2017年高考英语浙江卷(6月) - 阅读理解A

Benjamin West, the father of American painting, showed his talent for art when he was only six years of age. But he did not know about brushes before a visitor told him he needed one. In those days, a brush was made from camel’s hair. There were no camels nearby. Benjamin decided that cat hair would work instead. He cut some fur from the family cat to make a brush.
本杰明·韦斯特是美国绘画之父，他在六岁时就展现了自己的艺术天赋。但在一位来访者告诉他需要画刷之前，他并不知道画刷。那时候，画刷是用骆驼的毛做成的，而附近没有骆驼。本杰明决定用猫毛代替，他从家里的猫身上剪下一些毛发做画刷。

The brush did not last long. Soon Benjamin needed more fur. Before long, the cat began to look ragged. His father said that the cat must be sick. Benjamin was forced to admit what he had been doing.
刷子用不了多久。很快本杰明需要更多的毛发。没过多久，猫看起来已经蓬乱不堪。他父亲说这只猫一定是生病了，本杰明只有承认自己一直在剪猫毛。

The cat’s lot was about to improve. That year, one of Benjamin’s cousins, Mr. Pennington, came to visit. He was impressed with Benjamin’s drawings. When he went home, he sent Benjamin a box of paint and some brushes. He also sent six engravings by an artist. These were the first pictures and first real paint and brushes Benjamin had ever seen. In 1747, when Benjamin was nine years old, Mr. Pennington returned for another visit. He was amazed at what Benjamin had done with his gift. He asked Benjamin’s parents if he might take the boy to Philadelphia for a visit.
猫的命运即将好转。那一年，本杰明父亲的一个堂兄弟彭宁顿先生来看望他。本杰明的画给他留下了深刻的印象。当他回家时，他给本杰明送了一盒油漆和一些画刷。他还送来了由一位画家创作的六幅版画。这是本杰明所见过的第一批画，也是第一批真正的颜料和画刷。1747年，本杰明九岁时，彭宁顿先生再次来访。他对本杰明用他的礼物所做的一切感到惊讶。他问本杰明的父母是否可以带这个男孩去费城参观。

In the city, Mr.Pennington gave Benjamin materials for creating oil paintings. The boy began a landscape painting. Wiliams, a well-known painter, came to see him work. Wiliams was impressed with Benjamin and gave him two classic books on painting to take home. The books were long and dull. Benjamin could read only a little, having been a poor student.But he later said, ”Those two books were my companions by day, and under my pillow at night.” While it is likely that he understood very little of the books, they were his introduction to classical paintings. The nine-year-old boy decided then that he would be an artist.
在城里，彭宁顿先生给本杰明提供了创作油画的材料。这个男孩开始创作风景画。著名画家威廉姆斯来看他的作品。威廉姆斯对本杰明印象深刻，给了他两本关于绘画的经典书籍带回家。这些书又长又枯燥。本杰明是个知识水平有限的学生，只能读一点书。但他后来说：“那两本书白天是我的伙伴，晚上放在我的枕头下。”虽然他可能对这些书知之甚少，但却成了他古典绘画的入门书籍。这个九岁的男孩当时决定成为一名画家。