Câu hỏi: Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
The sculptural legacy that the new United States inherited from its colonial predecessors was far from a rich one, and in fact, in 1776 sculpture as an art form was still in the hand of artisans and craftspeople. Stone carvers engraved their motifs of skulls and crossbones and other religious icons of death into the gray slabs that we still see standing today in old burial grounds. Some skilled craftspeople made intricately carved wooden ornamentations for furniture or architectural decorations, while others carved wooden shop signs and ships' figureheads. Although they often achieved expression and formal excellence in their generally primitive style, they remained artisans skilled in the craft of carving and constituted a group distinct from what we normally think of as "sculptors" in today's use of the word.
On the rare occasion when a fine piece of sculpture was desired, Americans turned to foreign sculptors, as in the 1770's when the cities of New York and Charleston, South Carolina, commissioned the Englishman Joseph Wilton to make marble statues of William Pitt. Wilton also made a lead equestrian image of King George III that was created in New York in 1770 and torn down by zealous patriots six years later. A few marble memorials with carved busts, urns, or other decorations were produced in England and brought to the colonies to be set in the walls of churches - as in King's Chapel in Boston. But sculpture as a high art, practiced by artists who knew both the artistic theory of their Renaissance Baroque-Rococo predecessors and the various technical procedures of modeling, casting, and carving rich three- dimensional forms, was not known among Americans in 1776. Indeed, for many years thereafter, the United States had two groups from which to choose - either the local craftspeople or the imported talent of European sculptors.
The eighteenth century was not one in which powered sculptural conceptions were developed. Add to this the timidity with which unschooled artisans - originally trained as stonemasons, carpenters, or cabinetmakers - attacked the medium from which their sculptures were made in the United States in the late eighteenth century.
What is the main idea of the passage?
A. American sculptors were hampered by a lack of tools and materials.
B. Many foreign sculptors worked in the US after 1776.
C. Skilled sculptors did not exist in the US in the 1770's.
D. There was a great demand for the work of eighteenth-century artisans.
The sculptural legacy that the new United States inherited from its colonial predecessors was far from a rich one, and in fact, in 1776 sculpture as an art form was still in the hand of artisans and craftspeople. Stone carvers engraved their motifs of skulls and crossbones and other religious icons of death into the gray slabs that we still see standing today in old burial grounds. Some skilled craftspeople made intricately carved wooden ornamentations for furniture or architectural decorations, while others carved wooden shop signs and ships' figureheads. Although they often achieved expression and formal excellence in their generally primitive style, they remained artisans skilled in the craft of carving and constituted a group distinct from what we normally think of as "sculptors" in today's use of the word.
On the rare occasion when a fine piece of sculpture was desired, Americans turned to foreign sculptors, as in the 1770's when the cities of New York and Charleston, South Carolina, commissioned the Englishman Joseph Wilton to make marble statues of William Pitt. Wilton also made a lead equestrian image of King George III that was created in New York in 1770 and torn down by zealous patriots six years later. A few marble memorials with carved busts, urns, or other decorations were produced in England and brought to the colonies to be set in the walls of churches - as in King's Chapel in Boston. But sculpture as a high art, practiced by artists who knew both the artistic theory of their Renaissance Baroque-Rococo predecessors and the various technical procedures of modeling, casting, and carving rich three- dimensional forms, was not known among Americans in 1776. Indeed, for many years thereafter, the United States had two groups from which to choose - either the local craftspeople or the imported talent of European sculptors.
The eighteenth century was not one in which powered sculptural conceptions were developed. Add to this the timidity with which unschooled artisans - originally trained as stonemasons, carpenters, or cabinetmakers - attacked the medium from which their sculptures were made in the United States in the late eighteenth century.
What is the main idea of the passage?
A. American sculptors were hampered by a lack of tools and materials.
B. Many foreign sculptors worked in the US after 1776.
C. Skilled sculptors did not exist in the US in the 1770's.
D. There was a great demand for the work of eighteenth-century artisans.
Giải thích:
Đâu là ý chính của đoạn văn?
A. Các nhà điêu khắc Mỹ đã bị cản trở bởi việc thiếu công cụ và nguyên vật liệu.
B. Nhiều nhà điêu khắc ngoại quốc đã làm việc ở Hoa Kỳ sau năm 1776.
C. Những nhà điêu khắc có tay nghề không tồn tại ở Hoa Kỳ vào những năm 1770.
D. Có một lượng cầu lớn đối với tác phẩm của những nghệ nhân trong thế kỷ 18.
Tóm tắt:
Đoạn văn đã tóm tắt sơ lược về quá trình lịch sử của nghệ thuật điêu khắc tại Hoa Kỳ vào thế kỷ 18. Theo đoạn văn thì vào những năm 1770, nghệ thuật điêu khắc vẫn do những thợ thủ công và các nghệ nhân nắm giữ, và khi có dịp cần những tác phẩm thì buộc lòng phải tìm đến những nghệ nhân ngoại quốc. Sự kém phát triển về mặt điêu khắc chính bởi do thời kỳ này không tạo môi trường thuận lợi để loại hình này phát triển ở Hoa Kỳ.
→ Những nhà điêu khắc có tay nghề không tồn tại ở Hoa Kỳ vào những năm 1770.
Đâu là ý chính của đoạn văn?
A. Các nhà điêu khắc Mỹ đã bị cản trở bởi việc thiếu công cụ và nguyên vật liệu.
B. Nhiều nhà điêu khắc ngoại quốc đã làm việc ở Hoa Kỳ sau năm 1776.
C. Những nhà điêu khắc có tay nghề không tồn tại ở Hoa Kỳ vào những năm 1770.
D. Có một lượng cầu lớn đối với tác phẩm của những nghệ nhân trong thế kỷ 18.
Tóm tắt:
Đoạn văn đã tóm tắt sơ lược về quá trình lịch sử của nghệ thuật điêu khắc tại Hoa Kỳ vào thế kỷ 18. Theo đoạn văn thì vào những năm 1770, nghệ thuật điêu khắc vẫn do những thợ thủ công và các nghệ nhân nắm giữ, và khi có dịp cần những tác phẩm thì buộc lòng phải tìm đến những nghệ nhân ngoại quốc. Sự kém phát triển về mặt điêu khắc chính bởi do thời kỳ này không tạo môi trường thuận lợi để loại hình này phát triển ở Hoa Kỳ.
→ Những nhà điêu khắc có tay nghề không tồn tại ở Hoa Kỳ vào những năm 1770.
Đáp án C.