【推荐1】I think that I always knew I wanted to become an artist. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing or painting pictures. My oldest sister and my brother were artistic, and watching them draw fascinated me. They had many different art supplies around the house. Boxes of pastels, little ink bottles and pens were very appealing.

My parents and friends soon saw that I had more than a passing interest in art. It came to define much of my image. Relatives gave me art-related birthday gifts. At school I became “the kid who could draw,” a unique distinction, like “brainiest” or “best athlete”.

As I got a little older, I began copying pictures: cartoons, comic books, and magazine illustrations.

My third-grade class wrote essays on what we wanted to be when we grew up. To me it was obvious. We read them aloud, and I told about the types of paintings I would some day try. I’d have turtles with paintbrushes tied to their backs walking around on a big sheet of paper. Or I’d fill squirt guns with different colored paints and shoot at the canvas. I actually tried this with friends! Well, it sounded like a good idea.

One of the only discouraging childhood experiences about my artwork happened in the fourth grade. During study time I was drawing a picture. My teacher took it away and wrote an angry note home to my mother. “David would rather be drawing pictures than doing his work!!!” I couldn’t believe it, three exclamation points. School “art classes” were pretty uninspiring. Art never seemed to be taken as seriously as other subjects.

In the eighth grade, a big career day was held. Months before, we wrote suggestions for careers we wanted to hear about. On the big day, guest speakers from many fields came to talk, but there wasn’t one that came close to an art-related field.

In high school it actually sank in that I was going to be an artist. I already knew. I’d always known. My parents were excited about my choice, too. As I looked into art schools, I felt like doors were being thrown wide open. Until then my art was a private thing, but at art school I found a place where everyone as “the kid who could draw.”

1. The author became interested in art because of _________.

A．his parents’ wish

B．some schools’ appeal

C．his family members’ influence

D．some experts’ suggestion

2. In the fourth grade, the author _________.

A．began copying pictures

B．drew with squirt guns

C．was discouraged by the teacher

D．got suggestions from guest speakers

3. From the last paragraph, we can learn that the author _________.

A．thanked his parents very much

B．went into a new world of art

C．was still the only kid who could draw

D．stopped learning art finally

4. The story inspires people to _________.

A．stick to their dreams

B．treasure what they have

C．obey the natural rules

D．choose their career earlier

【推荐3】It was a history-making moment at Miller & Miller’s Canadian & Discoveries Arts auction(拍卖)when the hammer finally came down for a rare Maud Lewis painting for $ 350,000.

Lewis was a Canadian artist who painted brightly colored scenes. She sold her paintings by the side of the road for $2 to $3. Painting wasn’t easy, since she suffered from a physical challenge that made moving painful. After reading an article about her, John Kinnear, also an artist mailed her boxes of painting supplies. At the time, Lewis lived in a one-room house with no electricity, using simple house paint to create. After receiving the supplies, Lewis wrote back insisting on repaying him with some of her paintings.

Kinnear sold some of them, sending part of the money back to Lewis and using the remainder to buy her more paint. Gradually, the two artists developed long-lasting friendship.

Kinnear was friends with Irene and Tony Demas, who owned a restaurant where he ate lunch every day. One day, Kinnear told them he had some paintings by an artist and wondered if they might consider buying one of them. “When we saw the paintings, our jaw almost dropped,” recalls Irene. “We had never seen anything like them. They were so childlike, with cats and cows.” They ended up agreeing to the trade, choosing a painting called Black Trunk.

Over 50 years later, they’re long retired and now considering travelling more. They hoped to sell the painting. In the years since Lewis died, her paintings have become famous. But it was recent scare that really urged them into action. After having non-glare glass added to the painting, the business street where the framer(装裱师)lived burned to the ground just days after they picked up their painting. “We saw that Miller &Miller’s had sold one not long ago. We trusted the Miller brothers.” says Irene.

1. Why did John Kinnear send Lewis boxes of painting supplies?

A．To exchange for her paintings.	B．To offer her assistance.
C．To teach her painting techniques.	D．To befriend with her.

2. How did Irene and Tony Demas feel when they first saw Lewis’s paintings?

A．Confused.	B．Panicked.
C．Shocked.	D．Embarrassed.

3. What was the real reason for the Demas’ selling Black Truck?

A．They were eventually persuaded by the framer.

B．They were afraid the painting would lose value.

C．They fear something unexpected would happen.

D．They were in desperate need of money to travel.

4. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To recommend an auction house.	B．To introduce a painting artist.
C．To explain a trend in art collecting.	D．To tell the story of a painting.

