1 . If you search the internet these days, you’ll likely run across some strange-looking, yet cheerful cartoon characters. These computer-generated people have small heads and exaggerated bodies.
In 2017 Facebook paid a design team to develop a positive illustration system.
Why did Alegria art become popular so quickly? There are many reasons. As websites depended on illustrations to fill space, Alegria-type art became increasingly useful.
For many, however, Alegria is a nice visual language that represents happiness. From children hugging to couples dancing, the images are all about positive energy.
| A．The style is flat, simple and easy to create. |
| B．For some consumers, though, that’s a problem. |
| C．One of the designers took that message to heart. |
| D．For the netizens, Alegria helps build trust on the big companies. |
| E．No wonder Alegria is now the most popular style of illustrations for books. |
| F．All in all, it seems that Alegria is the perfect name for this playful, fun art style. |
| G．They’re created in bold colors with arms and legs that resemble giant wet noodles. |
2 . Fifty years after Liliana Cavani’s film The Night Porter was released to widespread critical disgust, how have views of it changed?
“To write a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric,” wrote the German theorist Theodor Adorno, suggesting in his 1949 essay Cultural Criticism and Society that artistic expression had been rendered inadequate as a tool to understand reality after the Holocaust. In her 1974 film The Night Porter, Italian director Liliana Cavani challenged this theory, taking it to its logical extreme. She used a concentration camp as the setting to explore a crazed sexual bond between an adolescent prisoner and an SS commandant, and how, years later, this psychological poison has pervaded their souls.
Amid the furore after its release — which included intensely negative reviews and an at-tempted ban by the Italian ratings board—with typical nonchalance, Cavani told The New York Times: “This is nothing compared to the numberless couples who tear each other apart psychologically.”
Half a century on, however, does The Night Porter still seem like a provocation that plumbs the depths of bad taste? With the film’s recent restoration and re-releases, as well as renewed conversations around cinematic depictions of the Holocaust, many have revisited the film and remain unimpressed by its content. Others are perhaps seeing the film more as Lili-an a Cavani originally intended: as an artistic reflection of how sexual obsession can be fascistic in its tunnel-visioned ferocity. Cavani herself put it more simply: “love comes always with a price to pay.”
The Night Porter is set in Vienna in 1957, where a former Nazi commandant, Max (Dirk Bogarde), works in an upmarket hotel. There, he clashes with former SS colleagues who are determined to purge themselves of any shame about their roles in the Final Solution and eliminate any surviving witnesses. Max, however, would rather forget his past and move on, living his life quietly, he says, “as a church mouse.” His careful world is upended when Lucia (Charlotte Rampling), now married to an American composer, walks into his hotel lobby — the very woman he sexually abused while she was a prisoner in his camp, and with whom he entered into a sadomasochistic relationship. Reunited once more, their twisted folie a deux resumes and a fervent debasement begins — now, on both sides.
1. Which of the following statements best reflects the author’s perspective on the film’s portrayal of the Holocaust?| A．The film is a disrespectful and exploitative representation of the Holocaust. |
| B．The film is a complex and abstract exploration of Nazi ideology and sexual taboos. |
| C．The film is a straightforward historical account of the Holocaust. |
| D．The film is a romanticized depiction of love during the Holocaust. |
| A．A form of psychological therapy. |
| B．A type of artistic expression. |
| C．A relationship dynamic characterized by the exchange of pain and pleasure. |
| D．A historical account of events during World War II. |
| A．The film provides a realistic portrayal of the Holocaust. |
| B．The film’s controversial nature generates important discussions. |
| C．The film is a successful example of the “Nazisploitation” genre. |
| D．The film’s plot and character development are highly original. |
| A．“The Night Porter: A Cinematic Controversy” |
| B．“Liliana Cavani: The Director Who Challenged Art” |
| C．“Love and Evil: The Complex Themes of The Night Porter” |
| D．“The Holocaust on Film: A History of Cinematic Portrayals” |
Alicia, a high school student known for her artistic talents and compassionate nature, was working on a painting in the school courtyard when she noticed a new student named Leo sitting nearby, looking curious yet lonely. Curious, Alicia approached Leo and carried on a conversation.
“Hi, I’m Alicia. What brings you to the courtyard today?”
“I’m Leo. I like to sit here and observe. It helps me feel a bit more connected to this new place.”
