31. According to Paragraph 1, the author’s posts on Twitter
- A. changed people’s impression of the Victorians.
- B. highlighted social media’s role in Victorian studies.
- C. re-evaluated the Victorian’s notion of public image.
- D. illustrated the development of Victorian photography.
答案：A
答案句：I’ve found quite a few, and—since I started posting them on Twitter—they have been causing quite a stir. People have been surprised to see evidence that Victorians had fun and could, and did, laugh. They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter.
参考译文：我找到了不少这样的照片，而且——自从我开始在推特上发布它们以来——它们引起了不小的轰动。人们惊讶地看到证据表明维多利亚时代的人也有乐趣，能够并且确实会笑。他们注意到，随着分隔我们的百来年时间通过我们共同的笑声体验而消逝，维多利亚时代的人似乎突然变得更有人情味了。
定位线索：题干“the author's posts on Twitter”→答案句“since I started posting them on Twitter”；文中“causing quite a stir”、“surprised”、“seem to become more human”对应选项A“changed people's impression”。
解析：题干问作者在推特上的帖子产生了什么效果。答案句明确指出帖子“causing quite a stir”，人们“surprised”，并觉得维多利亚人“seem to become more human”，即改变了人们对他们的印象，对应A项。B项“highlighted social media's role”范围扩大，文中只提推特作为发布平台；C项“re-evaluated the notion of public image”偷换概念，文中是改变印象而非重新评价公共形象观念；D项“illustrated the development”无中生有，文中未提及摄影发展。
32. What does the author say about the Victorian portraits he has collected?
- A. They are in popular use among historians.
- B. They are rare among photographs of that age.
- C. They mirror 19th-century social conventions.
- D. They show effects of different exposure times.
答案：B
答案句：Of course, I need to concede that my collection of ‘Smiling Victorians’ makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance.
参考译文：当然，我需要承认，我收集的‘微笑的维多利亚人’只占1840年至1900年间创作的庞大摄影肖像目录中的极小一部分，其中大多数肖像中的坐者都在彩绘背景前痛苦而僵硬地摆姿势，或者心不在焉地凝视着中景。
定位线索：题干“the Victorian portraits he has collected”→答案句“my collection of 'Smiling Victorians'”；文中“tiny percentage”对应选项B“rare”。
解析：题干问作者收集的维多利亚肖像的特点。答案句说这些微笑肖像只占当时摄影肖像的“tiny percentage”，即很稀少，对应B项“They are rare”。A项“popular use among historians”无中生有；C项“mirror 19th-century social conventions”范围扩大，文中只提到肖像本身，未说反映社会习俗；D项“effects of different exposure times”答非所问，文中未提曝光时间对肖像的影响。
33. What might have kept the Victorians from smiling for pictures in the 1890s?
- A. Their inherent social sensitiveness.
- B. Their tension before the camera.
- C. Their distrust of new inventions.
- D. Their unhealthy dental condition.
答案：D
答案句：But exposure times were much quicker by the 1880s, and the introduction of the Box Brownie and other portable cameras meant that, though slow by today’s digital standards, the exposure was almost instantaneous. Spontaneous smiles were relatively easy to capture by the 1890s, so we must look elsewhere for an explanation of why Victorians still hesitated to smile. One explanation might be the loss of dignity displayed through a cheesy grin. “Nature gave us lips to conceal our teeth,” ran one popular Victorian saying, alluding to the fact that before the birth of proper dentistry, mouths were often in a shocking state of hygiene.
参考译文：但到了19世纪80年代，曝光时间已大幅缩短，盒式布朗尼相机和其他便携相机的引入意味着，尽管按今天的数字标准来看很慢，但曝光几乎是瞬间完成的。到19世纪90年代，自发的微笑相对容易捕捉，所以我们必须从别处寻找维多利亚人仍然不愿微笑的原因。一个可能的解释是，咧嘴笑会显得有失尊严。当时流行一句维多利亚时代的谚语：“大自然给我们嘴唇是为了遮住牙齿”，这暗示着在正规牙科出现之前，口腔卫生状况常常令人震惊。
定位线索：题干“kept the Victorians from smiling in the 1890s”→答案句“we must look elsewhere”、“One explanation might be the loss of dignity”；文中“Nature gave us lips to conceal our teeth”、“mouths were often in a shocking state of hygiene”对应选项D“unhealthy dental condition”。
解析：题干问19世纪90年代什么可能阻止维多利亚人微笑。答案句先排除曝光时间因素，然后提出“loss of dignity”，并引用谚语说明牙齿不健康是原因，对应D项“unhealthy dental condition”。A项“inherent social sensitiveness”无中生有；B项“tension before the camera”偷换概念，文中未提紧张；C项“distrust of new inventions”无中生有，文中未提不信任。
34. Mark Twain is quoted to show that the disapproval of smiles in pictures was
- A. a deep-root belief.
