When I was only 3 years old, my mother taught me to memorise and recite poems. She was my first teacher of the arts, and my father was the first to appreciate my performance. Even at that young age, I had a simple understanding of how art and culture affect us as human beings and how we can connect to each other through the arts, which shapes my life to this day.
When I was growing up, my parents supported my interest in taking acting classes and doing community theatre. Their faith in me and the professional training I was getting from my theatre teachers gave me a sense of purpose and a sense of self-confidence. I learned what artistic achievement actually was and what hard work the business was. While many people see the rosy picture to our business, I was really learning what it would require for me to become a professional.
I became an actress, but arts education isn’t just about preparing our young people for a job in the arts. I recently talked to some of the kids attending theatre education. Some of them want to work in theatre, and some don’t. They are learning not only theatre skills, but also about the world around them. They learn about discipline and hard work and what’s required and what they have to do to bring themselves to the work. They learn how they can be of service in the world through the arts. They learn how to work with a team. By studying the arts, these students are open to worlds and lives that they might not have any other way of knowing about or any other way to connect with in their lives the way they are right now.
These young people are our future. We are passing the torch to them. And I think that’s one of the most important reasons why we need to foster(培养) the arts.
1. When the writer was 3 years old, she .| A．learned many kinds of arts |
| B．did well in communication |
| C．recited poems to her father |
| D．had a deep understanding of the arts |
| A．Bright. | B．Funny. |
| C．Terrible. | D．Hopeless. |
| A．It was hard for the writer to start business. |
| B．It is not easy for one to succeed in arts field. |
| C．Parents’ faith is a must for one to be professional. |
| D．The writer’s self-confidence led to her artistic achievement. |
| A．Attending theatre education does the kids much good. |
| B．Students studying the arts should travel around the world. |
| C．Discipline and hard work are not included in arts education. |
| D．Arts education can only prepare the youth for jobs in the arts. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Back in the day when I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, I liked to help others, so I was studying to become a firefighter. My parents always encouraged me at that time. As a firefighter, you’re constantly thinking of other people and trying to help them. It’s the mindset. which is the most difficult part in this job!
One night I was heading home and decided to stop off at a burrito (玉米饼) place. I was approached by a homeless man. He was very dirty and obviously hungry. He asked me for some change to buy a little food. As I was pulling some change out, I had an idea.
I decided to see if he wanted to eat a real dinner, so I asked him to follow me back into the Burrito Joint to order. When he followed me in, the people behind the counter refused to let him in. After some arguing, so I had to encourage him to order whatever and however much he wanted. He ended up ordering enough to fill his stomach at least 3 times over!
For someone who has been on the edges of society it seemed like he was very surprised at my kind behaviour. But to me, it was what any “human being” should do or at least offer. I know we see these people every day asking for money but you had to be there to see the look in his face. To me, it reminded me when I was young and my mum brought out a big birthday cake for me on my birthday, with all the candy, getting to experience a big meal. And I think he felt special, like he was getting attention. Again something that I could see he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
I often think about this story, because to me it’s not just about helping someone out by feeding them, but giving him the respect of being a human being and allowing him to feel good about himself was very rewarding.
1. Why does the writer want to be a firefighter?| A．To help others. | B．To be famous. |
| C．To realize his parents’s dream. | D．To meet the challenge. |
| A．They led him into the Burrito Joint politely. | B．They welcomed him but treated him in cold. |
| C．They shut the door in his face. | D．They laughed at his dirty clothes. |
| A．The man felt guilty about the writer’s generous giving. |
| B．The birthday cake reminded the writer to do a good deed. |
| C．We should be careful of the people who would ask for money. |
| D．The dinner not only satisfied the man’s hunger, but gave him the respect. |
| A．A Homeless Man | B．A Meaningful Dinner |
| C．To Be a Firefighter | D．An Unforgettable Man |
【推荐2】Climbing, I once thought, was a very manly activity, but as I found my way into this activity, I came to see that something quite different happens on the rock.
Like wild swimming, rock climbing involves you into the landscape. On the rock, I am fully focused. Eyes pay close attention, ears are alert, and hands move across the surface. Unlike walking, where I could happily wander about absent-mindedly, in climbing, attentive observation is essential.
As an arts student studying English literature, I discovered a new type of reading from outdoor climbing. Going out on to the crags (悬崖), I saw how you could learn to read the rocks and develop a vocabulary of physical movements. Good climbers knew how to adjust their bodies on to the stone. Watching them, I wanted to possess that skillful “language”.
My progress happened when I worked for the Caingorms National Park Authority. Guiding my explorations into this strange new landscape was Nan Shepherd, a lady too. Unlike the goal-directed mindset of many mountaineers, she is not concerned with peaks or personal achievement. Shepherd sees the mountain as a total environment and she celebrates the Caingorms as a place alive with plants, rocks, animals and elements. Through her generous spirit and my own curiosity, I saw that rock climbing need not be a process of testing oneself against anything. Rather, the intensity of focus could develop a person into another way of being.