Alicia listened intently (专心地), her heart going out to him. She knew first hand how challenging it could be to adjust to a new place. After learning that Leo had a passion for art, Alicia smiled warmly, “Well, if you’re interested, I’m part of the art club. It’s a really welcoming group, and we’re always looking for new members.”
“But I’m not sure. I’m a bit shy when it comes to sharing my art.”
“There’s no pressure to share if you’re not comfortable. But, I think you’d really enjoy it.It’s a safe space where creativity is celebrated.”
He agreed to come to the next art club meeting, his heart filled with hope.
At the art club meeting, Alicia introduced Leo to the other members, a diverse group of students who shared a love for art and creativity. They welcomed Leo with open arms, and soon he felt like he had found a second home.
Inspired by Alicia’s kindness, Leo started to share his art work with the group. His pieces were a reflection of his innermost thoughts and feelings, touching everyone who saw them.
One day, as Alicia and Leo were walking home from school, they came across a mural (壁画) that had been ruined by graffiti (涂鸦).
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Alicia felt saddened by the sight, but Leo saw an opportunity.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The community art project was a huge success.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . In 1835, William Talbot finally succeeded in producing a photograph of his country house. He declared that his was the first house ever known to have drawn its own picture. The drawing was formed “by the action of light upon sensitive paper.” Photography offered nature a “pencil” to paint herself through optical (光学的) and chemical means alone.
By the mid-nineteenth century, people no longer needed to hire a draftsman to draw detailed images because the process could be completed instantly with a camera. Advocates for the technology stated that not only was it more precise than the human hand — it was faster and cheaper.
The removal of human fallibility in the creating process was one of photography’s biggest selling points, but this also started debates about the new medium’s implications for visual culture. Could images made largely by a machine be considered art? If so, where did human creativity fit in this process?
As the twenty-first century becomes increasingly automated, more and more people attempt to identify where human agency exists in the technologically driven world. Images generated with artificial intelligence by companies like OpenAI are stimulating questions like those that emerged with the coming of the photograph. By typing a sentence, users can generate “new” images composed from images collected across the Internet. The result has been a flood of Al-generated images in places that are previously unique to human authors. Painting competitions, commercial graphic design and the fashion of portraiture (肖像) have all since collided (碰撞) with the technology in troubling ways.
The fine arts were thought to be a final hold-out of human creativity, but the surprisingly high quality of AI-generated images is producing deeper questions about the nature of originality. If the history of photography tells us anything, it’s that the debate won’t be settled quickly, straightforwardly, or by the institutions we typically associate with cultural gate keeping.
1. Why did Talbot declare that his house had drawn its own picture?| A．To downplay human factors in the creation. |
| B．To investigate a supernatural phenomenon. |
| C．To show his advanced knowledge in science. |
| D．To demonstrate the beauty of his country house. |
| A．Expecting a high price. | B．Detailing the images. |
| C．Being likely to make errors. | D．Becoming sensitive to light. |
| A．They improve the taste of beauty. | B．They advocate fashion designs. |
| C．They challenge human agency. | D．They produce original images. |
| A．Cultural gatekeepers will solve the issue as they did. |
| B．AI-generated images will go through a similar debate. |
| C．The nature of originality will be held in human hands. |
| D．The fine arts will include photography and AI images. |
5 . In the late nineteenth century, art critics regarded seventeenth-century Dutch paintings as direct reflections of reality. The paintings were discussed as an index of the democracy of a society that chose to represent its class, action, and occupations exactly as they were, wide-ranging realism was seen as the great accomplishment of Dutch art. However, the achievement of more recent study of Dutch art has been the recovery of the fact that such paintings are to be taken as symbolizing mortality, the renaissance of earthly life, and the power of God, and as message that range from the mildly moralizing to the firmly didactic. How explicit and consistent the symbolizing process was intended to be is a much thornier matter, but anyone who has more familiarity than a passing acquaintance with Dutch literature or with the kinds of images used in illustrated books (above all emblem books) will know how much less pervasive was the habit of investing ordinary objects than of investing scenes with meaning that go be-y ond their surface and outward appearance. In the mid-1960s, Eddy de Jongh published an extraordinary array of material — especially from the emblem books and vernacular literature — that confirmed the unreliability of taking Dutch pictures at surface value alone.
The major difficulty, however, with the findings of critics such as de Jongh is that it is not easy to assess the multiplicity of levels in which Dutch viewers interpreted these pictures. De Jongh’s followers typically regard the pictures as purely symbolic. Not every object within Dutch paintings need be interpreted in terms of the gloss given to its equivalent representation in the emblem books. Not every foot warmer is to be interpreted in terms of the foot warmer in Rowmer Visscher’s Sinnepoppen of 1614, not every bridle is an emblem of restraint (though many were indeed just that).
