Passage 6（2019 •浙江省温州市）
I live in Mentone, a quiet, simple, restful place, where the rich never come. I met Theophile Magnan, a retired, rich, old man from Lyons yesterday. In the Hotel des Anglais. Theophile looked sad and dreamy, and didn't talk with anybody else. which brought me back to the past.
A long time ago, Francois Millet. Claude, Carl and I were young artists - very young artists - in fact.
Yes, Francois Millet. the great French artist, was my friend.
Millet wasn’t any greater than we were at that time. He didn't have any fame, even in his own village.
We were all poor though we had stacks and stacks of as good pictures as anybody in Europe painted. Once a person ever offered four francs for Millet’s "Angelus" which he intended to sell for eight.
It was a fact in human history that a great artist would never be acknowledged* until after he was starved and dead. His pictures climbed to high prices after his death.
Then we made a decision that one of us must die, to save the others and himself.
Millet was elected, elected to die.
During the next three months Millet painted with all his might, enlarged his stock all he could, not pictures, no! sketches, studies, parts of studies, fragments of studies, of course, with his cipher * on them.
They were the things to be sold.
Carl went to Paris to start the work of building up Millet's name. Claude and I went to sell Millet's small pictures and to build up his name as well.
We made Millet a master. I always said to my customer, "I am a fool to sell a picture of Francois Millet's at all, for he is not going to live three months, and when he dies his pictures can't be had for love or money. "
Claude and I took care to spread that little fact as far as we could.
Carl made friends with the correspondents, and got Millet's condition reported to England and all over the continent, and America, and everywhere.
The sad end came at last, Millet died, not really. He became Theophile Magnan.
The pictures went up. There's a man in Paris today who owns seventy Millet pictures. He paid us two million francs for them. Do you still remember the "Angelus"? Carl sold it for twenty-two hundred francs. And as for the bushels of sketches and studies which Millet produced in the last six weeks, well, it would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at nowadays. We are no longer artists and Millet dead.
37. ''Why did the four friends decide to elect one of them to die?
A. They wanted to be rich. B. They wanted to be famous.
C. They wanted to save money. D. They wanted to be respected.
38. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the passage?
A. The writer lives a busy life in Mentone.
B. Millet was finally made a famous artist.
C. Millet painted best among the four friends.
D. The story was written in memory of Millet.
39. What made the four friends' plan succeed?
A. That they didn't want to be artists any longer.
B. That Millet's pictures were sold at very high prices.
C. People's attitude towards the artists who were starving.
D. People's desire to own precious art works at low prices.
40. Is Millet living or dead? Why?（请用约40词回答）
____________________________________________________________________________________________
【答案与解析】
【文章大意】本文讲述的是作者和他的几位朋友都是非常年轻的艺术家，虽然他们有一堆的好画，但是却卖不了高价。他们知道一个伟大的艺术家在死后，他的画可以卖到很高的价格，所以他们当中的Millet被选中了死亡。他们到处宣传Millet快要死的消息，终于Millet成了大师，他的画也卖到了很高的价格。
37. A 【解析】细节理解题。根据文中的信息It was a fact in human history that a great artist would never be acknowledged until after he was starved and dead. His pictures climbed to high prices after his death.以及Then we made a decision that one of us must die, to save the others and himself.可推知，这四个朋友决定选他们中的一个去死，其目的是他们想变得富有，故答案选A。
38. B 【解析】推理判断题。根据文中的信息There's a man in Paris today who owns seventy Millet pictures. He paid us two million francs for them. Do you still remember the "Angelus"? Carl sold it for twenty-two hundred francs. And as for the bushels of sketches and studies which Millet produced in the last six weeks, well, it would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at nowadays.可推知Millet最终成为了著名的艺术家，故答案选B。
39. D 【解析】理解归纳题。通读全文可知，通常一个伟大的艺术家在死后，他的画可以卖到很高的价格，作者和他的朋友到处宣传让Millet成为大师，并且说他活不过三个月了，那么他的画也就成为了珍品，所以人们是想以低廉的价格拥有珍贵的艺术品；故答案选D。
40. ①Millet is living. In order to sell his pictures at high prices. he pretended to be dead. He continues to live in the world with a new name Theophile Magnan. (30词)
②Millet is dead. There is no famous artist called Millet living in the world any longer. He only lives in people's memory. Everything related to the artist Millet has become history. (31词)
③Millet is living. He just pretended to be dead and took a new name Theophile Magnan. To some extent, he is dead. There is no famous artist called Millet living in the world any longer. Everything related to the artist Millet has become history. (45词)
【解析】理解归纳题。题意：Millet是死的还是活的？为什么？通过对整篇文章的理解，我们可以理解为Millet是活的，为了他的画卖个高价钱，他只是假装死了，取了个新名字继续活在世界上，但在某种程度上他已经死了，因为世界上再也没有著名的艺术家Millet了，与Millet有关的一切已经成为了历史。我们也可以理解为Millet是真的死了，世界上再也没有艺术家Millet了，他只活在人们的记忆里。故答案可以为：①Millet is living. In order to sell his pictures at high prices. he pretended to be dead. He continues to live in the world with a new name Theophile Magnan。 ②Millet is dead. There is no famous artist called Millet living in the world any longer. He only lives in people's memory. Everything related to the artist Millet has become history。 ③Millet is living. He just pretended to be dead and took a new name Theophile Magnan. To some extent, he is dead. There is no famous artist called Millet living in the world any longer. Everything related to the artist Millet has become history。
I live in Mentone, a quiet, simple, restful place, where the rich never come. I met Theophile Magnan, a retired, rich, old man from Lyons yesterday. In the Hotel des Anglais. Theophile looked sad and dreamy, and didn't talk with anybody else. which brought me back to the past.
