His bio reads like a rock star's. A precocious talent， he never married because， he said， it would have hurt his career. But he moved his girlfriend in with him while he worked his last gig——then died at the age of 37 from a fever brought on， some said， by carnal excess. The great painter Raphael （1483-1520） was one of the big three of Italy's high Renaissance， along with Leonardo da Vinci （whose work he admired and studied closely） and Michelangelo （with whom he carried on a vigorous， if all too brief， competition to be the Vatican's favorite artist）。 He didn't seem， however， to have a superstar's attitude. The pope was his patron， and acquaintances described him as “sensible，” “well mannered，” “genial” and “sweet.” On his deathbed， he bequeathed his mistress enough money to live “honorably” for the rest of her life. And he painted her portrait——one of the great paintings of all time， right up there with the “Mona Lisa”——as a final， loving tribute.
At least that's how the legend goes. That portrait——which is touring the United States for the first time——constitutes a one-picture exhibition at the Frick Collection in New York through Jan. 30 （it will travel to Houston and Indianapolis）。 Certainly， “La Fornarina” （“baker's daughter”） comes from the hand of the incomparable Raphael. The gently tilting composition is perfect， the color finely balanced and the lady's skin alabaster and flawless. （Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as sprezzatura， meaning， roughly， to hide with technical facility exactly how anything is done.） In the classic Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes （including a belly button under gauze）， she glances coyly to the side at， one presumes， a lover. “La Fornarina，” the renowned art historian and MacArthur fellow Leo Steinberg explains， “is the closest thing to soft porn in the high Renaissance.” But whether the seminude lady depicted is actually the baker's daughter who was Raphael's love remains a mystery.
Is Raphael himself the object of her gaze？ Most people——including several British critics reviewing the big Raphael exhibition currently at the National Gallery in London——like to think so. Since live women models weren't generally available five centuries ago， the reasoning goes， the lady's posing undressed for Raphael must have been an intimate act. Besides， what else can the artist's proprietary name on her armband mean？ But the experts remain divided. With a fine disregard for attendance-boosting hype， Rome museums commissioner Claudio Strinati （“La Fornarina” usually resides at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome） lays out a less titillating hypothesis in a booklet accompanying the Frick display.
A recent cleaning of the painting reveals a wedding ring on the lady's left hand； Raphael's final and most prominent patron， the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi， had just been married to one Francesca Ardeasca. Raphael's name on the armband， Strinati says， is a tribute to Chigi. He concludes that “La Fornarina” is Ardeasca. Unfortunately， no other portraits of Chigi's bride exist to confirm the ID. As Steinberg says， “It's all an attractive myth， and like all myths it depends for interpretation on levels of reliable gossip.” Whatever one believes， “La Fornarina” is still a sweetheart of a painting.
注（1）：本文選自Newsweek；12/13/2004， p68-68；
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象2002年真題text 3；
1.The mystery of the woman lies in her ______.
[A] beauty
[B] unknown identity
[C] seminude body
[D] intimate relationship with Raphael
2.It can be inferred from the text that ______.
[A] Raphael behaved like a superstar
[B] Raphael died young because of overwork
[C] Raphael enjoyed greater popularity than Michelangelo
[D] one of his paintings achieves as great fame as “Mona Lisa”。
3.The vivid descriptions of the painting “La Fornarina” show that _____.
[A] Raphael is good at soft porn
[B] Raphael develops a special feeling towards the baker's daughter.
[C] oil paint was not popular then
[D] Raphael's painting technique has reached maturity in the painting
4.We can draw a conclusion from the third paragraph that______.
[A] there is sound evidence to believe there exists an intimacy between Raphael and the woman in the painting
[B] live women models were nowhere to find in Raphael's time
[C] nude models were easily available in Italy in Renaissance
[D] it is generally agreed between experts that the woman is Raphael's mistress
5.From the text， we can see that the writer _____.
