As a historian who's always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate the past, I've been interested in looking for photographs that show our Victorian ancestors smiling (what better way to break the image of 19th-century prudery (拘谨)?). I've found quite a few, and – since I started posting them online – they have been causing quite a stir. People have been surprised to see evidence that Victorians had fun and could, and did, laugh. They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter.Of course, I need to concede that my collection of "Smiling Victorians" makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalog of photographic portraits created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and rigidly in front of painted backgrounds, or staring absently into the middle distance. How do we explain this trend?During the 1840s and 1850s, in the early days of photography, exposure times were extremely long: the photographic method, producing an image on a silvered copper plate, could take several minutes to complete, resulting in indistinct images as sitters shifted position or adjusted their poses. The thought of holding a fixed grin (露齿的笑) as the camera performed its magical duties was too much to contemplate, and so a blank stare became the norm.But exposure times were much quicker by the 1880s. Spontaneous smiles were relatively easy to capture by the 1890s, so we must look elsewhere for an explanation of why Victorians still hesitated to smile.What does the author say about Victorians in the first paragraph?A They became more human over the hundred-or-so years.B They did laugh in the photographs found by the author.C They caused quite a stir on the internet due to their prudery.D They found better ways to break the image of 19th-century prudery.

As a historian who's always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate the past, I've been interested in looking for photographs that show our Victorian ancestors smiling (what better way to break the image of 19th-century prudery (拘谨)?). I've found quite a few, and – since I started posting them online – they have been causing quite a stir. People have been surprised to see evidence that Victorians had fun and could, and did, laugh. They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter. Of course, I need to concede that my collection of "Smiling Victorians" makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalog of photographic portraits created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and rigidly in front of painted backgrounds, or staring absently into the middle distance. How do we explain this trend? During the 1840s and 1850s, in the early days of photography, exposure times were extremely long: the photographic method, producing an image on a silvered copper plate, could take several minutes to complete, resulting in indistinct images as sitters shifted position or adjusted their poses. The thought of holding a fixed grin (露齿的笑) as the camera performed its magical duties was too much to contemplate, and so a blank stare became the norm. But exposure times were much quicker by the 1880s. Spontaneous smiles were relatively easy to capture by the 1890s, so we must look elsewhere for an explanation of why Victorians still hesitated to smile. What does the author say about Victorians in the first paragraph? A They became more human over the hundred-or-so years. B They did laugh in the photographs found by the author. C They caused quite a stir on the internet due to their prudery. D They found better ways to break the image of 19th-century prudery.