1 . Must-see exhibitions of 2024
Cute at Somerset House, London
Explore the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture. From emojis to Internet memes, video games to plush toys, cuteness has taken over our world, but how has something so charming and seemingly harmless gained such attraction? Somerset House brings together cultural ephemera and contemporary artworks, alongside a spotlight on Hello Kitty, to coincide with her 50th anniversary.
Tickets: £18.50 per person/Concessions (减价票) from £11 per person
25 Jan. 2024 — 14 Apr. 2024
Barbie at Design Museum, London
Running with 2023’s Barbie mania, and coinciding with Barbie’s 65th anniversary, London’s Design Museum will tell the icon’s story through a design lens in their major new show. The exhibition will trace the legacy that began in 1959 when Ruth Handler sought a new female narrative for her daughter, Barbara. It delves into Barbie’s evolution through fashion, architecture, furniture, and vehicle design.
Tickets:TBC
05 Jul. 2024 — 23 Feb. 2025
Brâncuşi at Centre Pompidou, Paris
The Centre Pompidou presents an unprecedented Constantin Brancusi exhibition, featuring nearly 200 sculptures, photographs, drawings, films, archives, tools, and furniture from his workshop. This unique showcase, coinciding with the workshop’s relocation during renovation, offers a fresh perspective on the art of this immense 20th-century artist. The workshop, a jewel of the museum’s collection since 1957, forms the core of this retrospective, enriched by major loans from international museums.
Tickets: From €15 per person/Concession from €12 per person
27 Mar. 2024 — 01 Jul. 2024
Michelangelo: The last decades at The British Museum, London
In 1534, Michelangelo left Florence for Rome, never to return. This exhibition explores his final 30 years in Rome, showcasing new reunions with close friends, and his major works. It features numerous preparatory drawings for the Last Judgement fresco, the restored Epifania cartoon, and studies for St Peter’s Basilica’s reconstruction. Contrasting today’s youth-centric culture, the exhibition highlights lifelong practice, mastery, experience, wisdom, and experimentation, embodying Michelangelo’s enduring legacy.
Tickets:TBC
02 May 2024 — 28 Jul. 2024
1. How much will a couple pay for the first exhibition at least?| A．£37. | B．£11. | C．£22. | D．£18.5. |
| A．Cute at Somerset House, London. |
| B．Barbie at Design Museum, London. |
| C．Brâncuşi at Centre Pompidou, Paris. |
| D．Michelangelo: The last decades at The British Museum, London. |
| A．He passed away in Florence. |
| B．His works will be exhibited with objects from international museums. |
| C．He completed the Last Judgement fresco effortlessly. |
| D．His later years were spent in Rome. |
2 . “We regret to inform you…” These are the words from a publisher that every writer fears receiving, but the words every writer knows well, even after sacrificing their weekends and free time. It’s common knowledge that success rarely happens overnight, but what may not be as widely recognized is that many highly successful writers have also faced rejection in their careers.
Take for example J.K. Rowling. Upon receiving her first rejection letter, she stuck it on her kitchen wall, thinking she now shared the path with her favourite writers. After years of surviving on little money and dedicating all her time to writing, she finally completed her first book only to receive comments from publishers along the lines of “too difficult for children”, “too long”, and “uninteresting to children”. Nevertheless, she persevered (坚持). After twelve rejections, one publisher eventually agreed to print 500 copies of her first book, and Harry Potter became a global success, with over 400 million books sold and translated into more than seventy different languages.
Perhaps the overall prize for perseverance should go to three sisters from Victorian England dreaming of seeing their words in print. This, however, was a time when women were not encouraged to become writers. As the then Poet Laureate, Robert Southey, wrote to one of them: “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be.” Nevertheless, the sisters didn’t stop trying. Their response was to write a book of poems under male names. Even when the book sold only two copies, the sisters still persevered. They started writing novels, and today Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey are regarded as classics of world literature.
So, it seems that talent alone isn’t enough to guarantee success. While a lot of hard work and a touch of luck play a part, perseverance is the key. Keep trying and eventually you will read the words “We are delighted to inform you...”
