Yousuf Karsh，the Canadian portrait artist

题目内容：

Yousuf Karsh，the Canadian portrait artist who photographed many of the most influential figures of the 20^th century，died in a Boston hospital on July l3 ^th，2002．He was 93．

Working from a studio in Ottawa，Karsh produced famous portraits of such subjects as Winston Churchill，John F．Kennedy，Ernest Hemingway and Albert Einstein．Actually he has become almost as famous as his legendary subjects．In the latest edition of Who’s Who，which listed the most notable people of the last century，Karsh was the only Canadian of the 100 famous people listed——51 0f whom Karsh had photographed．

As a master portraitist，often working in black and white．Karsh was famous for talking to his subjects as he was getting the shot’s composition just right，asking them questions and putting them at ease．In preparation，he read as much as he could about the sitters，but avoided having the idea beforehand of how he would photograph them．He sought, as he wrote in Karsh Portfolio in 1967，to capture the “essential element which has made them great，” explaining，“All I know is that within every mall a secret is hidden，and as a photographer, it is my task to reveal it if I can．”

Karsh was born in America in 1908，and his uncle，George Nakash，brought him to John Garo，all outstanding photographer，to teach him in 1928．Four years later，Karsh set up his own studio in Ottawa．

In December of 1941，his memorable portrait of Winston Churchill brought Karsh into international fame．Canada’s Prime Minister Mackenzie King arranged for him to photograph Churchill following Churchill’s speech in the House of Commons．Not told，Churchill lit up a cigar, “Why was I not told of this?’’ Karsh asked him to remove the cigar and，when he didn’t，stepped forward and gently removed it with the comment，“Forgive me，Sir．”Churchill glowered (怒目而视) as the shot was taken，then permitted Karsh to take still another,；jokingly commenting，“You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed．” The Churchill portrait has since appeared in publications all over the world．

Karsh traveled to London in 1943 with his portable studio —— an 8-by-10 view camera and many studio lamps to photograph such notables as George Bernard Shaw and the royal family．All these portraits fully illustrate Karsh’s ability．

小题1:What did Karsh seek to do most in working?

A．Capture the essence and greatness of the character．

B．Present the true and vivid expression of the subject．

C．Make the photograph more colorful and expressive．

D．Reveal the idea he has got in preparing for the shot．小题2:The underlined word “sitters”in Para 3 probably means __________ ．

A．characters seated

B．subjects questioned

C．models photographed

D．photographs taken小题3:The last three paragraphs are mainly developed by __________ ．

A．following time order

B．providing examples

C．making comparisons

D．giving causes and effects小题4:From the passage，we can learn that __________ ．

A．Churchill was asked to stand still when Karsh took a photograph of him

B．Churchill’s portrait hanging in the House of Commons gave Karsh great fame

C．Karsh was listed as one of the 100 notables by Who’s Who in the last century

D．Karsh could skilfully adjust the subjects’ mood when photographing them

最佳答案：

小题1:A

小题2:C

小题3:A

小题4:D

答案解析：

文章介绍加拿大人像摄影艺术家优素福·卡什，曾为２０世纪众多风云人物拍摄过照片。他本人也几乎和他那些具有传奇色彩的摄影人物一样有名。他会想方设法去捕捉“使他们成为伟人的最基本要素”，捕捉被摄人物个性精髓。

小题1:细节题：从文章第三段的句子：He sought, as he wrote in Karsh Portfolio in 1967，to capture the “essential element which has made them great，”可知Karsh 在工作的时候追求的最多的是扑捉人物的精髓和伟大，选A

小题2:猜词题：从文章第三段的句子：Karsh was famous for talking to his subjects as he was getting the shot’s composition just right，asking them questions and putting them at ease．可知sitters是拍照的对象，选C

小题3:写作手法题：文章最后三段，通过时间顺序介绍Karsh 的人生经历，所以选A

小题4:推理题：从文章最后一段的句子: “You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed．”可知Karsh 擅长调整拍摄对象的情绪，选D

考点核心：

人物传记类文章的文体特征：

人物传记是记叙文体的一种，主要描写某人的生平事迹、趣闻轶事、生活背景、个性特征、成长奋斗历程等，包含记叙文的时间、地点、人物、事件等要素。其特点是以时间的先后或事件的发展为主线，空间或逻辑线索贯穿文章始终，脉络清楚，可读性较强。