As people have accurately observed，smiles are absent from early photographs. In 1852，for instance，a girl sat for her Daguerrotype，her head slightly turned，giving the camera an unsmiling look. She is preserved forever as a very serious girl indeed. Charles Darwin，a loving and playful parent，looks frozen in photographs. Why did our ancestors，from unknown sitters for family portraits(肖像画) to the great and famous，because so sad in front of the camera?
The severity is everywhere in Victorian photographs. However，you don’t have to look very long at these unsmiling old photos to see how incomplete the seemingly obvious answer is-that they are freezing their faces in order to keep still for the long exposure times. In Julia Margaret Cameron’s Portrait of Tennyson，the poet dreams，his face a shadowed mask of genius. This is not simply a technique. It’s an emotional choice.
People in the past did not go around in a continual state of sorrow. In fact，the Victorians had a sense of humor even about the darkest aspects of their society. Laughter was not just common in the past but accepted by society far more than it is today，from medieval carnivals(中世纪狂欢节) to Georgian print shops，where people gathered to look at the latest funnies. Far from preventing festivals and fun，the Victorians，who invented photography，also created Christmas as a celebration as it is today. So the severity of people in the 19th-century photographs cannot be the evidence of generalized sadness. This was not a society in permanent desperation. Instead，the true answer has to do with attitudes to portraiture itself.
People who sat for early photographs understood it as a significant moment. Sitting for the camera was cheaper，quicker and meant that people who never had a chance to be painted could now be photographed; but people seemed to have taken it seriously in the same way they would be a painted portrait. Like a portrait painting，it was intended as a timeless record of a person.
To me those unsmiling people probably had as much fun as we do，if not more. But they felt no need to prove it with pictures. Instead，when whey sat for a photograph，they thought about time，death and memory. Perhaps we should stop smiling sometimes，too.
【1】What do we know about the people in Victorian times?
A． They laid importance on religious events.
B． They were skillful at portrait painting.
C． They valued their family life.
D． They enjoyed themselves.
【2】The author mentions Portrait of Tennyson in Paragraph 2 to__________.
A． prove a theory
B． support his opinion
C． introduce a painting
D． describe a technique
【3】The author thinks early people look frozen in old photos because____．
A． they lived in a traditional society
B． they had to stay still for a long time
C． they regarded photography important
D． they held negative views about painting
【4】What is the author’s attitude towards people not smiling in old photos?
A． Skeptical.
B． Critical.
C． Neutral.
D． Positive.
答案
【1】D
【2】B
【3】C
【4】D
解析
【1】此题用排除法解决。文章主要是在第二段以及第三段中讲述了维多利亚时期人们的情况。A.他们很重视宗教活动，但从文章的第三段的内容看来，只是提到了他们在过各种的节日的的时候都是自娱自乐，玩得很开心，并没有强调宗教的重要性，故不选；B.他们在绘画肖像的时候很有技巧，文章没有提到这一点；C.他们很重视家庭生活，文章也没有提这个观点；故综上所述，可知D选项正确。
【2】在第二段的首句中，作者就表明了这段的主题。为了证明他的观点，他就描述了著名的诗人Tennyson的肖像画中所表露的神情。故选B。
【3】此题有些考生会误选了B，其中的原因是受到了第二段中的一句“they are freezing their faces in order to keep still for the long exposure times”的影响。但实际上，本句并不是当时的人在照相的时候表情僵硬的主要原因。考生需要继续往下读，从第四段的内容才能理解到，当时的人们都认为照相是一件重要的事情” People who sat for early photographs understood it as a significant moment”,因此，他们要严肃地对待。根据这个分析，可知选C正确。
【4】Skeptical怀疑的；Critical批评的；Neutral中立的；Positive积极地，正面的。由本文最后一段的内容理解，尤其是最后一句，看出作者从当时的人的角度去思考和分析为什么他们照相的时候表情僵硬，可知作者对他们当时的处境是理解并且赞同的，故选C。