A painting by Chinese artist Qi Baishi set a record for modern art and calligraphy (书法) on the mainland when it sold for 425.5 million yuan at an auction (拍卖) on May 22. The sale was a milestone (里程碑) in the auction of modern and contemporary artworks.
The price meant its value had risen more than 2,000 per cent in six years . The work , Eagle standing on pine tree with four-character coupleti（对联）, measures about 2.6 metres by 1 metre . It was the second highest price paid for an artwork on the mainland . A Song dynasty work by Huang Tingjian was sold for 436.8 million yuan in 2010 . Qi’s painting was finished in 1946 when Qi was 86 , and was his largest work . With a starting price of 88 million yuan , it attracted nearly 50 bids（出价）in half an hour . Shanghai businessman Liu Yiqian said that the work had belonged to him and had cost less than 20 million yuan in 2005 . The auction company said the work was brought back to the mainland after being bought from a private owner in San Francisco six years ago .
China ranked first in global art sales last year , ahead of the United States and Britain . Four Chinese artists were among the top 10 in worldwide sales : Qi Baishi , Zhang Daqian , Xu Beihong and Fu Baoshi . Qi’s works ranked second in sales to Pablo Picasso’s last year . Qi was born into a peasant family in Hunan in 1864 . He taught himself to paint and focused on nature including plants , insects , birds and fish . He is mostly well-known for his paintings of shrimps . In 1953 , he was elected president of the Association of Chinese Artists . He died in Beijing in 1957 .
小题1:What’s the best title of the text ?
A．Qi Baishi’s Painting Was Discovered .
B．Qi Baishi’s Painting Was Brought Back .
C．Qi Baishi’s Painting Sets an Auction Record .
D．The Value of Qi Baishi’s Paintings Is on the Increase .小题2:Whose artwork sold for the highest price on the mainland ?
A．Qi Baishi’s .
B．Huang Tingjian’s .
C．Xu Beihong’s .
D．Zhang Daqian’s .小题3:The auction price of Qi’s painting was million yuan higher than the starting price in the auction .
A．337.5 .
B．348.8 .
C．50 .
D．11.3 .小题4:Which of the following is TRUE ?
A．Qi finished the painting when he was young .
B．The painting was once stolen by an American .
C．The owner of this painting Liu Yiqian gained a lot of money .
D．Pablo Picasso’s works ranked second in sales to Qi’s last year .小题5: The text is most probably taken from a .
A．computer book
B．library guide
C．technology magazine
D．newspaper report