[A] shows curiosity towards the identity of the woman in the painting
[B] is a Renaissance art historian
[C] strongly support the idea that “La Fornarina” is one of Raphael's mistress
[D] thinks low of Raphael's technique in the painting
篇章剖析
本文以對畫壇巨匠拉斐爾的簡介開始，重點討論了他的畫作《福爾娜瑞娜》中神秘女郎的身份問題。第一段簡單介紹了拉斐爾及其在畫壇上的地位，并引出油畫《福爾娜瑞娜》。第二段對這幅畫進(jìn)行了細(xì)膩描寫。第三段列出人們對畫中女郎身份的不同看法。第四段指出無論畫中女郎是誰，這幅畫都是一幅精品。
詞匯注釋
precocious： [pri5kEuFEs] adj. 早熟的
gig： [^i^] n. 為生計而做的工作
carnal： [5kB：nl] adj. 肉體的；性的
genial： [dVi5naiEl] adj. 和藹可親的
bequeath：[bi5kwi：T] v. 遺贈
alabaster： [5AlEbB：stE] adj. （皮膚）光滑細(xì)膩的
erotic： [i5rCtik] adj. 挑逗的；性感的
gauze：[^C：z] n. 薄紗
proprietary： [prE5praiEtEri] adj. 專有的；所屬的
titillate： [5titileit] v. 挑逗，使人興奮
難句突破
1.The gently tilting composition is perfect， the color finely balanced and the lady's skin
alabaster and flawless.
主體句式：the …composition is perfect， the color … balanced and … skin alabaster and flawless.
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這句后半句是獨立主格結(jié)構(gòu)。分別在“finely”和 “skin”后省略了“is”。
句子譯文：那微微傾斜的身體，那明暗協(xié)調(diào)的色彩，那光滑細(xì)嫩、白玉無暇的肌膚，一切都那么完美。
2.In the Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes （including a belly button under gauze）， she glances coyly to the side at， one presumes， a lover.
主體句式：she glances … to the side at … a lover.
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這句話中，“cover up” 和“showcase”并列，它們的賓語是“erotic attributes”；主句中“one presume”是插入語。
句子譯文：畫中女郎經(jīng)典的維納斯式手勢既試圖遮掩又意欲表現(xiàn)自己的性感一面。（還有薄紗下面若隱若現(xiàn)的肚臍。）她害羞地朝一側(cè)望去。有人猜測是看她的情人。
題目分析
1.答案是B，屬推理判斷題。從最后兩段可以清楚知道對畫中女郎的身份有各種不同的猜測。
2.答案是D，屬推理判斷題。從第一段對Raphael的細(xì)節(jié)介紹中可得出答案。
3.答案是D，屬推理判斷題。對這幅油畫精品的細(xì)致描寫只有一個目的，就是展示的天才般的繪畫技巧。從第二段“Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as…。”一句中可以讀出。
4.答案是A，屬事實細(xì)節(jié)題。從第三段可以知道，500年前，女模特還不普遍，畫中半*的女郎很容易被認(rèn)為和畫家有親密關(guān)系。
5.答案是A，屬推理判斷題。全文一直在探討畫中女郎的身份，列出兩種不同的觀點，但并沒有結(jié)論。文章最后一句更能幫助理解。
參考譯文
他的傳記讀起來像搖滾歌星的傳記。一個早熟的天才，他終生未娶。據(jù)他說，這會影響事業(yè)的發(fā)展。但他還是在創(chuàng)作最后一幅油畫時，請女友過來和他同住。然后在37歲時因為發(fā)燒不幸辭世。有人說，他發(fā)燒是由縱欲過度引起的。偉大的畫家拉斐爾（1483—1520）是意大利文藝復(fù)興繁榮時期三大畫家之一，和達(dá)芬奇、米開朗基羅齊名。他欣賞達(dá)芬奇的作品并仔細(xì)研究。在誰是梵蒂岡歡迎的畫家這個問題上，他和米開朗基羅爭得不相上下，只可惜他去世太早。不過，看上去他可沒有明星的高傲派頭。教皇是他的贊助人。認(rèn)識他的人都說他“明智”、“有教養(yǎng)”、“和藹”、“令人愉快”。在彌留之際，他給情婦留下足夠錢財，讓她“體面地”度過余生。他還為她畫了肖像，作為最后的愛的信物。這張肖像一直被認(rèn)為是一幅偉大的杰作，和蒙娜。麗莎齊名。
至少故事是這么說的。那張肖像正在美國巡展。為此紐約弗瑞克收藏店專為這一張油畫舉辦了展覽，展覽持續(xù)到1月31日（之后再去休斯頓和印地安納波里）?！陡柲热鹉取罚ā懊姘鼛煹呐畠骸保┐_實出自無與倫比的拉斐爾之手。那微微傾斜的身體，那明暗協(xié)調(diào)的色彩，那光滑細(xì)嫩、白玉無暇的肌膚，一切都那么完美。（當(dāng)時油畫還屬新興事物，但拉斐爾對繪畫掌握已十分純熟，以至于他的技巧被稱為sprezzatura，大意是作畫過程被技巧準(zhǔn)確地掩蓋。）畫中女郎經(jīng)典的維納斯式手勢既試圖遮掩又意欲表現(xiàn)自己性感的一面。（還有薄紗下面若隱若現(xiàn)的肚臍。）她害羞地朝一側(cè)望去。有人猜測是看她的情人。“《福爾娜瑞娜》是文藝復(fù)興繁榮時期最接近色情的作品，”的藝術(shù)史學(xué)家麥克阿瑟研究會會員里奧。斯坦伯格說道。但畫中這位半*的女子是不是拉斐爾所愛的面包師的女兒，仍然是個謎。