1. What is the common experience of many writers at the beginning of their careers?| A．Becoming famous overnight. | B．Knowing one another very well. |
| C．Facing rejection from publishers. | D．Feeling afraid of their weekends. |
| A．She was discouraged for quite a while. |
| B．She regarded it as a form of inspiration. |
| C．She immediately found another publisher. |
| D．She turned to her favourite writers for help. |
| A．Sympathetic. | B．Disapproving. | C．Supportive. | D．Neutral. |
| A．A job offer is provided for you. |
| B．You need to make further efforts. |
| C．Success or acceptance comes to you. |
| D．You win a literary award for your book. |
3 . Adding to the achievements of a remarkable year, Taylor Swift has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023.
Already a superstar before 2023, Swift’s career has reached new heights thanks to the beginning of her Eras Tour that brought her 3.5-hour performance to 66 shows in 23 cities across North America, Argentina and Brazil. Promoted by her tour, Swift has been named the most-streamed female artist in the history of Spotify and Apple Music. According to Billboard, the tour made about $900 million (about 6.4 billion yuan) in 2023. In addition, the tour’s movie Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour became the biggest concert movie of all time, taking more than $250
million globally.As she was declare a billionaire by Bloomberg in November, a hidden “Taylor Swift economy” also promoted sales for business owners across the US. From soaps to a cruise inspired by her different “eras”, interest in Swift-related products went way up.
Apart from her financial contributions, Swift made a significant cultural impact by taking back control of her music. In 2019, her old record label, Big Machine, sold the master tapes of her first six albums (专辑) to Scoot er Braun. The sale meant that she didn’t have the rights to the albums. In response to this, Swift began re-recording her first six albums, tagging (加标签于) them “Taylor’s Version”. This move stressed her belief that artists deserve to own their work. “It’s all in how you deal with loss,” she told Time. “I respond to extreme pain by resisting.”
Heading into 2024, Swift will start the Eras Tour again in Japan and Australia. As USA Today noted, “Her current top has been a long time coming, but it may also be just beginning.”
1. What do we know about Taylor Swift?| A．She broke a new record on her tour. | B．She toured South America before 2023. |
| C．Her achievements received great recognition. | D．Her performance began with the Apple Music. |
| A．She proved herself to be an artist. | B．She learned to make some products. |
| C．She had influence on music culture. | D．She sold her master tapes to a company. |
| A．She will end her music career. | B．She will continue her Eras Tour. |
| C．She will reach her top in Japan. | D．She will make a record in Australia. |
| A．Admirable. | B．Uncaring. | C．Doubtful. | D．Critical. |
4 . The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 was awarded to three American scientists Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Alexei I. Ekimov “for the discovery and development of quantum (量子) dots”. They are so tiny that their size determines their properties. These smallest components of nano (纳米) technology now spread their light from televisions and LED lamps, and can also guide surgeons when they remove cancer tissue, among many other things.
Everyone who studies chemistry learns that an element’s properties are governed by how many electrons (电子) it has. However, when matter contracts to nano-dimensions quantum phenomena arise; these are governed by the size of the matter. The Nobel winners in Chemistry 2023 have succeeded in producing particles so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena. The particles, which are generally known as quantum dots by scientists, are now of great importance in nanotechnology.
“Quantum dots have many fascinating and unusual properties. Importantly, they have different colours depending on their size,” says Johan Åqvist, Chai r of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
Physicists had long known that in theory size-dependent quantum effects could arise in nanoparticles, but at that time it was almost impossible to sculpture in nanodimensions. Therefore, few people believed that this knowledge would be put to practical use.
However, in the early 1980s, Alexei Ekimov succeeded in creating size-dependent quantum effects in coloured glass. The colour came from nanoparticles of copper chloride (氯化铜) and Ekimov demonstrated that the particle size affected the colour of the glass via quantum effects. A few years later, Louis Brus was the first scientist in the world to prove size-dependent quantum effects in particles floating freely in a liquid. In 1993, Moungi Bawendi revolutionised the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles. This high quality was necessary for them to be used in applications.
Quantum dots are thus bringing the greatest benefit to humankind. Researchers believe that in the future they could contribute to flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells and quantum communication — so we have just started exploring the potential of these tiny particles.
