Part A: Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 3
As a historian who’s always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate the past, I’ve become preoccupied with looking for photographs that show our Victorian ancestors smiling (what better way to shatter the image of 19th-century prudery?). I’ve found quite a few, and—since I started posting them on Twitter—they have been causing quite a stir. People have been surprised to see evidence that Victorians had fun and could, and did, laugh. They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter.
Of course, I need to concede that my collection of “Smiling Victorians” makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance. How do we explain this trend?
During the 1840s and 1850s, in the early days of photography, exposure times were notoriously long: the daguerreotype photographic method (producing an image on a silvered copper plate) could take several minutes to complete, resulting in blurred images as sitters shifted position or adjusted their limbs. The thought of holding a fixed grin as the camera performed its magical duties was too much to contemplate, and so a non-committal blank stare became the norm.
But exposure times were much quicker by the 1880s, and the introduction of the Box Brownie and other portable cameras meant that, though slow by today’s digital standards, the exposure was almost instantaneous. Spontaneous smiles were relatively easy to capture by the 1890s, so we must look elsewhere for an explanation of why Victorians still hesitated to smile.
One explanation might be the loss of dignity displayed through a cheesy grin. “Nature gave us lips to conceal our teeth,” ran one popular Victorian saying, alluding to the fact that before the birth of proper dentistry, mouths were often in a shocking state of hygiene. A flashing set of healthy and clean, regular “pearly whites” was a rare sight in Victorian society, the preserve of the super-rich (and even then, dental hygiene was not guaranteed).
A toothy grin (especially when there were gaps or blackened teeth) lacked class: drunks, tramps and music hall performers might gurn and grin with a smile as wide as Lewis Carroll’s gum-exposing Cheshire Cat, but it was not a becoming look for properly bred persons. Even Mark Twain, a man who enjoyed a hearty laugh, said that when it came to photographic portraits there could be “nothing more damning than a silly, foolish smile fixed forever”.
31. According to Paragraph 1, the author’s posts on Twitter
32. What does the author say about the Victorian portraits he has collected?
33. What might have kept the Victorians from smiling for pictures in the 1890s?
34. Mark Twain is quoted to show that the disapproval of smiles in pictures was
35. Which of the following questions does the text answer?
答案与解析 (Answers)
31. [B] changed people’s impression of the Victorians.
解析：第一段指出，作者在推特上发布的“微笑的维多利亚时代人”照片引起了轰动（causing quite a stir），人们惊讶地看到维多利亚时代的人也会玩乐和欢笑。这说明这些帖子改变了人们以往认为维多利亚时代人古板（prudery）的印象。
32. [C] They are rare among photographs of that age.
解析：第二段开头作者承认，他收集的“微笑的维多利亚时代人”照片只占当时海量肖像摄影中“微小的百分比（makes up only a tiny percentage）”，绝大多数照片里的人都是僵硬、表情茫然的。这说明他收集的照片在当时是罕见的（rare）。
33. [A] Their unhealthy dental condition.
解析：第四段提出疑问：既然1890年代相机曝光时间变短，为什么维多利亚时代的人照相时仍然犹豫不决不敢笑？第五段给出了解释：因为当时牙科不发达，人们的口腔卫生状况很糟糕（mouths were often in a shocking state of hygiene），所以用嘴唇遮住牙齿。这对应了A选项：不健康的牙齿状况。
34. [B] a deep-rooted belief.
解析：最后一段指出，露齿笑被认为是没有阶级品味（lacked class）的，不适合有教养的人。作者接着引用连平时喜欢爽朗大笑的马克·吐温也认为照片里挂着傻笑是“最具有毁灭性的（nothing more damning）”。这说明不赞成在照片中微笑是当时社会的一种“根深蒂固的观念（a deep-rooted belief）”。
35. [C] Why did most Victorians look stern in photographs?
解析：文章全文围绕一个核心问题展开：为什么在维多利亚时代的老照片中，绝大多数人（除了作者收集的极少数）看起来都表情僵硬、不苟言笑（look stern）。文章从早期摄影曝光时间太长（技术原因），一直分析到后来因为牙齿不好及社会阶级审美（社会原因），完全回答了C选项的问题。
核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)
1. 复杂定语从句的嵌套：
"As a historian who’s always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate the past, I’ve become preoccupied with looking for photographs that show our Victorian ancestors smiling..."
【解析】本句包含了三个定语从句。第一个 who’s... 修饰 historian；第二个 that... 修饰 text or the image；第三个 that... 修饰 photographs。这种层层嵌套的结构清晰地表达了作者作为历史学家的探索动机和具体研究对象。
【翻译】作为一名总是致力于寻找能让我们重新评估过去的文本或图像的历史学家，我变得全神贯注于寻找那些展示我们维多利亚时代祖先微笑的照片……
"As a historian who’s always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate the past, I’ve become preoccupied with looking for photographs that show our Victorian ancestors smiling..."
【解析】本句包含了三个定语从句。第一个 who’s... 修饰 historian；第二个 that... 修饰 text or the image；第三个 that... 修饰 photographs。这种层层嵌套的结构清晰地表达了作者作为历史学家的探索动机和具体研究对象。
【翻译】作为一名总是致力于寻找能让我们重新评估过去的文本或图像的历史学家，我变得全神贯注于寻找那些展示我们维多利亚时代祖先微笑的照片……
2. 状语从句与现在分词作伴随状语：
"They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter."
【解析】as 引导时间状语从句，表示“随着...”。that 引导定语从句修饰 years，fade away 是从句谓语。这句话巧妙地运用了时间消退的隐喻，拉近了现代人与古人的心理距离。
【翻译】他们注意到，随着这分隔我们的一百多年时光通过我们对笑声的共同体验而逐渐消逝，维多利亚时代的人似乎突然变得更具有人情味了。
"They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter."
【解析】as 引导时间状语从句，表示“随着...”。that 引导定语从句修饰 years，fade away 是从句谓语。这句话巧妙地运用了时间消退的隐喻，拉近了现代人与古人的心理距离。
【翻译】他们注意到，随着这分隔我们的一百多年时光通过我们对笑声的共同体验而逐渐消逝，维多利亚时代的人似乎突然变得更具有人情味了。
3. 非限制性定语从句与介词短语的复合运用：
"Of course, I need to concede that my collection of 'Smiling Victorians' makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance."
【解析】the majority of which 引导非限制性定语从句，修饰 catalogue of photographic portraiture。posing 和 staring 是现在分词作宾语补足语，生动描绘了当时人们拍照时的僵硬状态。
【翻译】当然，我需要承认，我收藏的“微笑的维多利亚时代人”在1840年至1900年间创作的庞大肖像摄影目录中只占微小的一部分，其中绝大多数照片展示的都是模特们在手绘背景幕前痛苦而僵硬地摆着姿势，或者茫然地凝视着中景。
"Of course, I need to concede that my collection of 'Smiling Victorians' makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance."
【解析】the majority of which 引导非限制性定语从句，修饰 catalogue of photographic portraiture。posing 和 staring 是现在分词作宾语补足语，生动描绘了当时人们拍照时的僵硬状态。
【翻译】当然，我需要承认，我收藏的“微笑的维多利亚时代人”在1840年至1900年间创作的庞大肖像摄影目录中只占微小的一部分，其中绝大多数照片展示的都是模特们在手绘背景幕前痛苦而僵硬地摆着姿势，或者茫然地凝视着中景。