Photos that you might have found down the back of your sofa are now big business!
In 2005, the American artist Richard Prince’s photograph of a photograph, Untitled (Cowboy）, was sold for $ 1, 248, 000.
Prince is certainly not the only contemporary artist to have worked with so-called “found photographs”—a loose term given to everything from discarded(丢弃的） prints discovered in a junk shop to old advertisements or amateur photographs from a stranger’s family album. The German artist Joachim Schmid, who believes “basically everything is worth looking at”, has gathered discarded photographs, postcards and newspaper images since 1982. In his on-going project, Archiv, he groups photographs of family life according to themes: people with dogs; teams; new cars; dinner with the family; and so on.
Like Schmid, the editors of several self-published art magazines also champion (捍卫) found photographs. One of them, called simply Found, was born one snowy night in Chicago, when Davy Rothbard returned to his car to find under his wiper(雨刷） an angry note intended for some else: “Why’s your car HERE at HER place?” The note became the starting point for Rothbard’s addictive publication, which features found photographs sent in by readers, such a poster discovered in our drawer.
The whole found-photograph phenomenon has raised some questions. Perhaps one of the most difficult is: can these images really be considered as art? And if so, whose art? Yet found photographs produced by artists, such Richard Prince, may riding his horse hurriedly to meet someone? Or how did Prince create this photograph? It's anyone's guess. In addition, as we imagine the back-story to the people in the found photographs artists, like Schmid, have collated (整理）, we also turn toward our own photographic albums. Why is memory so important to us? Why do we all seek to freeze in time the faces of our children, our parents, our lovers, and ourselves? Will they mean anything to anyone after we've gone?
In the absence of established facts, the vast collections of found photographs give our minds an opportunity to wander freely. That, above all, is why they are so fascinating.
【小题1】The first paragraph of the passage is used to .A．remind readers of found photographsB．advise reader to start a new kind of businessC．ask readers to find photographs behind sofaD．show readers the value of found photographs【小题2】According to the passage, Joachim Schmid .A．is fond of collecting family life photographsB．found a plaining not under his car wiperC．is working for several self-published magazinesD．wondered at the artistic nature of found photographs【小题3】The underlined word them in Para 4 refers to .A．the readersB．the editorsC．the found photographsD．the self-published magazines【小题4】By asking a series of questions in Para 5, the author mainly intends to indicate that .A．memory of the past is very important to peopleB．found photographs allow people to think freelyC．the back-story of found photographs is puzzlingD．the real value of found photographs is questionable【小题5】The author’s attitude towards found photographs can be described as .A．criticalB．doubtfulC．optimisticD．satisfiedD
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(答案→)D
解析：本文叙述了found photographs的价值和该商业的发展以及这种想象引起的一些问题，found photographs就是对过去的照片因为流失，或无主或丢弃的照片的复原，由于缺少最原始的事实，到底这些照片是怎样的寓意，你可以展开想象的翅膀去想象了。
【小题1】推理判断题。根据In 2005, the American artist Richard Prince’s photograph of a photograph, Untitled (Cowboy）, was sold for $ 1, 248, 000.可以推出说明这些老照片的价值。故选D。
【小题2】推理判断题。根据he groups photographs of family life according to themes: people with dogs; teams; new cars; dinner with the family; and so on.他根据主题把照片分组，这说明他收集了许多照片，可以推出他喜欢收集家庭照片，故选A。
【小题3】词义猜测题。根据called simply Found及find under his wiper(雨刷) an angry note诞可以猜测出应选D。
【小题4】细节理解题。根据the vast collections of found photographs give our minds an opportunity to wander freely,故选B。
【小题5】细节理解题。根据That, above all, is why they are so fascinating.故选C。