Pablo Picasso, the great Spanish painter and sculptor, once said this about his ability, “My mother said to me, if you become a soldier, you’ll be a general.” But he would have agreed with Abraham Lincoln. “Whatever you are,” said Lincoln, “be a good one.” He demonstrated the wisdom of that advice with his own life.
Viennese-born composer Frederick Loewe, whom we remember from his musical scores that include — My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot, was not always famous. He studied piano with the great masters of Europe and achieved huge success as a musician and composer in his early years. But when he immigrated (移居) to the United States, he failed as a pianist. For a while he tried other types of work including searching for gold and boxing. But he never gave up his dream and continued to play piano and write music.
During those lean years, he could not always afford to make payments on his piano. One day, bent over the keyboard, he heard nothing but the music that he played with such rare inspiration. When he finished and looked up, he was surprised to find that he had an audience — three men who were seated on the floor.
They said nothing and made no movement toward the piano. Instead, they dug into their pockets, pooled together enough money for the payment, placed it on the piano and walked out, empty handed. Moved by the beauty of his music, these men recognized excellence and responded to it.
Whatever you are, be a good one. When you choose the path of excellence through this life, you will bring to it your best and receive the best it can offer in return.
1. What does the author want to tell us in paragraph 1?| A．Picasso’s mother is a wise woman. |
| B．What Lincoln said is right. |
| C．Everyone can be excellent somehow. |
| D．It’s important to take others’ advice. |
| A．He meant to change his original dream. |
| B．He was struggling on the road to art. |
| C．He turned to be a miner to make a living. |
| D．He achieved immediate success as a musician. |
| A．Unforgettable. | B．Special. |
| C．Long. | D．Hard. |
| A．Out-going. | B．Determined. |
| C．Humorous. | D．Modest. |
相似题推荐
第四部分：写作
第一节：任务型读写（共10小题；
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意：表格中的每个空格只填一个单词。请将答案写在答题卡相应题号的横线上。
Some people believe that greed and selfishness has become the basis of modern society, and we should return to the old traditions of family and community then we will have a better life. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the above opinion?
In this fast-paced world, many values are undergoing major changes. While people traditionally prioritize caring, sharing and generosity in life and work, modern people seem to be more self-absorbed and self-concerned.
Modern people act selfishly to survive the harsh competition of life. They say that it is a jungle out there. To survive, you have to fight with whatever means that come handy. Obviously greedy and selfishness go perfectly well with such ideas. In a company, employees do everything they can to get better pay and higher position, even at the cost of colleagues. We are in any way advocating any selfish conduct. It is just that people are pressured to act in a certain way due to outside influences.
In spite of common practice, it is hard to conclude that modern society is built on greed and selfishness, both of which are not newly invented vocabulary. In ancient times people also did greedy and selfish things though such behaviors were more condemned then. But we can not ignore the fact that people in the past lived a relatively more isolated life and faced less pressure compared with their modern counterparts.
Are we happier to share with others and be generous to them? There is no fixed answer either. Some people take great pleasure helping and giving to others while others feel happy doing the opposite. But I personally think that people should not be too selfish. Caring for others can actually encourage the development of a mutually beneficial relationship.
In conclusion, modern people appear to be more self-centered than those in the past due to strong outside pressure. However, we should encourage people to know the importance of being caring and generous and to build a mutually beneficial relationship with others.
Are Modern People Becoming More Selfish?
| Main comparisons | Contexts |
| | In the past people put caring, sharing and generosity in the first |
| Nowadays, people seem to be more | |
| People in the past appeared to be modest and self-effacing (谦让的). | |
| People may strive to achieve their own | |
| The author’s understanding | |
| Fierce | |
| The author’s | A relationship which can |
【推荐2】I’d been retired for four years, when a friend suggested university. I thought he was joking—I was rubbish at school and failed my 11-plus. But we love to compete over Mastermind and University challenge, and he thought I’d make it. And he was absolutely right!
I did a foundation course first, which was part time at the University Lifelong Learning Centre(LLC), two nights a week and the odd Saturday. I did quite well, and that gave me the confidence to do a full time, three year degree. I’m passionate about art and I always wanted to be here for the journey and not the destination. That sounds really corny, but it was the truth in my case.
