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.

②　The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising bewilderingly 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.

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.

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.”

1.1.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

解析：选D。D推理判断题。定位至第一段最后一句，雷曼兄弟破产标志着金融危机的开始。赫斯特的拍卖恰好发生在这个历史节点之前，成为了艺术市场牛市终结前的最后一次辉煌，故称之为“最后的胜利”。故选D。

2.2.By saying “spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable” (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

解析：选A。A推理判断题。下文明确指出“在艺术界，这意味着收藏家远离了画廊和拍卖行”，并用销售额大幅下降的数据来支撑。因此，作者是在暗示收藏家们因经济环境而变得谨慎，不再积极购买。故选A。

3.3.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

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

B The art market surpassed many other industries in momentum.

C The art market generally went downward in various ways.

D Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。选项A与原文第三段内容一致，该段明确指出当代艺术销售额下降了三分之二，在最热门的领域跌幅近90%，正确。选项B错误，第二段首句明确指出艺术市场“早已失去发展势头”，虽然段末提到它引发的兴趣远超其规模，但这是因为其汇聚了财富与争议等独特性质，这并不等同于其实际的发展势头超越了其他行业。选项C准确概括了第三、四段所描述的市场整体下行状况，正确。选项D与文章最后一句“非不得已出手的人都在持观望态度，等待市场信心的回归”相吻合，正确。因此，唯一与原文不符的陈述是B。故选B。

4.4.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

解析：选C。C细节理解题。定位至最后一段第三句：“3D因素——死亡、债务和离婚——依然会向市场输送艺术品。”“向市场输送艺术品”即促进艺术品的流通，故C项正确。

5.5.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

解析：选C。C主旨大意题。文章通篇围绕艺术市场由盛转衰这一核心展开：首段以“最后的胜利”引出转折，后续段落详细描述了市场失去势头、消费萎缩、价格下跌等衰退迹象，并分析了此次衰退的特点。因此，“衰退中的艺术市场”最能全面概括文章主旨。故选C。