- B. a misguided attitude.
- C. a controversial view.
- D. a thought-provoking idea.
答案：A
答案句：A toothy grin ( especially when there were gaps or blackened teeth) lacked class: drunks, tramps and music hall performers might gurn and grin with a smile as wide as Lewis Carroll’s gum-exposing Cheshire Cat, but it was not a becoming look for properly bred persons. Even Mark Twain, a man who enjoyed a hearty laugh, said that when it came to photographic portraits there could be “nothing more damning than a silly, foolish smile fixed forever”.
参考译文：露齿笑（尤其当牙齿有缝隙或发黑时）缺乏阶级感：醉汉、流浪汉和音乐厅表演者可能会像刘易斯·卡罗尔笔下露出牙龈的柴郡猫那样咧嘴大笑，但这对于教养良好的人来说并不是得体的形象。即使是喜欢开怀大笑的马克·吐温也说，谈到摄影肖像时，“没有什么比一个永远定格的愚蠢、傻气的微笑更糟糕的了”。
定位线索：题干“Mark Twain is quoted”→答案句“Even Mark Twain...said”；文中“nothing more damning than a silly, foolish smile”对应选项A“deep-root belief”。
解析：题干问引用马克·吐温是为了说明什么。答案句先说明露齿笑缺乏阶级感，然后引用马克·吐温的话强调微笑在肖像中“最糟糕”，说明这种反对微笑的观念根深蒂固，连爱笑的人也认同，对应A项“deep-root belief”。例子本身（马克·吐温的话）不是答案依据，其前面的观点句“it was not a becoming look for properly bred persons”才是关键，正确选项正是对该观点的同义转述。B项“misguided attitude”偷换概念，文中未说错误；C项“controversial view”范围扩大，文中未提争议；D项“thought-provoking idea”无中生有。
35. Which of the following questions does the text answer?
- A. Why did most Victorians look stern in photographs?
- B. Why did the Victorians start to view photographs?
- C. What made photography develop in the Victorian period?
- D. How did smiling in photographs become a post-Victorian norm?
答案：A
答案句：As a historian who’s always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate the past, I’ve become preoccupied with looking for photographs that show our Victorian ancestors smiling ( what better way to shatter the image of 19th-century prudery?). … How do we explain this trend? … But exposure times were much quicker by the 1880s, and the introduction of the Box Brownie and other portable cameras meant that, though slow by today’s digital standards, the exposure was almost instantaneous. Spontaneous smiles were relatively easy to capture by the 1890s, so we must look elsewhere for an explanation of why Victorians still hesitated to smile. One explanation might be the loss of dignity displayed through a cheesy grin.
参考译文：作为一名历史学家，我总是在寻找能让我们重新评估过去的文本或图像，因此我专注于寻找展示我们维多利亚时代祖先微笑的照片（还有什么比这更能打破19世纪假正经的形象呢？）。……我们如何解释这一趋势？……但到了19世纪80年代，曝光时间已大幅缩短，盒式布朗尼相机和其他便携相机的引入意味着，尽管按今天的数字标准来看很慢，但曝光几乎是瞬间完成的。到19世纪90年代，自发的微笑相对容易捕捉，所以我们必须从别处寻找维多利亚人仍然不愿微笑的原因。一个可能的解释是，咧嘴笑会显得有失尊严。
定位线索：题干“Which of the following questions does the text answer?”→答案句“How do we explain this trend?”、“why Victorians still hesitated to smile”；文中“explain this trend”对应选项A“Why did most Victorians look stern in photographs?”。
解析：题干问文章回答了哪个问题。文章首段提出发现维多利亚人微笑的照片，第二段提出“How do we explain this trend?”，随后解释为何多数维多利亚人在照片中表情严肃，对应A项“Why did most Victorians look stern in photographs?”。B项“Why did the Victorians start to view photographs?”无中生有，文中未提观念转变时间；C项“What made photography develop in the Victorian period?”偷换概念，文中讨论曝光时间而非发展缓慢；D项“How did smiling become a post-Victorian norm?”范围扩大，文中未提维多利亚之后的情况。