passage1

注解：标题为红色，翻译为蓝色，分析为绿色。

        The longest bull run(bull run(指股票市场)牛市，与牛市相对应的是熊市，英文[bear run]) in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst【随着56 件作品的卖出，牛市以戏剧性地落幕了】, “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”【“我内心的美丽永存”，这个应该是拍卖会上的主题名】，at Sotheby’s in London on September 15th 2008. All but two pieces sold【所有作品中只有两件没有售出】, fetching(卖得(某价)) more than ￡70m, a record for a sale by a single artist【创造了单个艺术家的拍卖纪录】. It was a last victory. As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy.

        The world art market had already been losing momentum(推力；动力) for a while after rising bewilderingly(令人困惑地；使人迷乱地) since 2003. At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion, reckons Clare Mc Andrew, founder of Arts Economics, a research firm—double the figure five years earlier. Since then it may have come down to $50 billion. But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth, enormous egos(自负，自尊), greed(贪婪，贪欲), passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.

        In the weeks and months that followed Mr. Hirst’s sale, spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable, especially in New York, where the bail-out(bail-out(经济上的)紧急援助) of the banks coincided with(coincided with与......同时发生（文章取这个意思）；与......一致) the loss of thousands of jobs and the financial demise(倒闭，败落) of many art-buying investors. In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of contemporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated(最畅销的,过热的) sector(这里指领域)—for Chinese contemporary art—they were down by nearly 90% in the year to November 2008. Within weeks the world’s two biggest auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, had to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees(保证金) to clients who had placed works for sale with them[已经将作品交给他们出售的客户].

        The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the  end of 1989, a move that started the most serious contraction(收缩；缩小) in the market since the Second World War. This time experts reckon that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more fluctuant. But Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, says: “I’m pretty confident we’re at the bottom.”

        What makes this slump((价格、价值、数量等)骤降，猛跌) different from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market, whereas in the early 1990s, when interest rates were high, there was no demand even though many collectors wanted to sell. Christie’s revenues in the first half of 2009 were still higher than in the first half of 2006. Almost everyone who  was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell. The three Ds—death, debt and divorce—still deliver(这里表示“推动”) works of art to the market. But anyone who does not have to sell【这里是定语从句，修饰anyone，是指那些不急于出手的人】 is keeping away, waiting for confidence to return.【那些不急于出手的人是依然远离市场，等待市场信心的回归】

一、文章结构分析

本文是一篇讨论经济衰退现象类的文章，文章探讨了达明·赫斯特的作品大卖后，艺术品市场出现的持续衰退现象。

文章第一段介绍了持续一个世纪的艺术品市场牛市结束了，其标志是赫斯特的 56 部作品的大卖。

第二段回顾了自 2003 年以来艺术品市场的走势情况，即经历了持续的上升期后，艺术品市场的势头大减。

第三段对低迷的艺术品市场进行了详细的例示。

第四段指出尽管当前的艺术品市场状况糟糕，但人们对市场的复苏仍然充满信心。

第五段指出这次衰退与以往的情况不同，许多买家都在等待合适的时机再次进军艺术品市场。

21.In the first paragraph, Damien Hirst's sale was referred to as “a last victory” because .

A.the art market had witnessed a succession of victories

B.the auctioneer finally got the two pieces at the highest bids

C.Beautiful Inside My Head Forever won over all masterpieces

D.it was successfully made just before the world financial crisis

21. 在文章第一段，达明·赫斯特的作品大卖被称为“最后的胜利”是因为________。

[A] 艺术品市场经历了一系列的成功交易

[B] 拍卖师最终以最高价格拍卖出了两件艺术品

[C] “我内心的美丽永存”胜过了其他任何作品

[D] 这次拍卖是在金融危机来临之前完成的

22.By saying “spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable”(Line 1-2,Para.3)，the author suggests that .

A.collectors were no longer actively involved in art-market auctions

B .people stopped every kind of spending and stayed away from galleries

C. art collection as a fashion had lost its appeal to a great extent

D .works of art in general had gone out of fashion so they were not worth buying

22. 作者在第三段中提到“任何花销都变得不再时尚”，暗示着______。

[A] 收藏者们不再积极参与到艺术品市场的拍卖会中

[B] 人们停止了各种花销并远离了画廊

[C] 艺术品收集的时尚在很大程度上失去了吸引力

[D] 总体来说，艺术品已经过时，因此不值得购买

23.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A .Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2007 to 2008.