Initially it was a bit strange fitting in with my course mates. They were all 18, straight out of sixth form or college. Over time, though, they’ve all been fine — now, we all get on really well and there is no issue. I’ve made plenty of friends as a member of the mature students society, and I do some volunteering through the LLC, chatting to prospective students about my experience of coming to university. I tell them my story and basically encourage them to give it a go because you’ve got nothing to lose. I like to think I’ve convinced a few of them.
I have no regrets at all. Enrolling in university was the best piece of advice I’ve received in years, especially post-retirement. I needed routine in my life; I needed purpose. I’m not going to spend my day in the bookies or the pub. If you’ve got a passion for something, you should pursue it.
1. What do we learn from Paragraph 1?| A．The author often competed with his friend at university, |
| B．The author was satisfied with his performance at school, |
| C．The advice of his friend was a big challenge for the author. |
| D．The author’s friend told a joke when suggesting university. |
| A．His long held passion for art. |
| B．His boring retirement life. |
| C．His success in the foundation course. |
| D．His desire to travel to the destination. |
| A．How he got along with his course mates |
| B．How he helped his friends at university. |
| C．What activities he took part in at school |
| D．What he experienced as a volunteer. |
| A．Knowledge is power. |
| B．It’s never too old to learn. |
| C．Failure is the mother of success. |
| D．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
【推荐3】Memories of people who have done us wrong return repeatedly to us from time to time. Sometimes we remain angry with a person even though we have forgotten why we are angry in the first place. Learning to forgive is important. Here is why.
As humans, it is one of our weaknesses to lose our minds at times and give in to our anger. However, making that anger stay and feeding it with hate will make it a bad thing to others and to yourself. You have to manage your anger and know how to overcome it. If someone has done wrong to you, forgiving is the first step to get rid of your anger.
You may have once done wrong to others too. Now think if you are worth forgiving. You may find that you are actually a good person. So if someone else does wrong to you, focus on the good times you had together and the good things that he or she has done for you. Is the offence enough to erase the good things he or she has done in the past? When your nerves calm down, think back. There must have been something good there to stop you from hating the person.
If things do not work out and you stay angry with the person or the person refuse to apologize, you still have to make an effort to forgive. Why? That is because an angry person is not a pleasant person to be with. One day you will find yourself talking about the offence over and over to people who do not know the person you are talking about. Anger consumes a person and eventually takes over. It makes you look at things in a bad way and no one can stand being with someone like that.
Lastly, make sure that you have forgiven every offence before going to sleep at night. If someone has hurt you, tell them how you feel. And the most important thing you have to say is “You have hurt me, but I choose to forgive you.” This will give you an inner peace and make your life positive in every way.
1. What is the weakness of humans mentioned in paragraph 2?| A．Letting anger take control of us. | B．Never trying to forgive others. |
| C．Doing wrong to people around us. | D．Hurting ourselves and those we love. |
| A．show we are no better than others | B．encourage us to be kind to others |
| C．show it’s normal to hurt each other | D．encourage us to find the good things in others |
| A．Strengthen | B．Enrich | C．Remove | D．Improve |
| A．We’ll know better about others. | B．We’ll become a talkative person. |
| C．We’ll be forgiven by those hurt by us. | D．We’ll avoid becoming a negative person. |
| A．why we should forgive | B．how we can forgive |
| C．why we should forget | D．how we can control anger |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑
A
The old man walked slowly into the restaurant. With head tilted, and shoulders bent forward he leaned on his trusty stick with each unhurried step. His torn cloth jacket, patched trousers, worn out shoes, and warm personality made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd. He stopped, turned with his whole body, and winked at a little girl seated by the door. She flashed a big smile right back at him.
A young waitress named Mary watched him walk toward a table by the window. She ran over to him, and said, "Here, Sir. Let me give you a hand with that chair." She pulled the chair away from the table. Steadying him with one arm, she helped him move in front of the chair, and get comfortably seated. Then she moved the table up close to him, and leaned his stick against the table where he could reach it.
In a soft, clear voice he said, "Thank you, Miss. And bless you for your kind gestures."
“You're welcome, Sir.” She replied. "And my name is Mary. I'll be back in a moment, and if you need anything at all in the mean time, just wave at me!"
After he had finished a hearty meal, Mary brought him the change from his ticket. He left it on the table. She helped him and walked with him to the front door. Holding the door open for him, she said, "Come back and see us, Sir!" He turned and nodded a thank-you. "You are very kind." he said softly, smiling.
When Mary went to clean his table, she almost fainted. Under his plate she found a business card, and a note scribbled on a napkin. Under the napkin was a one-hundred-dollar bill.