To maintain as Brown does, that the two children in Netscher’s painting A Lady Teaching a Child to Read stand for industry and idleness is to fail to understand that the painting has a variety of possible meanings, even though the picture undoubtedly carriers unmistakable symbolic meanings, too. Modern Art historians may well find the discovery of parallels be-tween a painting and a specific emblem exciting, they may, like seventeenth-century viewers, search for the double that lie behind many paintings. But seventeenth-century response can hardly be reduced to the level of formula. To suggest otherwise is to imply a laboriousness of mental process that may well characterize modern interpretations of seventeenth-century Dutch Art, but that was, for the most part, not characteristic in the seventeenth century.
1. The passage is primarily concerned with which of the following?| A．Reconciling two different points of view about how art reflects. |
| B．Criticizing a traditional method of interpretation. |
| C．Describing and evaluating a recent critical approach. |
| D．Describing a long-standing controversy and how it was resolved. |
| A．Suggest that restraint was only one of the many symbolic meanings attached to bridles |
| B．Provide an example of an everyday, physical object that was not endowed with symbolic meaning |
| C．Provide an example of an object that modern critics have endowed with symbolic meaning different from the meaning assigned it by seventeenth-century Dutch artists |
| D．Provide an example of an object with symbolic meaning that was not always used as a symbol |
| A．It provides specific applications of the critical approach introduced in the preceding paragraph. |
| B．It present a caveat about the critical approach discussed in the preceding paragraph. |
| C．It presents the research on which a theory presented in the preceding paragraph is based. |
| D．It refutes a theory presented in the preceding paragraph and advocates a return to a more traditional approach. |
| A．They confirm that seventeenth century Dutch painting depict some objects and scenes rarely found in daily life. |
| B．They are more useful than vernacular literature in providing information about the sym-bolic content of seventeenth-century Dutch painting. |
| C．They have been misinterpreted by art critics, such as de Jongh, who claim seventeenth-century Dutch paintings contain symbolic meaning. |
| D．They contain material that challenges the assumptions of the nineteenth-century critics about seventeenth-century Dutch painting. |
Short-form videos, which gained popularity on the Chinese platform Douyin, have given rise to a new trend in entertainment: ultra-short (超短) dramas.
Despite the initial success of ultra-short dramas, Chinese authorities
What’s equally concerning is
It’s natural for us to seek entertainment. But it’s also worth pausing to consider the consequences
1. What instrument did the speaker play when she was young?
| A．The piano. | B．The guitar. | C．The violin. |
| A．In London. | B．In Sydney. | C．In New York. |
| A．They’ll meet famous performers. |
| B．They’ll have a brighter future. |
| C．They’ll get a chance to travel the world. |
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Seven. |
1. What will Todd Messegee be responsible for?
| A．Writing a play. | B．Directing a play. | C．Starring in a play. |
| A．Practice the play. |
| B．Attend a lecture on acting. |
| C．Perform on stage formally. |
| A．Signing up early. |
| B．Receiving top-level training. |
| C．Developing complex characters. |
| A．Making a plan for a play. |
| B．Recruiting actors for a play. |
| C．Announcing arrangements for a play. |
假设你是明启中学李华，你校艺术节即将举办主题为“最美瞬间”的摄影展，捕捉“热爱生活、积极向上、全面发展”等正能量的精彩瞬间。现邀请每位同学提供自己生活中的一张照片参展，并撰写摄影作品的介绍供参观者阅读。你打算提供什么样的照片？请写一篇短文作为参展摄影作品的介绍，内容包括：
1) 对该照片的简要描述；
2) 你选择该照片参展的理由。
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| A．Too much traffic. |
| B．Too many people. |
| C．Cold temperature outdoors. |
| D．No food or drinks available. |
| A．Watch a football game. |
| B．Watch a display of fireworks. |
| C．Go for a picnic in the park. |
| D．Go to the gym for a workout. |
| A．She sneezes when exposed to grass. |
| B．She is quiet when watching a game. |
| C．She is a huge football fan. |
| D．She loves classical music. |
| A．Archie is good at arguing with others. |
| B．Archie always has his way in the end. |
| C．Sophie is considerate of others’ feelings. |
| D．Sophie is good at making up excuses. |