A long time ago, Francois Millet. Claude, Carl and I were young artists - very young artists - in fact.
Yes, Francois Millet. the great French artist, was my friend.
Millet wasn’t any greater than we were at that time. He didn't have any fame, even in his own village.
We were all poor though we had stacks and stacks of as good pictures as anybody in Europe painted. Once a person ever offered four francs for Millet’s "Angelus" which he intended to sell for eight.
It was a fact in human history that a great artist would never be acknowledged* until after he was starved and dead. His pictures climbed to high prices after his death.
Then we made a decision that one of us must die, to save the others and himself.
Millet was elected, elected to die.
During the next three months Millet painted with all his might, enlarged his stock all he could, not pictures, no! sketches, studies, parts of studies, fragments of studies, of course, with his cipher * on them.
They were the things to be sold.
Carl went to Paris to start the work of building up Millet's name. Claude and I went to sell Millet's small pictures and to build up his name as well.
We made Millet a master. I always said to my customer, "I am a fool to sell a picture of Francois Millet's at all, for he is not going to live three months, and when he dies his pictures can't be had for love or money. "
Claude and I took care to spread that little fact as far as we could.
Carl made friends with the correspondents, and got Millet's condition reported to England and all over the continent, and America, and everywhere.
The sad end came at last, Millet died, not really. He became Theophile Magnan.
The pictures went up. There's a man in Paris today who owns seventy Millet pictures. He paid us two million francs for them. Do you still remember the "Angelus"? Carl sold it for twenty-two hundred francs. And as for the bushels of sketches and studies which Millet produced in the last six weeks, well, it would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at nowadays. We are no longer artists and Millet dead.
37. ''Why did the four friends decide to elect one of them to die?
A. They wanted to be rich. B. They wanted to be famous.
C. They wanted to save money. D. They wanted to be respected.
38. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the passage?
A. The writer lives a busy life in Mentone.
B. Millet was finally made a famous artist.
C. Millet painted best among the four friends.
D. The story was written in memory of Millet.
39. What made the four friends' plan succeed?
A. That they didn't want to be artists any longer.
B. That Millet's pictures were sold at very high prices.
C. People's attitude towards the artists who were starving.
D. People's desire to own precious art works at low prices.
40. Is Millet living or dead? Why?（请用约40词回答）
____________________________________________________________________________________________
【答案与解析】
【文章大意】本文讲述的是作者和他的几位朋友都是非常年轻的艺术家，虽然他们有一堆的好画，但是却卖不了高价。他们知道一个伟大的艺术家在死后，他的画可以卖到很高的价格，所以他们当中的Millet被选中了死亡。他们到处宣传Millet快要死的消息，终于Millet成了大师，他的画也卖到了很高的价格。
37. A 【解析】细节理解题。根据文中的信息It was a fact in human history that a great artist would never be acknowledged until after he was starved and dead. His pictures climbed to high prices after his death.以及Then we made a decision that one of us must die, to save the others and himself.可推知，这四个朋友决定选他们中的一个去死，其目的是他们想变得富有，故答案选A。
38. B 【解析】推理判断题。根据文中的信息There's a man in Paris today who owns seventy Millet pictures. He paid us two million francs for them. Do you still remember the "Angelus"? Carl sold it for twenty-two hundred francs. And as for the bushels of sketches and studies which Millet produced in the last six weeks, well, it would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at nowadays.可推知Millet最终成为了著名的艺术家，故答案选B。
39. D 【解析】理解归纳题。通读全文可知，通常一个伟大的艺术家在死后，他的画可以卖到很高的价格，作者和他的朋友到处宣传让Millet成为大师，并且说他活不过三个月了，那么他的画也就成为了珍品，所以人们是想以低廉的价格拥有珍贵的艺术品；故答案选D。
40. ①Millet is living. In order to sell his pictures at high prices. he pretended to be dead. He continues to live in the world with a new name Theophile Magnan. (30词)
②Millet is dead. There is no famous artist called Millet living in the world any longer. He only lives in people's memory. Everything related to the artist Millet has become history. (31词)
③Millet is living. He just pretended to be dead and took a new name Theophile Magnan. To some extent, he is dead. There is no famous artist called Millet living in the world any longer. Everything related to the artist Millet has become history. (45词)
【解析】理解归纳题。题意：Millet是死的还是活的？为什么？通过对整篇文章的理解，我们可以理解为Millet是活的，为了他的画卖个高价钱，他只是假装死了，取了个新名字继续活在世界上，但在某种程度上他已经死了，因为世界上再也没有著名的艺术家Millet了，与Millet有关的一切已经成为了历史。我们也可以理解为Millet是真的死了，世界上再也没有艺术家Millet了，他只活在人们的记忆里。故答案可以为：①Millet is living. In order to sell his pictures at high prices. he pretended to be dead. He continues to live in the world with a new name Theophile Magnan。 ②Millet is dead. There is no famous artist called Millet living in the world any longer. He only lives in people's memory. Everything related to the artist Millet has become history。 ③Millet is living. He just pretended to be dead and took a new name Theophile Magnan. To some extent, he is dead. There is no famous artist called Millet living in the world any longer. Everything related to the artist Millet has become history。