Spending so much time in high and stony places has transformed my view on the world and our place in it. I have come into physical contact with processes that go way beyond the everyday. Working with gravity, geology (地质学), rhythms of weather and deep time, I gain an actual relationship with the earth. This bond lies at the heart of my passion for rock climbing. I return to the rocks, because this is where I feel in contact with our land.
1. Why does the author like rock climbing?| A．It challenges her to compete with men. | B．It allows her a unique attitude toward rock. |
| C．It teaches her how to possess a new language. | D．It makes her feel connected wth the earth. |
| A．Balance. | B．Concentration. |
| C．Determination. | D．Perseverance |
| A．Climbing goes together with nature. | B．Every mountain top is within reach. |
| C．The best climber is the one having fun. | D．You can not achieve high unless you change. |
| A．Time. | B．Transformation. | C．The world. | D．My view. |
【推荐3】I found my email address was sold online, so now instead of just getting letters from the few charities(慈善机构) I can afford to support, I am also getting letters from a dozen other charities asking for my help. One of my more cynical(愤世嫉俗的) friends talked a lot about the old saying, “No good deed ever goes unpunished.” I just smiled and didn't argue knowing it wouldn't change his mind. My own mind, however, was remembering another moment from many years ago.
It was a windy, snowy day in December. I was a young dad who had saved just enough cash to buy my children a few presents for Christmas. As I walked to the store I saw the Salvation Army kettle with a man ringing a bell standing beside it. Next to him was his daughter, a little girl no more than three feet tall, got together against the biting cold. I took a one -dollar bill out of my wallet and dropped it into the kettle. As the man was thanking me, though, I felt pressure on my legs. I looked down and saw that the little girl was giving me her own thank you hug. I smiled down at her, bent down and hugged her back. Then I went inside feeling the warmth that no winter wind could ever take away.
Thinking back to that moment in time reminded me that no good deed ever goes unrewarded(无回报的). We may not always get a heartfelt hug but in time every act of giving, every act of kindness, and every act of love that we make flows from heart to heart and soul to soul, around the world and back to us again.
No good deed is ever wasted. Don't let this sometimes cynical world get you down then. Share your love today! Give from your heart. Fill your life with acts of kindness.
1. Why did the author receive a lot of letters?| A．His mailbox was made public. | B．He had a good many friends. |
| C．Many charities had his mailing address. | D．He let out his personal information. |
| A．To buy presents. | B．To ask for help. |
| C．To raise money for the poor. | D．To give the passers-by warmth. |
| A．A good deed is never lost. | B．A little help is worth a deal of pity. |
| C．No good deed ever goes unpunished. | D．Treat others as you want to be treated. |
| A．Considerate. | B．Brave. | C．Helpful. | D．Thankful. |
【推荐1】Too Big, Too Expensive and Too Silly — Why Video Game Movies Fail
Film adaptations of video games have fallen on the unsuspecting viewing public like a Drop Bear. At first they look harmless enough, but they often leave viewers bruised and regretful.
These movies are plentiful.
Additionally, excessive adherence to the source material extends to using silly plot devices without spending enough time establishing proper reasons for their existence. In games, these can work due to the “unspoken but commonly understood logic of ‘this is a video game’”. In a game, people accept inconsistent narrative devices because they facilitate interesting interaction and are the quickest route towards allowing gamers to, say, shoot hell-monsters on Mars.
The game series became increasingly complex , as the player-controlled protagonist (主角) parkoured his way through time periods like Renaissance Italy and Revolutionary America. The incredibility of the narrative world paled beside the fun of vaulting from rooftop to rooftop in15th-century Florence.
| A．So why do these movies fail? |
| B．The film, in contrast, failed to bring its audience along for the ride. |
| C．Game adaptations issues seem not to be due to a lack of resources. |
| D．But the return on investment is not encouraging, with a number failing to recoup costs. |
| E．The potential to appeal to a devoted fan base makes these movies an attractive prospect. |
| F．However, a common criticism was that it was full of boring exposition and mostly uninteresting characters. |
Gemini Man is a big-budget Hollywood sci-fi-action movie based on an original concept, rather than on a superhero comic or an old TV series, even though this particular original concept is more 20 years old. In it a government assassin (杀手）is being hunted down by his own clone The original script was sold by Darren Lemke to a studio in 1997, and since then almost every male A-listener has been attached as a potential star. Now, at long last, Ang Lee has directed Gemini Man, and Will Smith plays both the veteran assassin and his much younger doppelganger (分身).
