Every artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public.Not only doe

s he want to say it well, but he wants it to be something that has not been said before.He hopes the public will listen and understand what he wants to teach them, and what he wants them to learn from him.

What visual artists like painters want to teach is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters translate their experience into shapes and colors, not words.They seem to feel that a certain selection of shapes and colors, out of the countless billions possible, is exceptionally interesting for them and worth showing to us.Without their work we should never have noticed these particular shapes and colors, or have felt the delight which they brought to the artist.

Most artists take their shapes and colors from the world of nature and from human bodies in motion and at rest; their choices indicate that these aspects of the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights.Contemporary artists might say that they merely choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, that there is nothing more in it.Yet even they do not choose entirely without reference to the character of their subjects.

If one painter chooses to paint a decaying leg and another a lake in moonlight, each of them is directing our attention to a certain aspect of the world.Each painter is telling us something, showing us something, emphasizing something—all of which means that, consciously or unconsciously, he is trying to teach us.

1.An artist hopes that the public will ____.

A.understand him and learn from him

B.notice only shapes and colors in his work

C.teach him something

D.believe what he says in his work

2.It is hard to explain what a painter is saying, because he/ she ___.

A.uses shapes and colors instead of words

B.uses unusual words and phrases

C.does not express himself /herself well

D.does not say anything clearly

3.The writer points out that contemporary artists might say their choices of subject _____.

A.only provide interesting patterns

B.teach the public important truths

C.have no pattern or form

D.carry a message to the public

4.The writer also points out that contemporary art contains ____.

A.nothing but meaningless patterns

B.uninteresting aspects of the world

C.completely meaningless subjects

D.subjects chosen partly for their meanings

5.What is implied in this passage？()

A.A painting is more easily understood than a symphony.

B.Art is merely the arranging of shape and color.

C.Every artist tries to say something to the public.

D.One must look beyond shape and color to find what the artist is saying.