拉斐爾是不是她凝視的對象？大部分人都樂于這樣想，包括幾名正在倫敦國家美術(shù)館研究拉斐爾作品的批評家們。理由是，五百年前，女模特還不普遍。從畫中女子半*的姿態(tài)可以推斷出她和拉斐爾關(guān)系非常親密。而且，畫家的名字出現(xiàn)在她的袖帶上還有別的意思嗎：但有些專家對此持有不同意見。羅馬博物館主管克勞第奧。斯提納地（《福爾娜瑞娜》平時收藏在羅馬的Palazzo Barberini美術(shù)館）就不理會媒體大肆報導(dǎo)的觀眾蜂擁而入的盛況，他在弗瑞克展覽會上發(fā)放的一本小冊子提出了一個不那么令人浮想聯(lián)翩的假設(shè)。
最近在清理這幅油畫時，發(fā)現(xiàn)畫中女郎的左手戴著婚戒；拉斐爾最后一位也是最重要的一位贊助人，塞尼思銀行家阿果思提諾。齊格，那時剛與弗朗西斯卡。阿迪斯卡結(jié)婚。斯提納地說，袖帶上拉斐爾的名字是向齊格表示敬意。他的結(jié)論是，油畫《福爾娜瑞娜》中的女郎就是阿迪斯卡。不幸的是，齊格的新娘沒有其他肖像來證明自己就是畫中女郎。正如斯坦伯格所說，“畫中女郎是誰是人人都想*的謎，就像其他謎一樣，它的解釋取決于傳言的可信度。”不管人們相信那種說法，油畫《福爾娜瑞娜》仍是人們的至愛。
At least that's how the legend goes. That portrait——which is touring the United States for the first time——constitutes a one-picture exhibition at the Frick Collection in New York through Jan. 30 （it will travel to Houston and Indianapolis）。 Certainly， “La Fornarina” （“baker's daughter”） comes from the hand of the incomparable Raphael. The gently tilting composition is perfect， the color finely balanced and the lady's skin alabaster and flawless. （Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as sprezzatura， meaning， roughly， to hide with technical facility exactly how anything is done.） In the classic Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes （including a belly button under gauze）， she glances coyly to the side at， one presumes， a lover. “La Fornarina，” the renowned art historian and MacArthur fellow Leo Steinberg explains， “is the closest thing to soft porn in the high Renaissance.” But whether the seminude lady depicted is actually the baker's daughter who was Raphael's love remains a mystery.
Is Raphael himself the object of her gaze？ Most people——including several British critics reviewing the big Raphael exhibition currently at the National Gallery in London——like to think so. Since live women models weren't generally available five centuries ago， the reasoning goes， the lady's posing undressed for Raphael must have been an intimate act. Besides， what else can the artist's proprietary name on her armband mean？ But the experts remain divided. With a fine disregard for attendance-boosting hype， Rome museums commissioner Claudio Strinati （“La Fornarina” usually resides at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome） lays out a less titillating hypothesis in a booklet accompanying the Frick display.
A recent cleaning of the painting reveals a wedding ring on the lady's left hand； Raphael's final and most prominent patron， the Sienese banker Agostino Chigi， had just been married to one Francesca Ardeasca. Raphael's name on the armband， Strinati says， is a tribute to Chigi. He concludes that “La Fornarina” is Ardeasca. Unfortunately， no other portraits of Chigi's bride exist to confirm the ID. As Steinberg says， “It's all an attractive myth， and like all myths it depends for interpretation on levels of reliable gossip.” Whatever one believes， “La Fornarina” is still a sweetheart of a painting.