Jojo Rabbit
During World War Two, a 10-year-old German boy (Roman Griffin David) is desperate to be a dutiful Nazi, only to discover that his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding, a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their house. It may not sound like the stuff of a big-hearted comedy but Taika Waititi can make anything warm and funny. As well as writing and directing Jojo Rabbit, Waititi co-stars as the boy’s imaginary friend,a nitwitted Adolf Hitler.
Doctor Sleep
Mike Flanag’s new film is adapted from Stephen King, novel, Doctor Sleep, which was a sequel (续集) to The Shining. You can expect to see blood flowing out of lifts in a rapid stream, ghostly twin girls and headache-including carpet patterns. Ewan McGregor stars as Danny Torrance, the boy with psychic powers m 1980 film. Now, he is a middle-aged hospital counsellor.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
Here’s another chance to see Angelina Jolie. In 2014 she starred in Maleficent, Disney's live-action remake of the Sleeping Beauty cartoon from 1959. The twist was that the eponymous wicked fairy wasn’t so wicked, after all, and that the real villain was the father of Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning). The sequel's subtitle promises that Maleficent will actually be evil this time around, her change of heart prompted by Aurora’s engagement to handsome prince (Harris Dickinson).
1. What can we learn from this passage?| A．Ewan McGregor plays a role in Doctor Sleep. |
| B．Taika Waititi is the main character in Jojo Rabbit. |
| C．Gemini Man is adapted from a 20-yem--old TV series. |
| D．The real wicked character in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is Aurora. |
| A．Gemini Man | B．Jojo Babbit |
| C．Doctor Sleep | D．Maleficent: Mistress of Evil |
【推荐3】What’s on at MOMA (The Museum of Modern Art)
Still Film. 2023. Written and directed by James N. Kienitz Wilkins
Mar 3-Mar 7, at MOMA
In Still Film, filmmaker Wilkins criticizes how movies have been marketed over the past four decades. He does this by using old Hollywood still images with himself playing all the characters. Through a playful and subjective journey, he explores how movies can determine the truth, and the impact of technology on the movie-going experience.
Llamadas desde Moscú (Calls from Moscow). 2023. Directed by Luís Alejandro Yero
Mar 4-Mar 8, at MOMA
Yero’s first full-length film describes a group of Cuban migrants living temporarily in a Moscow building. When their plans to immigrate had to pause, the film’s spare and intense style manages to capture their internal world of waiting. Calls from Moscow offers an insightful account of displacement and uncertainty.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, 2022. Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Mar 4-Mar 9, online at our website
Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson direct their first stop-motion-animated film (定格动画电影), retelling the classic story of Pinocchio. The successful film celebrates, the children who rightfully disobey and what it means to be truly alive. Its handmade animation takes a naturalistic approach, with fantastical creatures adding wonders to the world.
Escape Me Never. 1947. Directed by Peter Godfrey
Mar 5-Mar 10, at MOMA
Based on the novel The Constant Nymph, the drama is set in the 19th century and features characters competing for the love of a charming but selfish composer. Despite the best efforts of the cast and its highlighted music, the film is generally considered lacking in magic under Godfrey’s amateur direction.
1. Who makes comments on the movie industry?| A．James N. Kienitz Wilkins. | B．Guillermo del Toro. |
| C．Laís Aleiandro Yero. | D．Peter Godfrey. |
| A．Impact of technology. | B．Waiting for immigration. |
| C．Celebrating disobedient children. | D．Competition for love. |
| A．Still Film. | B．Calls from Moscow. |
| C．Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. | D．Escape Me Never. |
【推荐1】At one point in June last year, Zeng Jiapeng was more than 10,000 yuan in debt to a smart phone app. The 23-year-old Shanghai citizen pays for his online purchases of food, clothes, and travel with Huabei, a virtual credit card that's part of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s spreading stable of e-commerce. His spending often used to go beyond his only source of income: the 8,000-yuan monthly allowance from his parents. He tried to repay the debt in installments(分期), even borrowing from Jiebei, another Alibaba-owned credit service, but eventually his mother and father had to help him out.
Zeng’s story is typical of members of China’ Generation Z. These young consumers, born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, have little income and therefore actually no credit history. Yet they have easy access to credit from a variety of banks, financial-tech companies, and peer-to-peer (P2P) Lenders(网络借贷平台), plus other channels that are unregulated. The spending habits of the young in particular are causing concern. In some cases the younger generation is being tempted to overconsume via credit secured through technology. Unsecured consumer lending has expanded 20% a year in China since 2008. The amount of consumer finance available through the Internet will more than double, to 19 trillion yuan, by 2021, from 7.8 trillion yuan last year. Official data showed that almost 70% of China’s 50 million P2P borrowers were younger than 40.
As for Zeng, he’s trying to be a little more frugal, even though he is now trying to earn a little by himself. “I deliberately set the credit limit at a lower level,” he says, “so that hopefully I can better match my income with spending.”
