2021考研初试12月26~27日进行，2021考研初试情况(点击查看》》2021考研初试真题及答案解析专题)，第一时间为考生提供考研真题答案及答案解析内容，同时新东方考研教师将为考生提供视频直播解析。直播入口|考研真题答案专区

　　Text 3

　　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?). 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.

　　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. How do we explain this trend?

　　During the 1840s and 1850s, in the early days of photography, exposure times were notoriously long: the daguerreotype photographic method (producing an image on a silvered copper plate) could take several minutes to complete, resulting in blurred images as sitters shifted position or adjusted their limbs. The thought of holding a fixed grin as the camera performed its magical duties was too much to contemplate, and so a non-committal blank stare became the norm.

　　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. A flashing set of healthy and clean, regular ‘pearly whites’ was a rare sight in Victorian society, the preserve of the super-rich (and even then, dental hygiene was not guaranteed).

　　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”.

　　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 Victorians’ notion of public image.

　　D. illustrated the development of Victorian photography.

　　此题为细节推断题。根据第一段“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.”可以知道，作者在推特上发布一些维多利亚时期的人物影像之后，引起了相当大的轰动(stir)。后一句详细描写这一轰动“人们非常惊讶，原来维多利亚时期的人们也有欢乐，也会大笑。”由此可知A“改变人们对于维多利亚时代人物的印象”为最佳理解。

　　32. What does 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.

　　此题为细节理解题。定位到第二段“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. How do we explain this trend?” 表明作者知道自己的收藏画作仅仅是维多利他时代小小一部分(makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue)，那个时代大部分的写真都是端正坐着，一本正经，没有生趣。由此可知B选项“他们在那个时代的肖像照中少见”为正确理解。

　　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.

　　此题为细节题，题干所问“维多利亚时代人物不笑的原因”，由此定位到“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.”理解为“露齿微笑，一口坏牙，有失尊严”至于为什么是“cheesygrin”(不好的牙齿)则在随后解释，在牙齿科学产生之前，维多利亚时期人们的口腔卫生很令人吃惊，代表卫生条件不好。由此D“他们不健康的齿科环境”为最佳理解。

　　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.

　　此题为细节理解题。定位到最后一段的“but it was not a becoming look for properly bred persons.”理解为“对于良好教养的人来说，露齿大笑不是合适得体的样子”，因此可知人们很早就有这种观念。因此A“根深蒂固的观念”为最佳理解。此题可以用排除法BCD分别为“被误导的态度”、“有争议的观念”和“发人深省的想法”都不合理。

　　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 slowly in the Victorian period?

　　D. How did smiling in photographs become a post-Victorian norm?

　　此题为主旨大意。全文都在围绕“维多利亚时代人们拍照不笑”来写，随后作者给出了一些解释。根据话题确定A“为什么维多利亚时代的人们在照片中看起来严肃正经?”最合适。

　　更多2021考研真题答案及考研动态请持续关注新东方网。