1. Why was the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 awarded to 3 American scientists?| A．They discovered quantum size. | B．They discovered nanotechnology. |
| C．They discovered quantum effects. | D．They discovered and improved quantum dots. |
| A．Quantum dots. | B．Spots. | C．Atoms. | D．Grains. |
| A．Moungi Bawendi. | B．Louis Brus. | C．Alexei Ekimov. | D．Johan Åqvist. |
| A．Innovation is the most important thing. |
| B．Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. |
| C．The development of science and technology is endless. |
| D．Technology from quantum dots is constantly improving. |
5 . As a teenager in the 1990s, Melissa Blake was interested in fashion. Unfortunately, fashion wasn’t much interested in her. Born disabled, Blake couldn’t find jeans or dresses in her size. Paging through fashion magazines, she didn’t see a single person who looked like her, and it hurt. “When you’re a teenager—disabled or not—you’re troubled by self-worth.”
Blake, 39, has spent her adult life trying to make up for that. She is a disability-rights activist and a writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times. But she gained national attention in 2019 after clapping back at people, who said she should be banned from posting photos of herself because she’s too ugly. Over the next year, Blake posted a new selfie (自拍照) every day. “I feel like every time I post my selfie or share something about my life as a disabled woman, I’m fighting against this ableism (残障歧视),” Blake said.
Her fans went wild, calling Blake a goddess and a powerful woman. Among her fans is Mindy Scheier, the founder and CEO of Runway of Dreams. The company shows fashion for people with disabilities. Last fall, Scheier asked Blake to be a model in the biggest fashion event of the year.
Scheier said, “Putting Melissa in the event made people realize how important it is to expand who consumers are in the fashion industry, or who should be on stage, or what we’re really standing for in the word model.”
“Often, when we think of access for people with disabilities, we think of buildings and employment,” Blake says. “But it’s also important to have access to what’s fun and enjoyable. When disabled people are included, it sends a message that we deserve a seat at the table in all aspects of life.”
1. What can we know about Blake from paragraph 1?| A．She didn’t have a good taste in fashion. | B．She couldn’t follow fashion for her disability. |
| C．She couldn’t find fashion items in magazines. | D．She didn’t see other disabled people in her life. |
| A．To defend her equal rights. | B．To attract public attention. |
| C．To share her life experience. | D．To expose unkind comments. |
| A．To show her admiration for her. | B．To increase fashion consumers. |
| C．To present the world of models. | D．To include the disabled in fashion. |
| A．From Role Model to Fashion Model. | B．From Teenager Model to Adult Model. |
| C．From Fashion Sufferer to Fashion Fighter. | D．From Fashion Follower to Fashion Leader. |
6 . In 1959, Handler changed how toy dolls were made when she introduced “Barbie” to the world. With her mature figure, Barbie was one of the first “grown-up” dolls to hit the retail market.
Handler wanted to create a toy that was different from the baby dolls that occupied little girls’ toy boxes. She wanted a doll that girls could show their future dreams upon and allowed for limitless outfit (全套服装) and career choices. Inspired by paper dolls of the time, Handler, to much disagreement, made sure Barbie had the body of a grown woman.
“My own idea of Barbie,” Handler wrote in her autobiography, “was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman had choices.”
There’s even a Barbie for cancer patients — Brave Barbie — a partnership between Mattel and CureSearch that sends a bald (光头的) Barbie to families affected by cancer. “Gifting my daughter a Barbie who suffered from cancer was wonderful,” Michelle, a cancer survivor said, “We would play with that Barbie together and I’d heartbreakingly watch her pretend to take the doll to the hospital for chemo (化疗), or place its long wig (假发) on top of its head and tell the doll that it’s time to be beautiful again.”
Bald Barbie was super brave and went on awesome adventures after chemo. Sometimes she felt sick and needed to sleep, but would feel much better after a rest. Bald Barbie always beat the cancer and went on to live a long and happy life with her family. That Barbie became so much more than a plastic doll — she was a means of communication and a coping mechanism (应对机制) during an extremely unhappy time for little families.
