【正文】 used in the sam e m useum. The col l ecti on of Western art i ncl udes pai nti ngs by such fam ous arti sts as Mo, Van Gogh, Pi casso and Matisse. A few words of warni ng: the admi ssi on pri ce i s not cheap and the m useum i s often very crowded. Whitney Museum of Am eri can Art (945 Madi son Avenue, near 75th Street) The Whi tney hol ds an excel ent col l ecti on of contem porary Am eri can pai nting and scul pture. There are no permanent di spl ays i n thi s m useum and exhi bi ti ons change al l the tim e. Every two years, the Whitney hol ds a speci al exhi bi ti on of new art by li ving arti sts. The m useum al so shows vi deos and film s by contemporary vi deo artists. Uni t 2 A FEW SIMPLE FORMS OF ENGLISH POEMS There are vari ous reasons why peopl e wri te poetry. Som e poem s tel l a story or descri be somethi ng i n a way that wil l gi ve the reader a strong im pressi on. O thers try to convey certai n em oti ons. Poets use m any di fferent form s of poetry to express them sel ves. In thi s text, however, we wi l l ook at a few of the sim pler forms. Som e of the fi rst poetry a young chil d l earns i n Engli sh i s nursery rhym es. These rhym es l i ke the one on the ri ght (A) are sti l a m on type of chi l dren’s poetry. The l anguage i s concrete but im aginative, and they deli ght smal chi l dren because they rhym e, have strong rhythm and a l ot of repeti ti on. The poem s m ay not m ake sense and even seem contradi ctory, but they are easy to l earn and reci te. By pl ayi ng wi th the words i n nursery rhym es, chi l dren l earn about l anguage. H ush, Young Li fesaver Schem e at hi s hi gh school. When congratul ati ng John, Mr Al an Southerton, Di rector of the Young Li fesaver Schem e sai d, “There i s no doubt that John’s qui ck thi nki ng and the fi rst ai d skil ls he l earned at school saved Ms Sl ade’s l ife. It shows that a knowl edge of fi rst ai d can m ake a real di fference.” Before recei vi ng thei r awards l ast ni ght, John and the ni ne other Li fe Savers attended a speci al recepti on yesterday hosted by the Prim e Mini ster. 選修六 Unit 1 A SHO RT H ISTO RY O F WESTERN PAIN TIN G Art i s i nfl uenced by the custom s and faith of a peopl e. Styles i n Western art have changed m any ti m es. As there are so m any di ferent styl es of Western art, i t woul d be im posi bl e to descri be al l of them in such a short text. Consequently, this text wil descri be onl y the m ost im portant ones, starti ng from the si xth century AD. The Mi ddl e Ages (5th to the 15th century AD) Duri ng the Mi dl e Ages, the mai n aim of pai nters was to represent rel i gi ous them es. A conventi onal arti st of thi s peri od was not i nterested i n showi ng nature and peopl e as they real y were. A typi cal pi cture at thi s tim e was ful of rel igi ous sym bol s, which created a feeli ng of respect and l ove for God. But it was evi dent that i deas were changi ng i n the 13th century when pai nters li ke Gi oto di Bondone began to pai nt rel i gi ous scenes i n a m ore real i sti c way. The Renai ssance (15th to 16th century) Duri ng the Renai ssance, new i deas and val ues gradual l y repl aced those hel d in the Mi ddl e Ages. People began to concentrate l ess on reli gious them es and adopt a more hum ani sti c atti tude to li fe. At the sam e ti m e pai nters returned to cl assi cal Roman and Greek i deas about art. They tri ed to pai nt peopl e and nature as they real y were. Ri ch peopl e wanted to possess thei r own pai nti ngs. so they coul d decorate thei r superb pal aces and great houses. They pai d fam ous arti sts to paint pi ctures of them sel ves, their houses and possessi ons as wel as thei r acti viti es and achi evem ents. O ne of the m ost i m portant di scoveri es duri ng thi s peri od was how to draw thi ngs i n perspecti ve. Thi s technique was fi rst used by Masacci o in 1428. When peopl e fi rst saw hi s painti ngs, they were convi nced that they were l ooki ng through a hol e in a wal at a real scene. If the rules of perspecti ve had not been di scovered, on one woul d have ben abl e to pai nt such reali stic pi ctures. By coi nci dence, oil pai nts were also devel oped at thi s tim e, which m ade the col ors used i n pai nti ngs look ri cher and deeper. Without the new pai nts and the new techni que, we woul d not be able to see the m any great m asterpi eces for whi ch thi s peri od i s fam ous. Im pressi oni sm (late 19th to earl y 20th century) In the l ate 19th century, Europe changed a great deal , from a m ostl y agri cultural soci ety to a m ostly i ndustri al one. Many peopl e m oved from the countrysi de to the new ci ti es. There were many new inventi ons and soci al changes. N atural l y, these changes al so l ed to new pai nti ng styles. Am ong the pai nters who broke away from the tradi ti onal style of pai nting were the Im presi oni sts, who l i ved and worked i n Pari s. The Im pressi onists were the fi rst pai nters to work outdoors. They were eager to show how li ght and shadow fel l on objects at di fferent tim es of day. However, because natural l ight changes so qui ckl y, the Im presi oni sts had to paint qui ckl y. Thei r pai nti ngs were not as detail ed as those of earli er painters. At fi rst, m any peopl e di sl i ked thi s styl e of pai nti ng and becam e very angry about i t. They sai d that the pai nters were carel es and thei r pai nti ngs were ridi cul ous. Modern Art (20th century to today) At the tim e they were created, the Im presi oni st pai nti ngs were controversial, but today they are accepted as the begi nni ng of what we cal “modern art”. Thi s i s because the Im presi oni sts encouraged arti sts to l ook at thei r environm ent i n new ways. There are scores of modern art styl es, but wi thout the Im pressi oni sts, many of these pai nti ng styl es mi ght not exi st. On the one hand, som e modern art i s abstract