Question

【題目】

Art, as we know, is subjective. What one person considers a priceless masterpiece others might see as nothing more than a giant black square. But there’s one very specific kind of painting that almost everyone sees the same way — the kind with the “strange” eyes that seem to follow you around the room. So what causes this optical illusion (視覺錯覺) and how do artists achieve this effect?

It turns out, for even a moderately skilled artist, this effect isn’t a difficult thing to achieve. In fact, the artists need to use a little illusion of depth, making the person depicted on the canvas appears somewhat 3D on a 2D canvas, and to adjust the gaze (凝視) of the eyes so that they would be looking at someone standing right in front of the picture.

So what exactly is going on here in our brains that then makes it seem like the eyes follow you even if you move away from being front and center? As demonstrated by a team of researchers from Ohio State University, as you move to the side, the “near” and “far” points of the 2D image don’t really change. These near and far points are defined as visible points that, if the image was 3D, would appear nearest and furthest away from the viewer at a given angle.

The idea is simple. No matter what angle you look at a painting from, the painting itself doesn’t change. You’re looking at a flat surface. The key is that the near points and far points of the picture remained the same no matter the angle the picture was viewed from. When observing real surfaces in the natural environment, the near and far points vary when we change viewing direction. When we observe a picture on the wall, the visual information that defines near and far points is unaffected by viewing direction. Still, we willingly accept and interpret the thing in the painting as if it were a real object.

Thus, because the perspective, shadows, and light on the painting don’t change as you move around, if the eyes in the painting would be staring directly at the observer who is standing in front of the painting, it creates something of an optical illusion in your brain so that the eyes will continue to seem to stare at you as you move to the side.

In contrast to the eyes following you trick, if the artist tweaks the painting a bit, for example the artist adjusts the gaze of the eyes so that the eyes are looking off somewhere else instead of directly looking at a potential observer, no matter where you stand, the eyes will never seem to be looking at you.

The technique first began popularly showing up in art around the 14th century when the artist and architect Fillipo Brunelleshi introduced the art world to the idea of “l(fā)inear perspective”, being painting with the idea of everything in the picture converging (聚集) on a specific point on the horizon, creating the illusion of depth. Linear perspective, combined with skilled use of light and shadow allows artists to create masterfully realistic paintings, including sometimes of people that stare at you creepily no matter where you stand.

【1】What’s the writer’s purpose of writing Paragraph 1?

A.To lead in the question why staring eyes seem to follow us in a painting.

B.To make a comparison between a priceless masterpiece and a black square.

C.To introduce the topic that the optical illusion can make the painting look real.

D.To prove that people can think alike when they admire a certain kind of painting.

【2】What can't we learn from the passage?

A.The visible points of the image won’t change in the natural environment.

B.The near and far points of a painting are affected by our viewing direction.

C.The viewing direction of viewers can make the image in the painting look real.

D.The optical illusion in our brain makes us feel the eyes in the painting staring at us.

【3】The 3rd paragraph is mainly about ________.

A.who took part in the research.

B.how long the research lasted.

C.what was found in the research.

D.how the research was performed.

【4】What’s the meaning of the underlined word “tweek” in the passage?

A.changeB.decorateC.moveD.turn

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】C

【4】A

【解析】

文章大意：本文主要介紹有一種非常特別的繪畫，幾乎每個人都有同樣的看法——那種有著“奇怪”的眼睛，好像在房間里跟著你，引出視覺錯覺從而描述藝術(shù)家如何達(dá)到這種效果的。

【1】主旨大意題。A. To lead in the question why staring eyes seem to follow us in a painting.意為“引出一個問題：為什么在一幅畫里，凝視的眼睛似乎跟著我們�！�；B. To make a comparison between a priceless masterpiece and a black square.意為“把一件無價之寶和一塊黑色正方形做個比較�！�；C. To introduce the topic that the optical illusion can make the painting look real.意為“介紹視覺錯覺能使畫看起來真實的主題�！�；D. To prove that people can think alike when they admire a certain kind of painting.意為“證明當(dāng)人們欣賞某種繪畫時，他們的思維方式是一樣的。”根據(jù)第一段最后一句So what causes this optical illusion (視覺錯覺) and how do artists achieve this effect?可知下面開始介紹視覺錯覺，這里只是一個導(dǎo)入，其他都是舉例，所以中心是視覺錯覺，故答案選C。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題，根據(jù)第四段第五、六行When we observe a picture on the wall, the visual information that defines near and far points is unaffected by viewing direction可知，“近點和遠(yuǎn)點不受觀察方向的影響”，故答案選B。

【3】主旨大意題。A. who took part in the research.意為“誰參加了研究”；B. how long the research lasted.意為“這項研究持續(xù)多長時間”；C. what was found in the research.意為“研究發(fā)現(xiàn)了什么”；D. how the research was performed.意為“研究是如何進(jìn)行的”，根據(jù)第三段These near and far points are defined as visible points that, if the image was 3D, would appear nearest and furthest away from the viewer at a given angle可知第三段主要介紹研究發(fā)現(xiàn)了什么，故答案選C。

【4】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)后面的舉例，for example the artist adjusts the gaze of the eyes中的adjusts“調(diào)整”可知，這里說藝術(shù)家調(diào)整一點繪畫，故答案選A。