托福線上測驗 TOEFL Online Test

托福簡介

    According to literature, the stylistic innovation in painting known as Post-Impressionism began in the 1880’s. Unlike the Impressionism, the Post-Impressionism did not concentrate on the play of light over objects, people, and nature, breaking up seemingly solid surfaces, stressing vivid contrast between colors in sunlight and shade, and depiction reflected light inall of its possibilities. Instead, the new style wanted to depict what they saw in nature by pursuing a more personal and spiritual expression. The Post-Impressionists did not want to observe the world from indoors. Like earlier Impressionists, they abandoned the studio, painting in the open air and recording spontaneous impressions of their subjects instead of making outside sketches and then moving indoors to complete the work form memory.

    Post-Impressionism was a movement in France that not only represented an extension of.Impressionism, but also a rejection of that style’s inherent limitations. Of all the painters in the Post-Impressionism, Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec are the most famous ones.

    The Post-Impressionists often presented their workstogether, but, unlike the Impressionists, who began as a close-knit, convivial group, they painted mainly alone. Cézanne painted in.solation in southern France; his solitude was matched by that of Paul Gauguin, who in 1891 took up residence in Tahiti, and of van Gogh, who painted in the countryside at Arles. Both Gauguin and van Gogh rejected the indifferent objectivity of Impressionism in favour of amore personal, spiritual expression. In 1886, Gauguin renounced “the abominable error of naturalism.” Also, Gauguin sought a simpler truth and purer aesthetic in art;turning away from the sophisticated, urban art world of Paris, he instead looked for inspiration in rural communities with more traditional values. The Dutch painter van Gogh quickly adapted Impressionist techniques and color to express his acutely felt emotions after his arrival inParis. But later, he conveyed his emotionally charged and ecstatic responses to the natural and scape bytransforming the contrasting short brush strokes of Impressionism into curving,vibrant lines of color, exaggerated even beyond Impressionist brilliance.

    The Post-Impressionism not only led away from a naturalistic approach but also developed the two major movements of early 20th-century:Cubism and Fauvism. Therefore, the works of the Post-Impressionists could be called as a basis for several contemporary trends and for early 20th-century modernism.

1. What view of painting in the nineteenth century do these paragraphs mainly discuss?
(A) The impact of the new style of art to the modern life
(B) A new innovation in the materials used by artists
(C) The differences between two major styles of art
(D) A new style of art extended from Impressionism

2. The word “vivid” is closest in meaning to
(A) glaring
(B) dingy
(C) dull
(D) cheerful

3. According to the passage, which of the following was one of the characteristics of Post-Impressionist painting?
(A) The depiction of the reflection of light and color
(B) The pursuance of personal and spiritual expression
(C) The focus on vivid contrast between colors in sunlight in shade
(D) The painters painted together

4. The famous painters of Post-Impressionism in all of the following EXCEPT?
(A) Paul Cézanne
(B) Vincent van Gogh
(C) Claude Monet
(D) Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

5. The author mentions Gauguin to give an example of an artist who
(A) became as famous as Cézanne
(B) held exhibitions consistently in Paris
(C) transformed the contrasting short brushstrokes of Impressionism into curving
(D) was in favor of a more personal, spiritual expression