注（1）：本文選自Newsweek；12/13/2004， p68-68；
注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象2002年真題text 3；
1.The mystery of the woman lies in her ______.
[A] beauty
[B] unknown identity
[C] seminude body
[D] intimate relationship with Raphael
2.It can be inferred from the text that ______.
[A] Raphael behaved like a superstar
[B] Raphael died young because of overwork
[C] Raphael enjoyed greater popularity than Michelangelo
[D] one of his paintings achieves as great fame as “Mona Lisa”。
3.The vivid descriptions of the painting “La Fornarina” show that _____.
[A] Raphael is good at soft porn
[B] Raphael develops a special feeling towards the baker's daughter.
[C] oil paint was not popular then
[D] Raphael's painting technique has reached maturity in the painting
4.We can draw a conclusion from the third paragraph that______.
[A] there is sound evidence to believe there exists an intimacy between Raphael and the woman in the painting
[B] live women models were nowhere to find in Raphael's time
[C] nude models were easily available in Italy in Renaissance
[D] it is generally agreed between experts that the woman is Raphael's mistress
5.From the text， we can see that the writer _____.
[A] shows curiosity towards the identity of the woman in the painting
[B] is a Renaissance art historian
[C] strongly support the idea that “La Fornarina” is one of Raphael's mistress
[D] thinks low of Raphael's technique in the painting
篇章剖析
本文以對畫壇巨匠拉斐爾的簡介開始，重點討論了他的畫作《福爾娜瑞娜》中神秘女郎的身份問題。第一段簡單介紹了拉斐爾及其在畫壇上的地位，并引出油畫《福爾娜瑞娜》。第二段對這幅畫進(jìn)行了細(xì)膩描寫。第三段列出人們對畫中女郎身份的不同看法。第四段指出無論畫中女郎是誰，這幅畫都是一幅精品。
詞匯注釋
precocious： [pri5kEuFEs] adj. 早熟的
gig： [^i^] n. 為生計而做的工作
carnal： [5kB：nl] adj. 肉體的；性的
genial： [dVi5naiEl] adj. 和藹可親的
bequeath：[bi5kwi：T] v. 遺贈
alabaster： [5AlEbB：stE] adj. （皮膚）光滑細(xì)膩的
erotic： [i5rCtik] adj. 挑逗的；性感的
gauze：[^C：z] n. 薄紗
proprietary： [prE5praiEtEri] adj. 專有的；所屬的
titillate： [5titileit] v. 挑逗，使人興奮
難句突破
1.The gently tilting composition is perfect， the color finely balanced and the lady's skin
alabaster and flawless.
主體句式：the …composition is perfect， the color … balanced and … skin alabaster and flawless.
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這句后半句是獨立主格結(jié)構(gòu)。分別在“finely”和 “skin”后省略了“is”。
句子譯文：那微微傾斜的身體，那明暗協(xié)調(diào)的色彩，那光滑細(xì)嫩、白玉無暇的肌膚，一切都那么完美。
2.In the Venus gesture of simultaneously trying to cover up and to showcase her erotic attributes （including a belly button under gauze）， she glances coyly to the side at， one presumes， a lover.
主體句式：she glances … to the side at … a lover.