The note on the napkin read, "Dear Mary, I respect you very much, and you respect yourself too. It shows by the way you treat others. You have found the secret of happiness. Your kind gestures will shine through those who meet you."
The man she had waited on was the owner of the restaurant where she worked. This was the first time that she, or any of his employees had ever seen him in person.
1. The old man left $ 100 under the napkin because he ____．
| A．was grateful for Mary's kindness |
| B．wanted to encourage Mary to do more good deeds |
| C．appreciated Mary's kindness and work attitude |
| D．thought highly of the tasty meal in the restaurant |
| A．Mary knew who the old man was from the note． |
| B．Mary recognized the old man when she served him． |
| C．The old man intended to have Mary as his secretary． |
| D．It was the first time that Mary had seen her boss in the flesh． |
| A．have a good meal | B．enjoy good service |
| C．have an on-site visit | D．show his generosity |
| A．following the order of space | B．following the order of events |
| C．making comparisons | D．providing examples |
| A．Employer and Employee | B．The Secret of Happiness |
| C．A Gift from the Manager | D．Good Service in the Restaurant |
【推荐2】I Was the Doughnut Lady
In university I had a part-time job at a shop that sold doughnut s and coffee. Situated on a block where several buses stopped, it served the people who had a few minutes to wait for their bus.
Every afternoon around four o'clock, a group of school children would burst into the shop, and business would come to a stop. Adults would glance in, see the crowd and pass on. But I didn't mind if the children waited for their bus inside. Sometimes I would hand out a bus fare when a ticket went missing-always repaid the next day. On snowy days I would give away some doughnuts. I would lock the door at closing time, and we waited in the warm shop until their bus finally arrived.
I enjoyed my young friends, but it never occurred to me that I played an important role in their lives—until one afternoon when a man came and asked if I was the girl working on weekdays around four o'clock. He identified himself as the father of two of my favorites.
“I want you to know I appreciate what you do for my children. I worry about them taking two buses to get home. It means a lot that they can wait here and you keep an eye on them. When they are with the doughnut lady, I know they are safe.” I told him it wasn't a big deal, and that I enjoyed the kids.
So I was the Doughnut Lady. I not only received a title, but became a landmark. Now I think about all the people who keep an eye on my own children. They become, well, Doughnut Ladies. Like the men a t the skating rink, who let my boys ring home; Or the bus driver who drove my daughter to her stop at the end of the route at night but wouldn't leave until I arrived to pick her up; Or that nice police officer who took pity on my boys walking home in the rain when I was at work—even though the phone rang all the next day with calls from curious neighbors. “Was that a police car I saw at your house last night?”
That wasn't a police car. That was a Doughnut Lady.
1. According to the passage, the author sometimes ______.| A．sold bus tickets to the children | B．gave the children free doughnuts |
| C．did business with the children's help | D．called the children's parents to pick them up |
| A．she hadn't done anything significant |
| B．she hadn't spent much time with the children |
| C．she hadn't made a lot of money from the children |
| D．she hadn't found it hard to get along with the children |
| A．He took the boys to the police station. |
| B．He helped the boys look for their mother. |
| C．He drove the boys back home in a police car. |
| D．He managed to make sure of the boys' identity. |
| A．They called to comfort them. |
| B．They tried to make sure they were fine. |
| C．They wanted to confirm it was really a police car. |
| D．They wondered what the police brought them on such a rainy night. |
| A．running a business requires skill | B．taking responsibility is a moral virtue |
| C．devotion should be everything in life | D．there are always no small acts of kindness. |
【推荐3】Having a sudden creative idea, Michael Jackson called the director John Landis after seeing his film An American Werewolf in London and they decided to create a short film called Thriller with a budget much larger than previous music videos. That was Jackson's sixth studio album. Michael Jackson reunited with his fifth studio album Of the Wall producer Quincy Jones to record it. The pair worked together on 30 songs, nine of which were eventually included. Jackson wrote four songs for the video on his own. Recording took place from April to November 1982 all Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, with a production budget of $ 750 ,000. But Jackson's record company, Epic Records, refused to finance it, so a making of documentary, Making Michael Jackson' s Thriller, was produced to receive financing from television networks.
Michael Jackson's Thriller was launched on November 30, 1982, in the United States and played regularly on MTV. It doubled the sales of Thriller, helping it become the best-selling album in history, and sold over a million copies on VHS, becoming the bestselling videotape at the time. The album won a record-breaking- eight Grammy Awards in 1984. including Album of the Year. It is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment, and popularizing the making of documentary format.