B.The art market surpassed many other industries in momentum.

C.The market generally went downward in various ways.

D.Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come.

23. 下面哪项陈述是错误的？

[A] 从 2007 年到 2008 年当代艺术品的销售明显下降。

[B] 在市场推动力方面，艺术品市场超过了其他很多产业。

[C] 总体上艺术品市场在不同的方面都有所下滑。

[D] 一些艺术品经营者在等待好机会的到来。

24.The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are          

A.auction houses ' favorites

B. contemporary trends

C. factors promoting artwork circulation

D. styles representing impressionists

24. 文章在最后一段提到“3Ds”是________。

[A] 拍卖行的最爱

[B] 当代的趋势

[C] 促进艺术作品流通的因素

[D] 印象派画家的风格

25.The most appropriate title for this text could be        

A.Fluctuation of Art Prices

B.Up-to-date Art Auctions

C.Art Market in Decline

D.Shifted Interest in Arts

25. 这篇文章最恰当的标题是________。

[A] 艺术品价格的波动

[B] 现代艺术品拍卖

[C] 艺术品市场的衰退

[D] 对艺术品兴趣的转移

二、核心词汇与超纲词汇

1.bull run (股市)活跃期，牛市

2.dramatic a. 戏剧性的；引人注目的

3.auction n. /vt.拍卖；竞卖

4.file n. 文件夹，档案

5.bankruptcy n. 破产，倒闭

6.momentum n. 动力，势头

7.bewilderingly adv.令人困惑地

8.reckon vt.推断，估计；设想；认为

9.greedy a. 贪心的；渴望的

10.controversy n. 争论，争执

11.contemporary a. 属同一时期的；当代的

12.fluctuant a. 波动的，起伏的

三、阅读答案：D A B C C

四、全文翻译： 

        2008 年 9 月 15 日在伦敦苏富比拍卖行举行的“我内心的美丽永存”的拍卖会上，随着达明·赫斯特的 56 件作品成功出售，艺术品市场一个世纪以来最长的牛市戏剧性的落幕了。所有作品中只有两件没有售出，销售额超过 7000 万英镑，创造了单个艺术家的拍卖纪录。这是艺术品市场的最后胜利。因为，就在拍卖师大声喊出报价时，纽约华尔街上历史最悠久的银行之一雷曼兄弟宣布破产。

        世界艺术品市场自 2003 年经历了急速攀升后的一段时间以来逐步失去了发展动力。Clare McAndew 是一家名叫 ArtsEconomists 研究公司的创始人，他估计，在 2007 年的高峰期世界艺术品市场的价值约为 650 亿美元，是五年前的两倍。然而从那时起艺术品市场的价值可能已经下跌至 500 亿。但是艺术品市场产生的利益远远超过它本身的规模，因为它汇集了巨大的财富、膨胀的自我、贪婪、激情和争议，其汇集方式几乎没有哪个产业能与之相提并论。

        在赫斯特作品大卖后的几个星期至几个月内，任何艺术品的花销都变得不合时宜。在艺术收藏界里， 这意味着收藏者们会远离画廊和拍卖会场。当代艺术品的销售额下降了三分之二，而在最畅销的热门领域，那一年的销售额截止到 2008 年 11 月份下跌了近 90%。几周之内，世界上最大的两家拍卖行， 苏富比和佳士得，不得不支付两亿美元的保证金给已经将作品交给他们出售的客户。

        当前艺术品市场的衰退是 1989 年底日本停止购买印象派作品以来最糟糕的一次。针对这次衰退，专家估计平均价位相对峰值下降了 40%，尽管有些价格波动的幅度更大。但是佳士得的首席执行官 EdwardDolman 说：“我们现在已经处于低谷，对此我十分确信”。

        他认为，这次艺术品价格的大幅度下降与上次的不同之处在于，市场中依然存在买家。几乎每位接受这个特别报道采访的人都说，当前最大的问题不是缺乏需求，而是没有好的作品销售。三 D 因素——死亡、债务和离婚——依然会把艺术品推向市场。那些不急于出手的人依然远离市场，等待市场信心的回归。