专八
The Dutch have organized a score of Rembrandt shows, starting appropriately with an exhibition based aroundhis mother in the town of his birth, Leiden. Mozart's music will be heard more than usual in churches, concert hallsand opera houses around the world, with his birthplace, Salzburg, once again trying to compensate for theindifference it showed him during his lifetime.
But do such anniversaries and accompanying celebrations serve much purpose? Are they just marketingdevices to sell tickets to museums and performances? Or do they help draw the attention of younger generations tothe giants of Western culture who at times seem crowded out by the pygmies of popular culture?
As it happens, the practice is not new. The birth of Bardolatry, or Shakespeare worship, is generally traced tothe Shakespeare Jubilee, which was organized by the actor-manager David Garrick to celebrate the 200thanniversary of the playwright's birth (the jubilee was actually held in 1769, five years after the anniversary, butpresumably time was more flexible in those days).
Until then, perhaps surprisingly, Shakespeare was not doing too well. The popularity of many of his plays didnot survive the 18-year-long closure of London's theaters during the Civil War and Cromwell's rule. Then, aftertheaters reopened in 1660 with the Restoration of the monarchy, several of his major works--"Richard HI" and"FAng Lear" among them--were drastically revised by other playwrights.
Today, Mozart, for one, is hardly in need of revival. No opera home plans a season these days withouti~cluding at least one of his stage masterpieces: "Le Nozze di Figaro," "Don Giovanni," "Cos1 fan tutte" and "DieZauberflote." His "Requiem," "Coronation Mass" and other sacred works are regularly performed. Hisinstrumental works--he wrote hundreds--keep soloists and orchestras busy throughout the year.
A more interesting reflection for Jan. 27, the 250th anniversary of his birth, is: How would Western culture have fared without Mozart?
True, the same question might be asked of myriad great artists who have bequeathed beauty, emotion andunderstanding. Yet Mozart was unique, not only because he excelled in every kind of music (while, say, Verdi andWagner were great composers only of opera), but also because, more cvcn than Bach, hc turned listening into adeeply personal experience.
There is that perennial: Who killed Mozart? In Peter Schaffcr's 1979 play, "Amadcus," adapted as an Oscar-winning movie by Milos Forman in 1984, the finger of guilt was pointed at Mozart's contemporary, AntonioSalieri. But even that charge was old hat: Pushkin first raised it in his 1830 play, "Mozart and Salieri," whichRimsky-Korsakov adapted as an opera in 1897. Still, the question is again being trotted out for the anniversary.
No such mystery surrounds Rembrandt's life or death. But if his greamess was only fully recognized in the19th century, he certainly is in need of no anniversary "special offers" to be admired today. His more than 600 oilsare in collections around the world and, whenever selected for exhibitions, they draw huge crowds.
The organizers of Rembrandt 400, as the annlversm'y has been tagged, evidently again have crowds in mind, hoping that some 250,000 people will travel to the Netherlands for the occasion.
Will Rembrandt's fans cross paths with those of Mozart?
If they did, they might find that their ido!s have something in common. In his 75 or so self-portraits, recordinghis passage from youth to old age, Rembrandt seems to offer a window into his soul. Cannot Mozart's compositionsalso be considered as self-portraits? Certainly, it is by displaying their intimacy that they share their genius with us.But of course only time will define their place in the pantheon. As happened to Rembrandt and many others,great artists are often forgotten before they are enshrined by posterity. After that, thankfully, anniversaries makelittle difference.
根据以上内容，回答题。
It can be inferred from the passage that__________
A．Mozart's music used to be only played in church
B．Mozart's music has always been welcomed by people
C．Rembrandt once painted a lot about his mother
D．Rembrandt was brought up by his mother only.
第一段指出多年来博物馆、出版商、歌剧院都非常重视伟大艺术家的诞辰纪念日和逝世纪念日。以此来赚取丰厚的利润。
第二段和第三段举例说明了出版商、剧院等对伟大艺术家周年纪念日的狂热，并对这种狂热提出了质疑：举办这样的周年庆祝活动是否有意义?
第四段和第五段指出举办周年活动并不是什么新鲜事。人们对莎士比亚的推崇要追溯到演员经纪人戴维·加里克为他举办的200周年诞辰纪念日上。在那之前，莎士比亚的作品也不是很受欢迎，直到1660年他的作品被其他作家改编之后，才逐渐受到人们的关注。
第六段到第九段指出也有伟大的艺术家是不需要周年纪念活动的，莫扎特就是其中之一。如今没有哪家剧院不演奏莫扎特的作品，甚至有人说没有莫扎特，西方文化就不知道该如何经营下去。
第十段到倒数第二段指出荷兰画家伦勃朗没有像莫扎特那样具有传奇的生死经历，但他也不用周年纪念活动来激起人们对他的崇拜。因为伟大的艺术家都有共同的特点：他们都在用艺术勾勒自己的人生。
最后一段指出只有时间才能决定艺术家的地位，许多伟大的艺术家总是先被人遗忘，后来才流芳百世。但是在此之后，周年纪念活动也就变得可有可无了。
【试题解析】
本题的出题点在细节描写处。第二段说“荷兰人已组织了20场伦勃朗画展，第一场画展是在他出生的城市莱顿举办的，主题是关于他的母亲。在世界各地的教堂、音乐厅和歌剧院，人们会比以往更频繁地听到莫扎特的音乐，莫扎特的故乡萨尔茨堡则再次试图为莫扎特在世时对他的冷漠作出补偿”。可见，伦勃朗创作了很多关于他母亲的画像，故选C。文章并未提及伦勃朗是否由母亲独自养大和莫扎特的作品过去是否只在教堂演奏，故排除A和D；莫扎特的作品并非一直像今天这样受到推崇，故排除B。
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A．He became more and more famous after 1769.
B．He was born in 1564.
C．He was not so famous before 1769.
D．His works were especially welcomed by people around 1660.
A．He contributed a lot to the development of music.
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A．There isn't any mystery surrounds Rembrandt's life or death.
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