1. Why did Handler create Barbie?| A．To make a hit in the women’s retail market. |
| B．To appeal to boys with her various clothing. |
| C．To inspire girls to make choices as they wish. |
| D．To do a research on women’s career choices. |
| A．Interested yet proud. | B．Sad yet comforted. |
| C．Delighted and ashamed. | D．Heartbroken and regretful. |
| A．A reliable emotional support. | B．A glue for broken relationships. |
| C．An effective practical treatment. | D．A secret medium of argument. |
| A．Medicine. | B．Sports. | C．Story. | D．Environment. |
7 . Most people who ran the marathon last month spent days before resting up and days after recovering. But not Jacky Hunt-Broersma. In total, she ran 104 marathons in 104 days. If it’s confirmed by Guinness World Records, that would be a new world record. And she did it all with one leg and a prosthesis (假肢).
“Someone able-bodied had done it previously. I wanted to see if I could do it on a prosthetic leg and see what would happen,” she said. “I thought it would be a great way to inspire others to push their limits because I truly believe that we’re stronger than what we think. And I’ve been so pleasantly surprised that my body is held up, everything is held up and I’ve made it to 104.”
She actually did not pick up the sport until after she lost the lower part of her left leg in 2001 to a type of cancer called Ewing sarcoma. Runners using a prosthetic leg can’t use a regular one. They need a running blade (刀锋式跑步义肢). Hunt-Broersma has two, but she was only able to run with one because of the swelling she experienced in her left leg that made it impossible to connect to the other blade. But even with the pain that occurred, she has been able to put up with it and continued.
All together, Hunt-Broersma ran over 4, 385 kilometers. During that time she has had a lot of time to think and has learned a few things about herself. “It has taught me how strong one can be and how important absolute determination is. If you’re mentally strong, you can do anything,” she said. “And our bodies are just amazing ... This whole journey was impressive and super hard, but it’s told me how strong I can be as a person and how far I can push myself.”
1. Why did Hunt-Broersma decide to run marathons?| A．She wanted to set a new record. |
| B．She intended to challenge herself. |
| C．She was driven by her interest. |
| D．She was inspired by people like her. |
| A．She didn’t get professional training. |
| B．She found it hard to keep her balance. |
| C．She suffered discomfort in her left leg. |
| D．She couldn’t use regular running blades. |
| A．Rome wasn’t built in a day. |
| B．Time works wonders. |
| C．A good beginning is half the battle. |
| D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
| A．Annoyed. | B．Sympathetic. |
| C．Admiring. | D．Humorous. |
8 . A16-year-old girl from Changsha, Hunan province, successfully reached the top of Qomolangma, known as Mount Everest in the West, on Monday morning, becoming the youngest Chinese female to conquer the world’s highest top from the southern slope (坡).
Xu Zhuoyuan is a first year high school student from Hunan province. On April 15, she left Changsha for Nepal. On April 21, she began her long walk from Lukla. 7 days later, she arrived at the base camp and started her altitude adaptation training at once. At 10 pm Beijing time on May 14, Xu Started walking from Camp 4 at an altitude of 7,950 meters on the southern slope of Qomolangma. After a punishing 10-hour climb, she successfully reached the summit.
Xu Zhuoyuan’s father, Xu Jianglei, was the first person from Hunan province to reach the top of Qomolangma. Xu Zhuoyuan has been exploring remote areas with him since she was very young. Despite her young age, Xu Zhuoyuan has already climbed five mountains over 5,000 meters in China. When she was 12 years old, she made a statement on Hunan TV saying, “I will climb Qomolangma.”
Four years later, she achieved her promise. Although Xu Zhuoyuan has rich climbing experience, she has been experiencing high-intensity professional training non-stop to conquer Qomolangma. Last year, she climbed Mount Muztagata, which stands 7,546 meters. “Human beings are small in the face of nature. We should respect nature and get closer to Qomolangma,” said Xu Zhuoyuan.
She brought the gloves her father used when he reached the top with her as a form of inheritance and to bear witness to her own dream coming true. After finishing her university studies, she hopes to continue climbing and achieve the “7+2” (7 tops plus the North and South Poles).