結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這句話中，“cover up” 和“showcase”并列，它們的賓語是“erotic attributes”；主句中“one presume”是插入語。
句子譯文：畫中女郎經(jīng)典的維納斯式手勢既試圖遮掩又意欲表現(xiàn)自己的性感一面。（還有薄紗下面若隱若現(xiàn)的肚臍。）她害羞地朝一側(cè)望去。有人猜測是看她的情人。
題目分析
1.答案是B，屬推理判斷題。從最后兩段可以清楚知道對畫中女郎的身份有各種不同的猜測。
2.答案是D，屬推理判斷題。從第一段對Raphael的細(xì)節(jié)介紹中可得出答案。
3.答案是D，屬推理判斷題。對這幅油畫精品的細(xì)致描寫只有一個目的，就是展示的天才般的繪畫技巧。從第二段“Raphael got so good with the then new medium of oil paint that his technique became known as…。”一句中可以讀出。
4.答案是A，屬事實細(xì)節(jié)題。從第三段可以知道，500年前，女模特還不普遍，畫中半*的女郎很容易被認(rèn)為和畫家有親密關(guān)系。
5.答案是A，屬推理判斷題。全文一直在探討畫中女郎的身份，列出兩種不同的觀點，但并沒有結(jié)論。文章最后一句更能幫助理解。
參考譯文
他的傳記讀起來像搖滾歌星的傳記。一個早熟的天才，他終生未娶。據(jù)他說，這會影響事業(yè)的發(fā)展。但他還是在創(chuàng)作最后一幅油畫時，請女友過來和他同住。然后在37歲時因為發(fā)燒不幸辭世。有人說，他發(fā)燒是由縱欲過度引起的。偉大的畫家拉斐爾（1483—1520）是意大利文藝復(fù)興繁榮時期三大畫家之一，和達(dá)芬奇、米開朗基羅齊名。他欣賞達(dá)芬奇的作品并仔細(xì)研究。在誰是梵蒂岡歡迎的畫家這個問題上，他和米開朗基羅爭得不相上下，只可惜他去世太早。不過，看上去他可沒有明星的高傲派頭。教皇是他的贊助人。認(rèn)識他的人都說他“明智”、“有教養(yǎng)”、“和藹”、“令人愉快”。在彌留之際，他給情婦留下足夠錢財，讓她“體面地”度過余生。他還為她畫了肖像，作為最后的愛的信物。這張肖像一直被認(rèn)為是一幅偉大的杰作，和蒙娜。麗莎齊名。
至少故事是這么說的。那張肖像正在美國巡展。為此紐約弗瑞克收藏店專為這一張油畫舉辦了展覽，展覽持續(xù)到1月31日（之后再去休斯頓和印地安納波里）?！陡柲热鹉取罚ā懊姘鼛煹呐畠骸保┐_實出自無與倫比的拉斐爾之手。那微微傾斜的身體，那明暗協(xié)調(diào)的色彩，那光滑細(xì)嫩、白玉無暇的肌膚，一切都那么完美。（當(dāng)時油畫還屬新興事物，但拉斐爾對繪畫掌握已十分純熟，以至于他的技巧被稱為sprezzatura，大意是作畫過程被技巧準(zhǔn)確地掩蓋。）畫中女郎經(jīng)典的維納斯式手勢既試圖遮掩又意欲表現(xiàn)自己性感的一面。（還有薄紗下面若隱若現(xiàn)的肚臍。）她害羞地朝一側(cè)望去。有人猜測是看她的情人。“《福爾娜瑞娜》是文藝復(fù)興繁榮時期最接近色情的作品，”的藝術(shù)史學(xué)家麥克阿瑟研究會會員里奧。斯坦伯格說道。但畫中這位半*的女子是不是拉斐爾所愛的面包師的女兒，仍然是個謎。
拉斐爾是不是她凝視的對象？大部分人都樂于這樣想，包括幾名正在倫敦國家美術(shù)館研究拉斐爾作品的批評家們。理由是，五百年前，女模特還不普遍。從畫中女子半*的姿態(tài)可以推斷出她和拉斐爾關(guān)系非常親密。而且，畫家的名字出現(xiàn)在她的袖帶上還有別的意思嗎：但有些專家對此持有不同意見。羅馬博物館主管克勞第奧。斯提納地（《福爾娜瑞娜》平時收藏在羅馬的Palazzo Barberini美術(shù)館）就不理會媒體大肆報導(dǎo)的觀眾蜂擁而入的盛況，他在弗瑞克展覽會上發(fā)放的一本小冊子提出了一個不那么令人浮想聯(lián)翩的假設(shè)。
最近在清理這幅油畫時，發(fā)現(xiàn)畫中女郎的左手戴著婚戒；拉斐爾最后一位也是最重要的一位贊助人，塞尼思銀行家阿果思提諾。齊格，那時剛與弗朗西斯卡。阿迪斯卡結(jié)婚。斯提納地說，袖帶上拉斐爾的名字是向齊格表示敬意。他的結(jié)論是，油畫《福爾娜瑞娜》中的女郎就是阿迪斯卡。不幸的是，齊格的新娘沒有其他肖像來證明自己就是畫中女郎。正如斯坦伯格所說，“畫中女郎是誰是人人都想*的謎，就像其他謎一樣，它的解釋取決于傳言的可信度。”不管人們相信那種說法，油畫《福爾娜瑞娜》仍是人們的至愛。