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本文出处：Nov 26th 2009，From The Economist print edition

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14941181

原文标题：A special report on the art market：Suspended animation

1---The longest bull run in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst, “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”, at Sotheby’s in London on September 15th 2008. All but two pieces sold, fetching more than £70m, a record for a sale by a single artist. It was a last victory. As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy.

随着2008年9月15日在伦敦苏诺比拍卖行举行的“Beautiful Inside My Head Forever”拍卖会上Damien Hirst 的56件作品的售出，艺术市场一个世纪以来最长的牛市划上了一个戏剧性的终结。除了两件作品之外的其他作品都顺利拍出，总款项为七千万美元，这创造了单个艺术家的销售记录。那是艺术界的最后一次欢呼。就在拍卖师大声地喊出报价时，纽约华尔街一家最具历史的银行雷曼兄弟已在申请破产。

2---The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising vertiginously since 2003. At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion, reckons Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, a research firm — double the figure five years earlier. Since then it may have come down to $50 billion. But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth, enormous egos, greed, passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.

自从2003年，世界的艺术品市场经过了急速攀升之后，有一段时间却逐渐失去了发展势头。艺术经济研究公司创办人Clare McAndrew 认为，在2007年，世界艺术品市场的价值达到巅峰，价值650亿美元，为5年前的两倍。自2007年后，艺术市场的价值可能已经降至500亿美元。但是，艺术品市场产生的利益远远超出它本身的规模，这里集中了巨大的财富、自我意识、贪婪、激情和争议。从这个意义来说，很少有一项产业能与之相比。

3---In the weeks and months that followed Mr. Hirst’s sale, spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable. In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of contemporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated sector, they were down by nearly 90% in the year to November 2008. Within weeks the world’s two biggest auction houses, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, had to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.

在Hirst 作品拍出之后的一段时间，任何艺术品的投资都不再时尚。在艺术界，这就意味着收藏家不再光顾画廊和门市部。当代艺术品的销售量下降了三分之二，最热门的中国当代艺术品的销售量在2008年11月份降幅高达近百分之九十。几周之内，世界两家最大的拍卖行，苏诺比和克里斯蒂，必须支付近两亿美元去担保那些在他们那里进行销售的客户。

4---The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989. This time experts reckon that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more fluctuant. But Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, says: “I’m pretty confident we’re at the bottom.”

当前低迷的艺术品市场是自从1989年末日本人停止购买印象派作品以来最糟糕的一次。专家估算这一次艺术品价格已经降至其高点时的百分之四十，而有些艺术品价格一直很不稳定。但克里斯蒂的首席执行官Edward Dolman 说：“我相信我们现在正在处于谷底。”

5---What makes this slump different from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market. Almost everyone who was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell. The three Ds — death, debt and divorce — still deliver works of art to the market. But anyone who does not have to sell is keeping away, waiting for confidence to return.

他指出，与对上一次大萧条不一样的是现在市场上还有买家。几乎每个接受这个特别报道采访的人都说道现在艺术品市场最大的问题并不是没有需求而是没有好的作品销售。“3D”因素依然为市场提供艺术作品。但那些不一定非要去出售作品的人还是在远离市场，等待市场信心的回归。

21. In the first paragraph, Damien Hirst's sale was referred to as “a last victory” because ____-.

A. the art market had witnessed a succession of victories

B. the auctioneer finally got the two pieces at the highest bids

C. Beautiful inside My Head Forever won over all masterpieces

D. it was successfully made just before the world financial crisis

选【D】，因为第一段段尾句As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy. 即雷曼兄弟公司破产。

22. By saying “spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable”(Line 1-2,Para.3),the author suggests that_____ .

A. collectors were no longer actively involved in art-market auctions

B. people stopped every kind of spending and stayed away from galleries

C. art collection as a fashion had lost its appeal to a great extent

D. works of art in general had gone out of fashion so they were not worth buying

选【A】，本题迷惑选项为C，文章第三段只强调了  collectors stayed away；Sales fell，并没有强调“收藏时尚早在这之前就已经大大降温了”。

23. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A .Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2007to 2008.

B. The art market surpassed many other industries in momentum.

C. The market generally went downward in various ways.

D. Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come.

选【B】因为文章第二段只说了The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising vertiginously since 2003.并没有说比别的行业更有势头冲劲，同时也偷换了在哪个方面超过了其它行业。

24. The three Ds mentioned in the last paragraph are ____

A. auction houses' favorites

B. contemporary trends

C. factors promoting artwork circulation

D. styles representing impressionists

选【C】本题其实属于猜词题，问3Ds是什么含义，根据最后一段的上下文的含义，上一段段尾句说：But Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, says: “I’m pretty confident we’re at the bottom.”；以及3Ds之前的句子，there are still buyers in the market；Christie’s revenues in the first half of 2009 were still higher；not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell能感觉到后文应该继续表示有信心，对将来乐观。所以选C。

25. The most appropriate title for this text could be ___

A. Fluctuation of Art Prices

B. Up-to-date Art Auctions

C. Art Market in Decline

D. Shifted Interest in Arts

选【C】，文章从第二段开始就说虽然大家还是有信心，但艺术收藏市场不景气。