The album has had a lasting effete on popular culture, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket, designed by Landis's wife Deborah Nadoolman. Fans worldwide re-act out its zombie dance and it remains popular on YouTube. "The Library of Congress described it as” the most famous music video of all time". In 2009 , it became the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry as “culturally and historically" significant. Today, Thriller is still viewed in a positive light by people more than three decades later. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that the record had something to interest everyone.
1. What inspired Jackson to make the Thriller video?| A．An American Werewolf. | B．His eight Grammy Awards. |
| C．His former album of the Wall. | D．Making Michael Jackson's Thriller. |
| A．He directed Off the Wall and Thriller. | B．He was probably the producer of Thriller. |
| C．He designed the plot of Thriller. | D．He wrote 5 songs for Thriller. |
| A．The regular playing of the video on MTV. | B．Epic Records' refusing to finance Jackson. |
| C．Jackson's music creativity of the video. | D．The attraction of the zombie dance. |
| A．To discuss who contributed to Thriller. | B．To explain the reasons for making Thriller. |
| C．To introduce why Thriller was a great success. | D．To show Thriller's backgrounds and its effects. |
What inspires you?
Every artist’s wish is to create something that expresses an idea. But where do artists get their ideas from?Who or what inspires them? Here we find out more about the influences behind the successes of three very different artists.
Florentijn Hofman, visual artist
Florentijn Hofman is a Dutch artist，whose large sculptures are on display all over the world. One way for him to find inspiration is turning to his children’s toys. These objects have given him ideas for his animal sculptures，such as the famous Rubber Duck. A more recent work of his is the huge Floating Fish, which was set among the beautiful landscape of Wuzhen West Scenic Zone.
Hofman’s inspiration for Floating Fish came from Chinese folk tales passed down through the generations. He was particularly interested in the old story about a fish jumping through the “Dragon Gate”. This story came to life for Hofman when he visited Wuzhen and saw how people lived there.
“During the walk and my stay here in the town, I saw the fish being fed by people. You see also some fish sculpted on the wall.” These sights set Hofman’s idea for Floating Fish in motion.
Tan Dun，composer
“There is no territory in the world of music.” These are the words of Chinese composer Tan Dun. He is most widely known for composing music for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
To listen to Tan’s music is to experience a mix of Chinese musical traditions and Western influences. Since his first opera, Nine Songs, Tan Dun has been using a combination of Chinese music and sounds from all over the world to tell stories. As Tan once said, Chinese music should carry “universal expression” of the human spirit so as to be recognised by the whole world.
Yang Liping, dancer
Yang Liping’s passion is dancing. After winning a national competition in 1986 with her Spirit of the Peacock dance, she has been known as the “Peacock Princess”. The inspiration for her famous dances has come from the time she spent in Xishuangbanna，Yunnan Province.
“I feel very grateful for the years in Xishuangbanna,” says Yang. “It gave me a chance to go deeper into the lives of various ethnic groups...Our ethnic groups, especially the Dai people, admire the peacock. They think the peacock represents the beauty of nature. I especially like the dance style of the Dai people and it gives me lots of inspiration. My dance comes from their traditional belief and aims to bring out the Dai women’s beauty.”
1. What is the theme of the text?| A．Three artists and their famous works. |
| B．Three artists and their great achievements. |
| C．Three artists and their sources of inspiration. |
| D．Three artists and their own different jobs. |
| A．A fish toy. |
| B．The wish to hold an exhibition. |
| C．A duck floating on the water. |
| D．His experience in Wuzhen. |
| A．He is the director of Crouching Tiger，Hidden Dragon. |
| B．He is the director of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. |
| C．He is the composer of Nine Songs. |
| D．He gets inspiration only from Chinese music. |
| A．Yang Liping won an international competition in 1986. |
| B．Yang Liping was born in Yunnan Province. |
| C．Yang Liping thinks the peacock represents the beauty of nature. |
| D．Yang Liping gets lots of inspiration from the dance style of the Dai people. |
| A．An art magazine. |
| B．An artist biography. |
| C．An online art forum. |
| D．A poster for an art festival. |
(1)
(2)
7. 细读短文并找出人物描写的句子
(1)
(3)
【推荐2】Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest thinkers in the world, began his career as an artist. Very little is known about Leonardo’s early life. He was born in 1452 in the town of Vinci. As a boy, Leonardo showed a great interest in drawing, sculpting and observing nature.