Regulators(监管部门)last year launched a breakdown on peer-to-peer lending, which, besides being a source of easy credit, had also become a popular investment vehicle. The sector has shrunk to less than half its peak size as a result of forced shutdowns.
1. What can we learn about Zeng Jiapeng from the first paragraph?| A．He was in debt because he bought smart phone app. |
| B．He likes purchasing goods on the app Huabei of Alibaba Group. |
| C．He always spent more than he earned from his salary in the past. |
| D．He depended on his parents to support him to repay his debt. |
| A．Impractical | B．Hardworking | C．Avoiding waste | D．Relying on others |
| A．hopeless | B．unreasonable | C．controlled | D．sensible |
| A．Overconsumption—A Bad Habit |
| B．China’s Generation Z—Hooked On Credit |
| C．Chinese Youth In the E—commerce Age |
| D．Zeng Jinpeng’s Financial Crisi |
【推荐2】A few years ago, I went shopping with a friend for a new motorcycle. He didn’t have a particular brand or model in mind except two standards. A big engine—since too much horsepower is never enough—and since he’s tall, a relatively relaxed riding position.
I suggested a Hayabusa, which met his standards or an XS-14R. Both were within his budget, especially the Hayabusa since the dealer was offering a $2,500 discount on a previous year’s model.
He rode them both and loved them both. But then he became very interested in a ZX-6R KRT—a great motorcycle, sure, but with a much smaller motor and a riding position that made him look like a contorted mantis (变形的螳螂). It seemed like a strange choice.
I felt puzzled until it hit me. The purchase of any motorcycle 750cc and under came with a free helmet (头盔). Since my friend also wanted a new helmet, getting one for free was extremely attractive. After all, the math didn’t work. We eventually negotiated $3,200 off the price of the Hayabusa. The free helmet was only worth $250. However, my friend’s final decision was ZX-6R KRT with a free helmet.
A 2017 study published in Marketing Science found that people tend to significantly overvalue “free”. When faced with a choice of selecting one of several available products, people will choose the option with the highest cost-benefit difference; however, decisions about free (zero-price) products differ, because people do not simply take away costs from benefits but instead, consider the benefits associated with free products to be higher.
Two months later, my friend traded in his 6R for a 14R. But I don’t think badly of him. We’ve all been blinded by the power of “free”. So whenever something is free, stop and consider the intention, and see “free” as a reason to do even more math.
1. What kind of motorcycle did the author’s friend intend to buy?| A．A good second-hand one. | B．A previous year’s Hayabusa. |
| C．A highly fashionable XS-14R. | D．A powerful and comfortable one. |
| A．Its price. | B．The motorcycle’s 750cc engine. |
| C．Its free gift. | D．The motorcycle’s classical design. |
| A．To offer his friend a better purchase plan. |
| B．To stress the importance of negotiating skills. |
| C．To tell readers how to get more zero-price products. |
| D．To explain why his friend made such an unwise choice. |
| A．It’s time to stop doing the math. | B．“Free” is sometimes the worst deal. |
| C．Getting something for free is so fun. | D．We all love to buy something on sale. |
【推荐3】I bumped into(撞上)a stranger as he walked by me. "Oh, excuse me," I said. He replied with a smile and said, "Please excuse me too. I wasn't watching out for you. "We apologised and went our own ways.
Later that day, when I was cooking, my daughter was standing too close to me. When I turned to reach for some milk, I nearly knocked(撞倒)her over.
"Move out of the way!" I shouted.
She walked away sadly. But I didn't feel like I had to apologize to her.
While I was in bed that evening, my husband said to me, "While dealing with a stranger, you were polite, but with a daughter you love, you were unkind. Your daughter brought you some flowers that she picked herself this afternoon. You'll find them in the kitchen by the door. Have you seen the tears in her eyes?"
I quietly went and knelt down by my daughter's bed.
"Honey, I am so sorry, "I said. "Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
She said, "I found them by the tree. I picked them because they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like them, especially the blue ones."
I tearfully replied, "Sweetie, I'm really sorry for the way I acted today. I shouldn't have shouted at you",
"It's okay. I love you anyway, "she said as she kissed me on my cheek.
If we can be polite to strangers, why can't we do the same for the ones we love?
1. According to the passage, “excuse me” means________ here ?| A．sorry | B．moved | C．happy | D．disappointed |
| A．mad | B．angry | C．polite | D．unkind |
| A．food | B．flowers | C．milk | D．nothing |
| A．the writer shouldn't shout at the daughter |
| B．the writer shouldn't apologize to the stranger |
| C．he shouldn't act rudely toward his daughter |
| D．both he and the writer should apologize to their daughter |
| A．We should always apologize first. |
| B．We should be polite to people around us. |
| C．Shouting is not polite behavior. |
| D．We should watch out for strangers. |
