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Practically speaking, the artistic maturing of the cinema was the single-handed achievement of David W. Griffith (1875-1948). Before Griffith, photography in dramatic films consisted of little more than placing the actors before a stationary camera and showing them in full length as they would have appeared on stage. From the beginning of his career as a director, however, Griffith, because of his love of Victorian painting, employed composition. He conceived of the camera image as having a foreground and rear ground, as well as the middle distance preferred by most directors. By 1910 he was using close-ups to reveal significant details of the scene or of the actors. The exploitation of the camera's possibilities produced novel dramatic effects. By splitting an event into fragments and recording each from the most suitable camera position, he could significantly vary the emphasis from camera shot to camera shot.

Griffith also achieved dramatic effects by means of creative editing. By juxtaposing images and varying the speed and rhythm of their presentation, he could control the dramatic intensity of the events as the story progressed. Despite the reluctance of his producers, who feared that the public would not be able to follow a plot that was made up of such juxtaposed images, Griffith persisted, and experimented as well with other elements of cinematic syntax that have become standard ever since. Those included the flashback, permitting broad psychological and emotional exploration as well as narrative that was not chronological, and the crosscut between two parallel actions to heighten suspense and excitement. In thus exploiting fully the possibilities of editing, Griffith transposed devices of the Victorian novel to film and gave film mastery of time as well as space.

Besides developing the cinema's language, Griffith immensely broadened its range and treatment of subjects. His early output was remarkably eclectic, it included not only the standard comedies, melodramas, westerns, and thrillers, but also such novelties as adaptations from Browning and Tennyson, and treatments of social issues. As his successes mounted, his ambitions grew, and with them the whole of American cinema. When he remade Enoch Arden in 1911, he insisted that a subject of such importance could not be treated in the then conventional length of one reel. Griffith's introduction of the American-made multireel picture began an elaborate historical and philosophical spectacle. It reached the unprecedented length of four reels, or one hour's running time. From our contemporary viewpoint, the pretensions of this film may seem a trifle ludicrous, but at the time it provoked endless debate and discussion and gave a new intellectual respectability to the cinema.

The author of this passage seems to imply that Victorian novels ______.

A．are like films

B．may not narrate events chronologically

C．exploit cinema's language

D．feature juxtaposed images

During the traditional wedding ceremony, the

CD＃6bridal couple promises each other lifelong 【M1】______

devotion. Yet, about one out of four American

marriages ends in divorce. Since 1940, the

divorce rate has more than doubled, and

experts predict that, of all marriages that

occured in the 1970s, about【M10】% will end in 【M2】______

divorce. The USA is one of the highest divorce 【M3】______

rates in the world, perhaps even the highest.

What goes wrong? That fact that divorce is so

common in the United States does not mean that

Americans consider marriage a casual, unimportant

relationship. Just opposite is true. Americans 【M4】______

expect a great deal from marriage. They seek physical

, emotional, and intellectual compatibility.

They want to be loved deep and understood. It 【M5】______

is because Americans expect so much from

marriage that so many get divorce. They prefer 【M6】______

no marriage at all to a marriage without love

and understanding. Which typical American

optimist, they end one marriage in the 【M7】______

hope of that the next will be happier. With 【M8】______

no fault divorce laws in many states, it is

easier than never to get a divorce. Some American 【M9】______

women stay in unhappy marriages because they

do not have the education or job experience

to support themselves and their children.

But most American women believe that, ff necessary,

they can make it lonely without a 【M10】______

husband. All things considered, Americans

have little reason to continue an unhappy

marriage.

【M1】

【M5】

What does the author mean by the word "progress" in this passage?

A．Urbanization.

B．Economic growth.

C．Cultural development.

D．Increase of population.