An overseas buyer got this painting for 4. 46 billion US dollars.

A. Listen to the following passage and then decide whether the statements below are true or false. After hearing a short passage, blacken the letter "A " on the ANSWER SHEET if you think the statement is true, or the letter "B" if you think it is false. There are 10 statements in this part of the test, 1 point for each statement. You will hear the passage only once. At the end of the recording, you will have 2 minutes to finish this part.
   A race started Friday to keep a famous painting by celebrated British artist J. M. W. Turner in Britain after it was sold to an overseas buyer for 4. 46 million US dollars.
   Arts Minister Michael Ellis has slapped an export ban on the work, Walton Bridges, painted by J. M. W. Turner around 1806.
   Art experts say they believe it to be the first Turner landscape to be completed in the open air.
   The painting, which was sold at auction in July 2018 for almost 3. 5 million pounds, shows the double-span bridge that ran across the River Thames between the locks at Sunbury and Shepperton in Surrey. It had been erected in 1788 to replace a wooden structure, which had fallen into decay.
   The piece led to a major series of Thames river scenes during a prolific period where Turner worked in sketchbooks and painted in watercolor and oil, collecting material for exhibited pictures.
   It is believed Turner exhibited the painting at his own gallery in London’s Harley Street in 1806, which he used for personal and specifically English subjects rather than his larger, grand manner pictures which he showed at the Royal Academy.
   Ellis said: "Turner is one of Britain’s greatest ever artists, whose studies of British life still resonate with the public today. Walton Bridges is a beautiful example of his distinctive style and his fascination with the landscapes of 19th century Britain. "
   "It has so much significance for artistic and historical reasons that it is right that we do all we can to save the masterpiece for the benefit of the nation. "
   Art expert Lowell Libso, who serves on a review committee, said: "This unusual and picturesque double bridge crossing the Thames by the market town of Walton was made at a time when Turner was mostly living at nearby Isleworth rather than in London. At that time, around 1806, Turner was frequently sketching in oil, watercolor or pencil from a boat which he rowed along this stretch of the Thames.