【推荐1】Some people like modern art, while others say that it is rubbish. But a cleaner who works in the Tate Britain Gallery in London isn’t able to tell the difference. The woman, whose name isn’t known, mistook a work of art by the German painter Gustav Metzger for a bag of rubbish, and threw it out with other bags. The plastic bag, which contained pieces of paper and cardboard, was later recovered outside the gallery, but the artist thought that it was too badly damaged to be put on show again, and so he found another bag. 78-year-old Mr. Metzger explained that the exhibit, which he said was a copy of a similar work he had created in 1960, was meant to show that all art is temporary (暂时的).

Embarrassed officials at the museum said that they had had to call a meeting with cleaners to explain which things should not be touched. They would not say whether Mr. Metzger   would be paid for the incident. However, to make absolutely sure the same thing would not happen again, they decided to cover Mr. Metzger’s work every evening with a coloured cloth. In this way cleaners arriving after the gallery had closed to the general public would realize that they should not touch it.

This is not the first time that museum cleaners have had trouble distinguishing exhibits from rubbish. In 2001, in another London gallery, a cleaner threw away a work by the well-known British artist Damien Hirst. It was an arrangement of empty beer bottles, coffee cups, and ashtrays (烟灰缸), which were meant to show the disorder in the life of an artist.

However, cleaners don’t always throw things away—sometimes they clean them! This was the case with a dirty bath, which was on show in a gallery in Germany. Without asking what the bath was doing in the gallery, the cleaner simply cleaned it.

1. The woman cleaner threw away the plastic bag because__________.

A．the plastic bag was badly damaged

B．she didn’t recognize it was a work of art

C．she hated modern art and considered it rubbish

D．The exhibit on show was taken the place of by another bag

2. The underlined word “distinguishing” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_______”.

A．collecting

B．replacing

C．telling

D．exchanging

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Mr Metzger would be paid some money for the incident.

B．Tate British Gallery will be closed to avoid the same mistake.

C．Artists often use rubbish to show how content they feel with life.

D．More than one cleaner threw away works of art in galleries.

4. What might be the best title for the passage?

A．Cleaner Mistakes Modern Art for Rubbish	B．Good Cleaners Make Mistakes
C．Damaged Modern Art Works	D．Dangerous Galleries and Cleaners

【推荐2】History has been made at the 2015 FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, as men competed in synchronized swimming(花样游泳) for the first time .

There was nothing in the world that could prevent July 26, 2015 from being the best day in Bill May’s life. The 36-year-old American synchronized swimmer became the first male world champion in mixed synchronized swimming.

“It’s something that I have dreamed of my entire life,” said May. His partner Christina Jones believed “this is the future of synchronized swimming”.

Synchronized swimming has been an Olympic sport since 1984, but only as an event for women. Nevertheless, men kept training in the hope that a chance might come for them to compete at the top international level, at the Olympics or the World Championships.

“Men’s choreography(舞蹈编排) is different from women’s. It is a completely different style. In a mixed duet(混双项目) the man should personify strength and power The woman, on the contrary, beauty and grace,” Russian male synchronized swimmer Alexander Maltsev said.

However, some people still believe that synchronized swimming should be a sport purely for women. Although men are stronger, they are less flexible so it is harder to get the necessary extension in: the legs. Buoyancy(浮力) is also an issue. The sport is very difficult for men in general, because men don’t actually float like women.

As times have changed, women now can compete in every category of sport at the Olympics, but there still remain two that are closed off to men-synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics(艺术体操).

Some see FINA’s change as a sign that the International Olympic Committee(IOC)may also be ready to include mixed duets soon. Nevertheless, the IOC says that it will only consider adopting male synchronized swimming after a formal request from FINA and no such request has ever been made.

It may take many years for the IOC to open the door to male synchronized swimming but if and when it does, one thing is certain. “If synchronized swimming went to the Olympics, I would definitely be there to compete,” said Bill May, “even if I am 85. ”

1. According to the passage, Bill May dreamt of _______.

A．being the first male champion swimmer at the Olympic Games

B．being a professional synchronized swimmer and defeating other competitors

C．having a partner who could help him win the championship at the top international- level

D．competing in a world championship of synchronized swimming as a male athlete

2. Male synchronized swimmers held the hope that they might have a chance to compete at the top international level one day, so _______.

A．they never gave up training

B．they kept appealing to the Olympic committee

C．they made synchronized swimming known to more people

D．they tried to gain support from the female swimmers

3. Synchronized swimming is not easy for men, due to their comparatively poor _______.
①flexibility       ②judgement        ③floatability       ④strength

A．①②	B．①③
C．②③	D．③④

4. What is the reason why IOC hasn’t taken adopting male synchronized swimming into account yet？

A．FINA hasn’t made the formal request

B．Male synchronized swimmers are not fully prepared

C．Female synchronized swimmers are strongly against it

D．Rhythmic gymnastics hasn’t been adopted