Calligraphy, literally “beautiful writing,” has been appreciated 1.________ an art form in many different cultures throughout the world, but the stature of calligraphy in Chinese culture is unmatched. In China, from a very early period, calligraphy was considered not just a form of decorative art; rather, it 2._________(view) as the supreme visual art form, was more valued 3.________ painting and sculpture, and ranked alongside poetry as 4.________ means of self-expression and cultivation.
How one wrote, 5._______ fact, was as important as what one wrote. To understand how calligraphy came to occupy such a prominent position, it is necessary 6.________(consider) a variety of factors, such as the materials used in calligraphy and the nature of the Chinese written script as well as the esteem in which writing and literacy are held in traditional China.
One of the 7._________(early) recorded instances concerns the first-century emperor Ming of the Han, who, upon hearing that his cousin was on his deathbed, dispatched a messenger to obtain a piece of his writing 8.________ he passed away. By so doing, Emperor Ming was hoping to be able to “commune” with his relative, even after death, through the traces of his 9.________(personal) embodied by 10.________(he) calligraphy.
答案
1.as 2.was viewed 3.than 4.a 5.in
6.to consider 7.earliest 8.before 9.personality 10.his
翻译
书法，字面意思是“美丽的书写”，在世界各地的许多不同文化当中都被视为一种艺术形式，但书法在中国文化中的地位是无与伦比的。在中国，从很早的时期起，书法就不仅仅被视为一种艺术，更重要的是，它被视为最高的视觉艺术形式，比绘画和雕塑更有价值，与诗歌并列，它不仅是一种自我修养的展现，也同时可以表达出书写者的内心感受。
在古代，人们认为一个人怎么写字和他写什么内容一样重要。要理解书法为何占据如此重要的地位，有必要考虑多种因素，如书法所用的材料和字体，以及中国传统文化对文笔和读写能力的尊重。
有记载的最早的事例之一是公元1世纪的汉朝明帝。据记载，这位汉朝的皇帝听说他的堂兄病危，于是便派一位信使在堂兄去世前取了一篇他所写的书法作品。通过这样做，明皇帝希望能够通过书法所体现的个性痕迹，与他的亲戚“交流”，即使是在他死后。
词汇解析
calligraphy / kəˈlɪɡrəfi / n. 书法，书法艺术
appreciate / əˈpriːʃieɪt / v. 欣赏，鉴赏
unmatch v. 不匹配；不协调
supreme / suːˈpriːm; sjuːˈpriːm / adj.最高的，至高无上的
cultivation / ˌkʌltɪˈveɪʃ(ə)n / n. 开垦，耕作；栽培，种植；（品质或技巧的）培养
prominent / ˈprɒmɪnənt / adj.重要的，著名的；显眼的，突出的
deathbed / ˈdeθbed / n. 临终之时；（临终）病榻
commune / ˈkɒmjuːn; kəˈmjuːn / n.社群，群体
trace / treɪs / v.查出，发现，追踪；追溯，追究
