III.阅读理解(20×2)
When Sir Winston Churchill , the great British prime minister, reached his eightieth birthday in November 1954, he was presented with his portrait by a well-known modern artist, Granham Sutherland. The painting had been ordered and paid by the members of Parliament(国会)， who wanted to honor the Grand Man of World war II.
Sir Winston and Lady Churchill were deeply moved by this mark of respect and affection. Neither of them, of course, allowed the donors（捐赠者） to see how much they both disliked the portrait. “It makes me look stupid—which I am not !” Churchill protested in pr
ivate. Publicly, he only said that it was “a fine example of modern art”. His friends smiled: it was well-known that Sir Winston didn’t care for modern art.
Churchill was so unhappy about the portrait that finally his wife had it destroyed. Churchill died at ninety in January 1965. lady Churchill followed him in 1977. Shortly after her death, the public learned what had happened to Sutherland’s paint
ing, and a heated argument broke out. The painter was understandably sad. The artistic community, shocked and angry, claimed that the destruction of the picture had been a crime. Historians said that they regretted the disappearance of a historical document. All agreed that Churchills didn’t have the right to do what they had done.
Well—did they ? A good part of the public felt that the owner of a portrait had the right to get rid of it if it made him so unhappy. The question, however, has been raised many times before: who has the right to a work of art—the sitter, the owner, the donor or the artist who created it? And when the painting is the portrait of a historical figure, should the right of posterity (后代) be considered, as the historians claimed?
1. To have Churchill’s portrait painted was the idea of ______.
A.a we
ll-known modern artist B.Parliament
C.a friend of Churchill D.the public
2. Which of the following is true ?
A. Churchill liked the portrait but his wife not
B. Churchill didn’t like the portrait because he didn’t like the painter
C. Churchill liked the portrait because it was a fine modern art.
D . Churchill didn’t like the portrait and nor did his wife
3. When Churchill said it was “a fine example of modern art”, he was ______.
A. dishonest B. joking C. praising the portrait D. not been straight
4.When was the destruction of the portrait known to the public?
A . As soon as it happened B.After Churchill died in 1965
C. Soon after Lady Churchill’s death D. Not until recently
5. How did people reacted to the news?
A. People of the artistic community were all very sad.
B. The historians felt more strongly against it than the artistic community.
C.All people agreed that Chutchills had no right to destroy the picture.
D. while some were upset, quite a few people believed the Churchills had the right to destroy it.