However, because Leonardo was born to parents who were not married to each other, he was barred from some studies and professions. He trained as an artist after moving to Florence with his father in the 1460s. It was an exciting time to be in Florence, one of the cultural capitals o£ Europe. Leonardo trained with one of the city’s very successful artists, Andrea del Verrocchio. He was a painter, sculptor and gold worker. Verrocchio told his students that they needed to understand the body’s bones and muscles when drawing people.
Leonardo took the teacher’s advice very seriously. He spent several periods of his life studying the human body by taking apart and examining dead bodies. While training as an artist, Leonardo also learned about and improved on relatively new painting methods at the time. One was the use of perspective (透视) to show depth. A method called “sfumato” helped to create a cloudy effect to suggest distance. "Chiaroscuro” is a method using light and shade as a painterly effect.
Leonardo’s first known portrait now hangs in the National Gallery in Washington, D. C. He made this painting of a young woman named Ginevra de’ Benci around 1474. The woman has a pale face with dark hair. In the distance, Leonardo painted the Italian countryside.
He soon received attention for his extraordinary artistic skills. Around 1475 he was asked to draw an angel in Verrocchio’s painting The Baptism of Christ. One story says that when Verrocchio saw Leonardo’s addition to the painting, he was so amazed by his student’s skill that he said he would never paint again.
1. What does the underlined word “barred” mean in Paragraph 2?| A．Saved. | B．Stopped. |
| C．Protected. | D．Separated. |
| A．His own desire. | B．His parents’ request. |
| C．His teacher’s suggestion. | D．Successful artists’ direction. |
| A．the ways of art training | B．Andrea’s teaching methods |
| C．the difficulty in learning art | D．Leonardo’ devotion to learning |
| A．Ginevra de’ Benci. | B．The Baptism of Christ. |
| C．Andrea’s appreciation. | D．The Italian countryside painting. |
【推荐3】In the 17th century, the Netherlands experienced a period of artistic prosperity known as the Dutch Golden Age. During this period, artists found inspiration in Northern Renaissance painting techniques, contributing to masterpieces like Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer. Known as the “Mona Lisa of the North”,this painting represents the best of Dutch art and it has become one of art history’s most beloved paintings.
Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer is famous for his paintings of contemporary Delft, a city in Holland where the artist was born, lived and died. Girl with a Pearl Earring is Vermeer’s most well-known work of art. However, it did not attain international fame at its time of completion. That came about at the end of the 20th century, when it was featured in a special exhibition in Washington, D. C.
Girl with a Pearl Earring does not show a specific person. Instead, it shows an unknown girl dressed in grand clothing who, “like a vision coming from the darkness,” art historian Arthur K. Wheelock explained in the Johannes Vermeer catalogue, “belongs to no specific time or place.”
Vermeer is known for his ability to create shapes and forms using light rather than line. This characteristic approach to modeling is particularly evident in Girl with a Pearl Earring. First, he would “invent”, or create an initial drawing on the canvas. Then, he made a single colored underpainting. Next, he added color. And, finally, in order to make the piece extraordinarily bright, he would apply a thin layer of glaze to certain parts of the painting.
In addition to its fascinating context and appealing beauty, the piece is celebrated for the mystery that surrounds it. “When you think about the Mona Lisa, she is also looking at us, but she isn’t engaging — she’s sitting back in the painting, self-contained,” Tracy Chevalier, the author of the New York Times bestselling historical novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring, points out. “While Girl with a Pearl Earring is right there — there is nothing between her and us. She has this magical quality of being incredibly open and yet mysterious at the same time—and that is what makes her so appealing.”
1. What inspired the creation of Girl with a Pearl Earring?| A．Previous artists’ skills. | B．The appearance of the girl. |
| C．Vermeer’s international fame. | D．Encouragement from other artists. |
| A．It is set in the artist’s birthplace. | B．It makes the artist famous overnight. |
| C．It describes a particular and exact girl. | D．It is regarded as a match for Mona Lisa. |
| A．To introduce the subject of the painting. | B．To show techniques used in the painting. |
| C．To explain the artistic value of the painting. | D．To uncover the mystery behind the painting. |
| A．By citing a theory. | B．By giving a definition. |
| C．By offering an example. | D．By making a comparison. |
