morris dancing is a form of folk dancing that dates back to the 15th century. If you ever get the opportunity, you really have to see it.
Men and women wearing old-fashioned, tattered (破烂的) clothing dance in the street of towns and villages across the country during the holiday periods. Women wear long, frilly (有褶边的) skirts and men wear short trousers with bells attached to them. They dance to traditional folk music which is often played on traditional musical instruments.
Some groups carry heavy black sticks with which they bash against each other while they dance. Other groups wave handkerchiefs in the air whilst they perform. The dances are usually
performed near a pub so that when it's over, the dancers and audience can sing some traditional folk songs over a pint of beer. The festivities will often continue long into the night, by which point most people are too drunk to think about performing again.
Morris dancing is a great English tradition but it's facing a big crisis. As the years go by, fewer and fewer young people are joining morris dancing groups. The dancers are getting older and older and eventually, if nothing is done to change this trend, the tradition will die out within the next few decades.
If you've ever had the fortune to see morris dancing, you may understand why teenagers aren't rushing to sign up. Putting it bluntly (直言地), it's not exactly the coolest thing for an 18-year-old to be doing. Why dress up in bells and funny costumes when you could be going clubbing? Or playing sports? Or doing anything else?
However, it would be a great shame to lose such a fun and energetic part of England's history and culture. It's important to look after some traditions and customs especially when it's something as harmless and happy as morris dancing. So here's a toast to the next generation of would-be morris dancers! Let's hope they don't leave it behind.
体裁：说明文题材：社会文化主题：莫里斯舞面临危机【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文，介绍了一种传统的舞蹈以及这种舞蹈所面临的现状。
4．What is the article mainly about?
A．The popularity of morris dancing in the UK.
B．The origins of morris dancing in the UK.
C．Different attitudes toward morris dancing in the UK.
D．Traditions and development of morris dancing in the UK.
答案与解析：D考查主旨大意。根据第一段中的“morris dancing is a form of folk dancing that dates back to the 15th century”可知，莫里斯舞是一种民间舞蹈，可以追溯到15世纪，并由此引出文章内容。下文对这种舞蹈进行了介绍，所以选D。
5．What can we know about morris dancing?
A．Dancers usually wear long dresses with bells attached.
B．People sing traditional folk music while they are dancing.
C．Dancers perform with sticks or handkerchiefs in their hands.
D．People prefer to dance till nighttime near pubs and then stop to drink beers.
答案与解析：C考查细节理解。根据第三段中的“Some groups carry heavy black sticks with which they bash against each other while they dance. Other groups wave handkerchiefs in the air whilst they perform”可知，有些团体举着黑色的棍子，在跳舞的时候互相拍打，其他团体在表演的时候在空中挥动手帕，所以选C。
6．What is the present situation of morris dancing?
A．There is a lack of professional dancers.
B．It is losing appeal among young people.
C．It is accused of lacking fun and variety.
D．Its traditions and customs have been forgotten.
答案与解析：B考查细节理解。根据第四段中的“As the years go by, fewer and fewer young people are joining morris dancing groups”可知，随着岁月的流逝，越来越少的年轻人加入莫里斯舞蹈团，所以选B。
7．What does the author think about morris dancing?
A．It is a good way for people to stay healthy and positive.
B．It is a cultural heritage that deserves more attention.
C．It is too old-fashioned and needs to be improved.
D．It is fun and vibrant and every teenager should learn to do it.
答案与解析：B考查推理判断。根据最后一段中的“it would be a great shame to lose such a fun and energetic part of England's history and culture. It's important to look after some traditions and customs especially when it's something as harmless and happy as morris dancing”可知，作者认为莫里斯舞是文化遗产，值得被关注，故选B。
C
[2019·昆明调研]
A study of 500,000 songs released (发行) in the UK between 1985 and 2015 showed that pop music had decreased in happiness
and increased in sadness.
In a report published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers at the University of California examined hundreds of thousands of songs and classified them by their mood. “‘Happiness’is going down, ‘sadness’is going up, and at the same time, the songs are becoming more ‘danceable’and more ‘party-like’，”co-author Natalia L. Komarova told The Associated Press.
The study found songs in 2014 like Stay With Me by Sam Smith, Whispers by Passenger and Unmissable by Gorgon City to have a “low happiness”trend. However, tracks from 1984 like Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen, Would I Lie To You?by Eurythmics and Freedom by Wham! had a “high happiness” trend. “The public seems to prefer happier songs, even though more and more unhappy songs are being released each year，” the researchers wrote.
Apart from the emotional trends, researchers discovered that dances and pop were the most successful styles of music and that there was a “clear downward” trend, with the popularity of rock beginning in the early 2000s. “So it looks like, while the overall mood is becoming less happy, people seem to want to forget it all and dance，” Komarova wrote in an email.
It was also found that the “maleness”of songs —the frequency of male singers in popular music — had decreased during the last 30 years. “Successful songs are characterised by a larger percentage of female artists compared to all songs，” they wrote.
This discovery appears at a time when the conversation around sex equality in the music industry is at its height, with more male artists and songwriters.
体裁：说明文题材：音乐文化主题：流行音乐表意趋势【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍了流行音乐所表达情绪的变化趋势。
【难句分析】Apart from the emotional trends，researchers discovered that dances and pop were the most successful styles of music and that there was a “clear downward”trend, with the popularity of rock beginning in the early 2000s.
分析：这是一个主从复合句。主语是researchers，谓语动词discovered后面接了两个由and连接的并列宾语从句；Apart from the emotional trends和with the popularity of rock beginning in the early 2000s为介词短语作状语。
译文：除情感上的趋势外，研究者们发现，最成功的音乐风格是舞曲和流行音乐，随着21世纪初摇滚乐的开始流行，它们呈现出一种明显向下的趋势。
8．The researchers examined lots of songs to ______.
A．find songs for dances and parties
B．choose songs for a journal
C．release more songs
D．know better about songs
答案与解析：D考查推理判断。文章第二段介绍了加州大学的研究者们研究了成千上万的歌曲并把它们按情绪分类，紧接着得出歌曲分类的结果，可见他们研究歌曲的目的是想对歌曲有更多的了解，故选D。A、C两项曲解文意；B项无中生有。
9．Whose music style tends to bring you more happiness?
A．Natalia L. Komarova's.
B．Sam Smith's.
C．Gorgon City's.
D．Bruce Springsteen's.
答案与解析：D考查细节理解。根据第三段中的“However, tracks from 1984 like Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen... had a ‘high happiness’ trend”可知D项正确。Natalia L．Komarova 为报道的合著者，而非歌手；Sam Smith、Gorgon City所演唱的歌曲有让人开心感降低的趋势，故排除。
10．What do we know about songs over the past three decades?
A．Rock became popular in the early 2000s.
B．Fewer unhappy songs came to light every year.
C．Male singers were better at performing pop music.
D．Female artists were less skilled in writing songs.
答案与解析：A考查细节理解。根据第四段中的“with the popularity of rock beginning in the early 2000s”可知，摇滚乐在21世纪初开始流行，故A项正确。其余三个选项的内容均与文意不符。
11．What can be a suitable title for the text?
A．Pop Music is Getting Sadder
B．Music Calls for Sex Equality
C．Pop Music Has a Long History
D．Music Industry Is Going Down
答案与解析：A考查标题判断。根据文章首段总述及后续段落的描述可知，全文重点介绍了流行音乐正变得越来越伤感，故选A项。B项仅是文章中提到的一个细节；C项不是文章的重点；D项扩大外延，属过度概括，故排除。