1. When did Xu Zhuoyuan arrive at the base camp?| A．On April 15. | B．On April 21. | C．On April 28. | D．On May 14. |
| A．Honest and sincere. | B．Clever and smart. |
| C．Caring and devoted. | D．Determined and brave. |
| A．To describe his achievements. |
| B．To show his impact on his daughter. |
| C．To recognize his support for the girl. |
| D．To stress girls should be taken good care of. |
| A．It’s better to be famous when you are young. |
| B．Qomolangma draws more and more people. |
| C．Great determination helps to conquer higher goals. |
| D．A great father is needed to shock the whole world. |
9 . The Pritzker Architecture Prize is known as the Nobel Prize for architects. Each year it is awarded to professionals — an individual or team who have made important contributions to the field of architecture and design. Here is a list of some Pritzker winners.
Ieoh Ming Pei
Chinese-born architect Ieoh Ming Pei tended to use large, abstract forms and sharp, geometric designs. His glass-covered structures seem to spring from the high-tech modernist movement. The jury(评委会) noted, “Pei has designed over 50 projects, many of which have been award winners. Two of his most famous designs have included the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. , and the extension of the Louvre in Paris, France. “
Kenzō Tange
This master of architecture was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism. His amazing and visionary concepts of architecture led the Pritzker Jury to award him the Pritzker Prize, making him the first Japanese architect to win this prestigious award.
Diébédo Francis Kéré
Recognized for “empowering and transforming communities through the process of architecture”, Diébédo Francis Kéré has won 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize, becoming the first African architect to obtain the award. The jury praised him for developing an architectural beauty based on local climatic conditions.
Balkrishna Doshi
Balkrishna Doshi, the first Pritzker Laureate from India, studied in Bombay, today’s Mumbai, and furthered his studies in Europe. The Pritzker jury said about his selection, “Balkrishna Doshi constantly demonstrates that all good architecture and urban planning must take into account factors such as climate.”
1. Who is good at combining traditional styles and modernism?| A．Diébédo Francis Kéré. | B．Ieoh Ming Pei. |
| C．Balkrishna Doshi. | D．Kenzō Tange. |
| A．Their nationality. | B．Their design philosophy. |
| C．The communities they serve. | D．The educational background. |
| A．In a brochure. | B．In a biography. |
| C．In an advertisement. | D．In a magazine. |
10 . Malin Pinsky had the first of two lightbulb moments in 2003 while crossing Drake Passage. He was then standing on the bridge of a research ship and was scanning the sky for seabirds, which was one of his duties as a research technician on the cruise (海上航游). Just five months earlier he had finished college, where he studied biology and environmental science.
As the ship entered nutrient-rich Antarctic waters, whales suddenly showed up all around the ship. That moment on the bridge helped him realize that the ocean looks featureless from the top, but there’s so much going on underneath.
The second lightbulb moment hit him several months later. Pinsky was then an intern (实习生) in Washington, D.C. His job was making photocopies. It was around the time when two big reports had come out. Both focused on what policies might best preserve U.S. ocean resources. “I realized we have all these laws and policies that determine how we as a society interact with the ocean. But they’re far out of date. We don’t yet have the science to know what the new policy should be,” Pinsky said.
Today he runs a lab with about 20 workers. His team wants to seek how our changing climate, as well as overfishing and habitat destruction, might be driving changes in fish and other animals in the sea. To find out, team members travel each year to coral reefs near the Philippines. There, they carefully catalog populations of different fish. They collect data on the growth and mating of these fish, their diversity and other factors.
“Pinsky’s broad approach to the problem — looking at species, where they live and how fisheries are managed — is setting the pace for other scientists,” says Kimberly Oremus, a fishery economist at the University of Delaware in Newark. “Pinsky is pushing the whole field to respond to his growing body of research.”
1. What made Pinsky have the first lightbulb moment?| A．The vastness of the ocean. |
| B．The sight of seabirds in the sky. |
| C．The view of Drake Passage. |
| D．The appearance of whales around the ship. |
| A．He needed to take more photos of oceans. |
| B．He should do something to update ocean policies. |
| C．The U.S. ocean resources need to be better preserved. |
| D．There have already been perfect policies to preserve the ocean. |
| A．The harm of overfishing. |
| B．Features of different fish. |
| C．Factors affecting ocean ecosystems. |
| D．The reasons for global warming. |
| A．Positive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Disapproving. | D．Uninterested. |
